The Language of the Future

spreading of culture and influence beyond national boundries is in itself a form of annihilation of the former... it doesn't really matter which side initiates it...both sides are fundamentally changed by it...

for instance, you would think that the english language belongs to the english people? but, i don't think that's been true for at least 200 years...

Re: Asian Time Article...

maybe they should rename this article according the absurd implication: "Is the West ready for chop sticks?"

I look around...chop sticks are almost as american as they are chinese these days with a chinese fast food restaurant on every corner...most people know how to use them having found them in their take out order...

assuming the remote possibility, that chop sticks became the utensil of choice over the say the fork, or even the more universal KFC "spork"......i'm sure we would have a thing or two to teach Chinese about their own invention... ;-) isn't that always the way these things work?

Asia Times just published a rather windy article on the subject:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/IK06Ad01.html

marcosbento,

you are totally right. That makes German grammar an even better choice. And there are definately some languages that need to be mixed in also. Indian languages are probably a good idea, maybe some native american also - makes vocab learning in our fictional language more fun!

;)

Art,

unfortunatelly not. But if there were a Praxis KlingonPod...

But I actually bought a copy of the Klingon Hamlet once (as a birthday gift for a neighbor).

I bet Henning can recite Hamlet in Klingon better than Christopher Plummer did in Star Trek VI. :)

I think language skills alone are not terribly valuable.

Language skills and experience in a particular field is a valuable combination. If you get fluent in Mandarin, aka proficient and functional, and you have work experience in a certain industry, then you could get a job in your home country and get shipped overseas. Make no mistake, learning Mandarin is very valuable, but don't focus solely on Mandarin...I graduated uni 21/2 years ago, and all I did other than my internship, lifting weights and clubbing was study Japanese and Chinese and it was literally the best thing I ever did.

Other than the Chinese accent, what's the difference between British/American English and HK/Singapore English? I always thought that, to the extent that there is a split in the English language, it would be along the Brit/Aussie v. US/Canadian lines. (Sorry Amber.)

Back to Chinese though, it seems likely to remain largely a regional language. English is spoken in a number of generally wealthy countries around the world. Chinese (and Hindi) has the overall numbers, just not the geographical spread; Also, beautiful as its writing system is...

Marcobento,

You misunderstood what I said.

It wasn't about Spanish been the language of Entertainment but vocabulairy of the Spanish Entertainment spraying in the Globish.

No language could take the place of English but English will considerably change.

I think that most of eastern people will move from British/American English to HK/Singapore English.

I vote for Greek!!!

Ελάτε να μιλήσουμε στα ελληνικά!!!

Henning

What do you mean by "- the clarity of German grammar"

That's a myth!!! plural forms in German are a mess! tenses have overlapping forms", and verbal prefixes are too complex, though useful.

what about other emerging economies' languages? Russian does sound good, melifluous sometimes, and its literature is amazing, but nowhere in Brazil do I see people learning it. I like to listen India's music, but the only word I know in Hindi is Maharatma. Portuguese has no future, it is too much like Spanish, which is already spreading around the world.

I don't get why Spanish would become the language of entertainment. Entertainment is precisely Englishs most valueable asset. Hollywood has set English as the language of the movies, of tv shows.

The only serious contender is Hindi. Bollywood movies are popular in Africa, they could gain viewers in other countries.

Face facts.. unless someone totally rewrites HTML and every single web-page out there is recoded to chinese..then we are stuck with english. Databases, applications are all written in english.. except for SAP (German). So in the technical world, english is here to stay.

Given that most of the top10 'business schools' are in English speaking countries, it makes sense to say that business english is also likely to remain on top for a long while yet.

笨 Ben4Toe wrote:　”A thought that I throw out might be what is not the language approach of the future, a mono-linguistic approach.”　　How's that for a proper English sentence? Argh.

A thought. A language approach that might be wise to avoid is the mono-linguistic approach.

Does that make any sense?

Funny considerations there Mongo.

actually, I think its a bit unfair to only speak English...

everybody understands you, but you can't understand them! :-)

its bit like being some type of fool who dances and sings on a stage except with a blind fold over your eyes...you like to think those tomatoes that they throwing at your are roses! but, how would you really know?

So I think the point is not for everybody to know this language or that language.... its to know when to duck when somebody is throwing a tomatoes at you... :-)

Interesting topic.

Isn't the language of the future determined by the language any given individual knows?

Ya, that question really doesn't encompass the whole topic but helps us remember every language has its place.

Knowing Mandarin and English should allow a person positive opportunities as opposed to limited possibilities. A thought that I throw out might be what is not the language approach of the future, a mono-linguistic approach.

