From 2009 all nations of the world should phase in English as their first language. Anyone agree?

Question

Imagine the benefits:
1. Able to watch films from all over the world without subtitles. Plus books, radio, internet blogs.
2. Quicker and easier and clearer diplomacy.
3. Easier and quicker trade.
4. Basically, the ability to communicate with people everywhere in a normal manner.
5. The international language could expand and adopt new words taken from interesting second (traditional) languages from all over the world.

Lets get modern. I think English, but some people would say Spanish, French, or Chinese. Overall a single language would be a good thing>>>>

With English we have a great global language, it's already second language in many nations. But what positives can North Americans, Oceanianians, Irish, and Britons learn from other cultures too?
1. Maybe drink less, and rely less on getting going out and getting drunk (especially younger people).
2. Maybe do more exercise, and eat more healthily.
3. Maybe focus more on long-term rather than short-term relationships etc et

I'm not saying we should all be more American, or we should all have the same culture. I'm suggesting things would be better overall, if we all spoke the same language.

The people world would be more united, if people were able to communicate more easily.

'Culture' is not the same thing as 'language'.

If I was suggesting things would be better if we all had the same culture, I'd have written something like 'From 2009 we should all adopt the English/American way of life, and do exactly as they do. Do you agree?'

That is not what I am suggesting, or what I think would be a good thing....

Mina and Wolfstars comments:
They are suggesting that I want to erase diversity. This is not true, I think diversity is not a bad thing.

And I think if I was speaking the same language as people from everywhere else, and vice versa we'd be more inclined to communicate, trade, and swap aspects of our cultures.

Pyamor: What you said is like saying there is no point in me listening to foreign English songs such as the Peter Bjorn and John song 'Young Folks' (great song btw) because they sang it in English, therefore it doesn't have any cultural value. In fact the opposite is true, if they had sung it in Swedish I would (a) not listen to it in the first place, and (b) not learn Swedish in order to listen to it.

Rolyn I'm Scottish and it's nothing to do with being too lazy to learn another language. It's more looking to the future to see what would make things better.

Football is Scotlands national sport, but what if we'd never adopted the game because it was 'English'. Instead we decided we would all play shinty all of the time, do you think we'd be better off? I don't, I think we'd have less in common with other nations, and be missing out.

Answer 1

maybe but it shouldnt be english

it should be a fun language like hindi or spanish or italian

or maybe-- everyone on earth should speak at least 3 languages
so we dont all have to communicate with eachother but we could communicate with a bunch of people.

i see what ur getting at

Answer 2

First, let me be very clear about this. The idea of a common planetary language, especially if it is arbitrarily chosen or worse, would be next to useless. This is assuming that by 'speak the same language', you mean the sole language, which I know you're not suggesting. As was stated, English is a real b a s t a r d to master, even for the English sometimes. Myself included. If however, you refer to an AUXILIARY language, intended to bridge the gap between cultures by providing an easily learnt method of communication then yes, we can speak the same language. It would open the world up to far more in the way of understanding. Let's exam the first example of a sole language, where each linguistic group would resent the fact that any other language was forced on them, and NOBODY would agree on ANY language since they would all want their own. Esperanto is making headway in becoming an AUXILIARY language, yet people reject it out of hand because they all fear the loss of their tongue and a single language spoken by all, which of course is exactly what Esperanto is trying NOT to do. As a common SECOND language you and you and you have no need to sink years into study of a language that you will most likely NEVER fully assimilate like a native. The choice would be yours. With Esperanto you can be comfortable talking to your neighbour in your native tongue and just as comfortable talking to Ming Lu across the waves on an equal footing in this easily learnt language. It's like a neutral handshake, because each participant invested an equal amount of effort to learn this easy language. (16 gramatical rules... NO exceptions!) Believe it or not, Esperanto represents the best chance for the survival of the multitude of dying languages since it's purpose is to forestall the monopoly of any one National tongue to the disadvantage of another. So will it some day become universal (which by the way doesn't mean that EVERYBODY in the world speaks it, just those that want it / need it)? Well, the $600 million+ USD spent yearly on translation services at the UN (six official languages) and a similar amount in the EU says, sooner or later something is going to change, and this is the cheapest and most effective, proven alternative. Many people don't realize that Esperanto already holds observer status (Class B) at the UN and UNESCO through the UEA (Universal Esperanto Association). Twice Esperanto has been suggested as a working language for the UN. The first atempt died in the 20's (League of Nations then) because the French feared the loss of their status as the defacto language of diplomacy. The US killed the second atempt in the 50's for much the same reason. NOBODY has to give up their mother tongue, nor should they. So, long answer shortened, NO. I don't think we should all speak the same language if it is to be one language only. Esperanto as an auxiliary language however would be wonderful. The history of the language is short but colourful. 120 years and counting. Best guess placed the number of functional Esperantists at about 2 million. That was in 95. Since then the Internet has ballooned, and so has the language. When Gene Keyes did a reprint of the first book, he did a search on Google for Esperanto. He got over a million hits. This was in 2000. On completion of the project he did it again and got over 34 million hits. A search now yeilds 39.5 million.That's up over 5 million hits in three months. Christianity took centuries to catch fire. Yet look how much it grew. Esperanto has similar legs, which most people can't see from their little place in history. I encourage everybody to research and draw their own conclusions. Ĝis!

