2006-09-03 21:11:00 · 28 answers · asked by briskem1 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Not likely, but it is the official language of Business, Medicine, and Science (for medicine and science, Latin is also used extensively).
2006-09-04 01:08:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. The whole world will never speak just one language. Even if you magically eliminated all existing languages except English people wouldn't speak the same all around the planet for very long. Languages develop and a language develops differently in different places. Just look at English. Originally the British and the Americans spoke the exact same language. Today there are differences between American English and British English (and other English dialects). They've developed differently. It is likely that in a few hundred years they will be so different that they'll be considered two different languages. That's how a lot of languages have come into existance.
Even though English is currently the most common language in international relations it does not mean that people will give up their native languages and start speaking English only. It's also likely that the status of the English language worldwide will change and that another language will become the most important one in international relations. It's not a questions "if", but "when" that happens. Until then you don't have enough time to teach billions of people English and get them to forget their old language. :)
Impossible is the answer to your question.
2006-09-04 00:38:48 · answer #2 · answered by undir 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It might be understood in the most countries, but is definitely not spoken by the most people.
Mandarin (Chinese) is spoken by almost half the worlds population.
Spanish is second (most of South America apart from Brazil)
French (a lot of African countries, including Mauritius and Madagascar) and countries like Canada.
It's just cause you live in an English community that you have that impression, but travel to the rest of the world, and you'll find most people couldn't give a damn about English.
I can also trow statistics at you the whole day about how only 30% of British businesses deal with non English speaking companies, as appose to 83% of European businesses.
How England only translates 2% of world books into English, as appose to 60% of world books getting translated into french etc.
But if you research the fact, you'll see the blatantly obvious.
English isn't as power full as the English speaking minority likes to think.
2006-09-03 23:11:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anria A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. People worldwide learn English for practical reasons, but they aren't abandoning their other languages in the process. Also, "English" itself is slowly changing; the dialects spoken in different parts of the world are becoming more and more distinct from each other and from the standard "World English." World English is becoming a lingua franca, the way Latin used to be in Europe, but it won't wipe out other languages in the process.
2006-09-04 06:04:07 · answer #4 · answered by Mekamorph 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually english is not the most common language yet...
it's the third language in the world rank after Chinese and spanish.
But yes it is a bless that it is spreading worldwide... and it will be (apart for natural english speakers) the second natural tongue for the rest of the world. But it will never will be able to subsitute the original languages spoken. At least not in the sudden centuries...
ciao!
2006-09-03 22:21:02 · answer #5 · answered by Zenith 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It will take generations, but there will probably one main language on earth - if you were there in the future, it would not sound like english, since english today is only 12 % english in the first place ( compared to the " ENGLISH " of Shakespeare ).
2006-09-03 21:19:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Impossible.
I have studied sociolinguistics (the study of culture/society and language) and can tell you that language is about a lot more than communication. It is about politics, solidatiry and physical territories. It is used to keep a group together, and make claims to another group.
It is completley ethnocentric to think or wish that English would be the only language.
2006-09-03 21:18:24 · answer #7 · answered by allforasia 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, it will not be the "only" language, but it will be the universal known language.
2006-09-03 21:18:43 · answer #8 · answered by Excel 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, but it can become the main language.
2006-09-03 23:07:43 · answer #9 · answered by jez.star 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
actually it is almost the lingua franca for most of us. We all came from different parts of the world and yet we use english to communicate and to answer questions. that's actually a miracle in a world filled with millions of dfifferent languages and dialects!
2006-09-03 21:17:17 · answer #10 · answered by autumn lover 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