In Mexico there is a saying among American businessmen that if you are doing international business in Mexico and you find that you must talk in Spanish then you are dealing with the wrong people. It is unfortunate but it is true. I am sure that this holds true for China also. In my opinion, it is important to learn other languages in order to learn how other people think and what is important to them and also to enrich your own cultural experience. However, unless you are an expert in the Chinese language like John Pasden, Serge Melnyk, or DaShan it is better to deal through a bilingual native whom you trust. I don't think English will be supplanted anytime soon. It is not only the international standard for communication but it is also a status symbol. It is the key to being recognized as an international peer.

"Is English the language of the furur ?"

"Is the Hummer the car of the futur ?"

It's not the right questions to ask.

The questions should be :

In the world what will be the main use of English vocabulary ?

(possible answer : Science)

In the world what will be the main use of Chinese vocabulary?

(possible answer : Business & Production)

In the world what will be the main use of French vocabulary?

(possible answer : Gastronomy)

In the world what will be the main use of Spanish vocabulary?

(possible answer : Entertainment)

...

And aren't multinational companies more and more aware that to cut good business deals it is essential to know more than language, to understand cultural nuances, customs, ways of doing things or not doing things? Of course it takes more than "just knowing language and culture" to get a high-paid position. Depending on the job, other qualifications might rate higher. But if a company who does business with China has to choose between a highly qualified person with no Chinese and a highly qualified person with some or even good Chinese, I would go for the latter.

et le français alors, no French?! new, truly cosmopolitan version of Esperanto then...

I do agree that it's not a question of language dominance, but learning Chinese might still have benefits in a professional environment. Why would we only think in terms of English speakers getting high-paid jobs in China, mainly for multinational companies? What about Chinese companies that will undoubtedly be investing in Western (or other Asian) countries, where the locals they'll be recruiting are ... us? In this context, I can see value in such jobs to speaking *some* Chinese and getting to know the culture beyond fengshui and HK movies.

Ah, and you, henning, can be the one to write the dictionary and teach us all!

=)

To truely reflect the realities of the muti cultural global society we actually need a new world language, an amalgam of best-practices.

So why not build one based on...

- the expressiveness of the Chinese writing system

- the clarity of German grammar

- the richness of Japanese culture

- the melodicity of Mandarin (or better: Cantonese) tones

- the efficiency of Guwen

- the intriguing exceptions of English

- and the gluttoral variety of Klingon

?

According to Ken Carroll and NBC news, 'Mandarin doesn't have a "proper" alphabet', which makes it dificult to dethrone anything.

It will probably take a while before seeing any langauge replacing English as the lingua franca of the world. But i am really happy to see the increasing popularity and interest in learning new languages. For awhile in the Sstate, the students have only two choice of languages, Spanish and French. Now and little by littel, they have other choices like Mandarin, Arabic, Farsi. It is great. You know what they say, by the time we die we are only using 10% of our brain capacity, so it doesn't hurt to tease our brain a little more and learn a new language and culture.

Is having knowledge of a culture and fluency of a language really enough to get you into a high-powered job? Particularly in regards to China?

There was a post sometime ago that made the point that knowledge of a language can sometimes be a career-limiting move. Considering that your knowledge of a culture and language makes you an asset, will taking on such a post give you put you in a position where chances of promotion and opportunity for growth are great, or merely set you slightly below the glass ceiling? Are you a leader or a pawn?

Exactly it's not about dethroning a language it's about getting as good as you can get in as many languages as possible.

There is no indication that Mandarin will dethrone English in the near or far future. But Mandarin will probably increase in importance. As did Japanese when it was the rising star in the world of economics.

Don't get confused by the recent popularity of Mandarin. Chinese will increase in popularity and I personally love the language but it will take time for english to be dethroned. It's absolutely fantastic that Chinese is getting much more recognition then it did in the past but I don't think we can reasonably assume that English will be replaced.

The benefit of knowing Mandarin is not to be able to take posts that are more likely being given to native speakers, but to get jobs where an understanding of the language and culture is helpful, if not essential. If a firm has regular dealings with Chinese partners, has branch offices in China, etc., you might still work with interpreters. But to understand what is going on - between the lines - is just so useful. That's where Mandarin gains market value if you are looking for a high powered job.

In English speaking countries surely many firms would prefer (or indeed have to) hire a citizen of that country. In sectors such as law local knowledge is key - therefore a native citizen is essential. Also in many sectors there are immigration controls which mean a citizen of that country has to get the job. In that context, if a company wants to do a lot of business with China will they not seriously value someone in their firm who can communicate with their business associates without having to rely on the others English ability.