Answer 3

why should everyone speak english as a first language? So lets jus throw away and forget about the diversity of the world? Im already upset i cant speak my native language properly bc i lived overseas my whole live n this is jus not right. if everyone spoke english do u think the world would seriously be better? Face it, language is not the key people from every race, every religion, every country has their pros and cons. Some of the world crimes ever comitted were by americans and and also non-americans. Like osama, he spoke english, HAH does that mean he was being a better person? DOnt think like how hilter did. its like wiping out everyone esle off, What the hell do u mean what the english speaking ppl can learn from other cultures?! WHAT POSITIVES? so if i look at this properly u mean that this modern socities hav nothing to learn from other societies who arent as modern? Thats jus total ****, i can go on bc this is insulting. ur point is seriously too insulting. im only 13 and this jus hits me, i read a question that asked if i had met a person that has changed my point of view or way of living or thinking, and now im happy to say its u. How can only one kind of people, one culture, one single language help improve anything? this is serious **** and is so very insulting. Ive gone to international schools for the past 9 years and trust me being around people who live differently, speak differntly, it doesnt mean we are bad or negative in anyway. We can learn so much more if things were more diverse, while u r off thinking that things might improve or be more interesting, well damn u.

Answer 4

Look I'm not agreeing with this guy for personal reasons but for the people who keep saying that people who speak English as a first language are lazy need to get a fork shoved up there you know what and a kick in the head. I speak English in as a native language and I'm practicing over five other lanuages.

To answer the question I think that it might be a good idea in some areas of the world, but in others like Russia (not picking on them) who are very proud of their heritage and language would be very offended and a global conflict over language is not something that we need. If you split the world into sections based on the languages and made similar lanuages under the most popular that might be a good idea. English might work, but some countries would think that the United States or Britain or some other major English speaking country was trying to take over the world.
I am and always will be an American.

Answer 5

No thank you. English has become an international language, and is being learned worldwide as second language. Why should people chuck their own language and all the culture beyond when they already know English and use it for international communication? Why should they be forbidden to use their own language in their own country? Besides, which English are you talking about as Indian English is different from UK English which is different from US English...

As for your points, they all seem to come to the same point: that for an English speaker having to get out in a world where other languages are used is a terrible thing and thus those people should lose their own language to accommodate the English speaker.

The structure of our language drives the way we think, creating a diversity of thoughts and cultures which enhance Humanity. Learning other languages gives one a mental agility that is not found in single-language people. Wiping this out to make things easier for English speakers is not a good thing and will certainly not teach potato coaches to go out and exercise.

Answer 6

Not practical. Imagine the effort that the yanks should do to learn correct english

To wolf C. Wenzel:
I have never heard the Alien say a single word in all of the movies. Only thing he did was kill all the people.

ET said only: "Going home", but since he was in the USA, what other language could he use ?
Spanish ?
Immigration would deport him immediately for being illegal ( well, no. Stop. They could not deport him. They had no space ships. Besides, that's exactly what ET wanted )

Answer 7

We can say that we really need to learn the English language, because it is the language used to communicate with other nationalities in the world.

But when you say that the English should the FIRST LANGUAGE of all nations in the world, I DO NOT AGREE!
because we have our own NATIONAL LANGUAGE that we should be proud of.

Answer 8

Why? lose the uniqueness that is the world's cultural diversity..

by the turning the culture into a futuristic space state of invisibility..
You lose so much more... and BTW Learning a new language expands your horizons in more way than one.

Tansi , Tánde ototayán?

Answer 9

Dear young man, just keep your thoughts for yourself, because your suggestion will never happen! Why do you suggest English, why not Spanish, French or some other language. Do you want English, just because you yourself are English speaking and won´t bother to study a foreign language?

I suggest you think over the matter more thoroughly, maybe you will find an answer, I HOPE!

Answer 10

I aggree that it would be great to have a language spoken in every part of the world,that was the task of Esperanto when it began,but I think it is really difficult to get that.I wouldn't care cause I already speak English but I'm from Spain and I don 't think a lot of people would follow this...