neal@druny.UUCP (Neal D. McBurnett) (04/10/85)
I understand that Europe now receives net.nlang: welcome! I thought this item on the problems of English as a international language might be appropriate (I've been promoting Esperanto for a while now....) English is simply not qualified to fill the role of a truly international language. First, let us dispose of the idea that English already fills that role. - Only about 10% of the world's population speaks it, and that percentage is DECREASING! Most of these speakers are native speakers. Chinese is spoken by nearly a quarter of the world's population. - It is sometimes used for international trade, but more often when we BUY than when we SELL (thus increasing our trade deficit). It is indeed difficult to try to sell cars or computer chips to the Japanese using English! - The use of English for travel is sporadic and inadequate, mainly confined to speaking of trivialities to guides or waiters in tourist resorts. For this, sign language is more useful and reliable! The most valuable style of interaction, whether in the world of business or travel, is spontaneous intercourse in small groups. Translators do not fit into this picture. What do we really want in an international language? Ease of learning and neutrality. How many people can participate in a rapid-fire exchange among a group of people after studying high school foreign language? With Esperanto, you probably could! - Studies have shown one year of Esperanto to be the equivalent of 6 years of Italian or Spanish, and more for other languages! - English is one of the hardest languages to learn (large vocabulary, lots of exceptions, non-phonetic.) - For political purposes, nations ought not to be expected to choose their representatives mainly on account of having spent many years studying English (or any other national language). Perhaps most important: - English is politically unacceptable to both the Eastern Bloc and a (regettably) growing segment of the third world. The fact is that in any negotiation or conversation between a native speaker and a non-native speaker, the native speaker has an advantage, and the non-native speaker tends to feel awkward. If both speakers have made a concious effort to learn the language, they will feel much more on an equal footing. I am reminded of Bernard Cavanagh's statement about "Loyalty to English," in his marvelously concise pamphlet "Esperanto: a First Foreign Language for All Mankind:" "It is quite wrong to suppose that British supporters of Esperanto are lacking in loyalty or affection to their native language. The contrary is the case. We treasure it more perceptively than those who wish to persuade the whole world to adopt it, in various crippled forms, as the language of bargaining and toursim. To us the adoption of Esperanto (which *can* be learned) would appear to be the salvation of our mother-tongue from a general indiscriminate mawling by millions who, in occasional usage, cannot grasp its niceties, nor care about them. We claim to be more loyal than those who, in short-sighted pursuit of an illusory material advantage, are prepared to 'throw English to the wolves'.... We insist that English could never, in fact, serve as a trustworthy second language for all; that to support it as such is useless and will merely help to delay the general realisation that a planned language, fully developed, is the only possible solution to a very urgent world problem." I would add that learning Esperanto has taught me a great deal about the vocabulary and grammar of English, and has been great fun! I expect it to enhance my travel and correspondence for the rest of my life, and help me when I study european languages. -Neal McBurnett, Boulder CO, 303-538-4852, mcvax!ihnp4!druny!neal Disclaimer: I certainly do not mean to insult those non-native English speakers (many of whom are on this net) who have indeed acquired proficiency in English. I would only guess that they have worked very long or hard on that ability. Contact with English as a child helps immensly. I also realize that English has already won a prominent position in several fields, and I don't mean to dismiss that position. When I talk about an 'international language', I mean, somewhat idealistically, one that ALL the world can use, not just, e.g., one that highly educated computer scientists in Europe can use.
gilbert@hwcs.UUCP (Gilbert Cockton) (05/22/85)
>Latin would also be a useful interlingua: the Romans spread widely enough >to DISTRIBUTE considerable quantities of their language LAUDATE CAESAR IMPERATOR DEUSQUE Lingusitic exports to kalends of March in the Consulship of Fordus VERBS NOUNS ADJECTIVES PARTICLES Gall CCXLII MCCDL CMCDXLIX IDMCIX Briton DCCCIV MMMMI IC LXXXVIII Iberia III CCCDII MMMMMMI DCCCLXXIII Egypt CCCLXI MCMXXI MMDCCXXXI I NOTA NON BENE The having being offered the subjunctive Iberians have fled by, with or from the verbs. Hearing the adjectives, the fit to be elocuted Britons refused to buy. "On the one hand the particles are small, on the other they have no obvious translation" reported the pharoah's scribe. Would that the Galls demanded a lesser part of our nouns.