Do you think that English is the universal language? Should there be a universal

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   Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years ago

   Do you think that English is the universal language? Should there be a universal language?
   
   English is the predominant language in about 70 countries. But if you think it should be the universal language, then why do we need to translate our public documents into so many foreign languages here in the U.S?

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   dailytop10posted 10 years ago

   Yes. I believe it is. It's probably the most used language in the world today. English is also easy to learn so making it the universal language is not a bad idea.

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      Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your comment. I learned from "tsmogʻs" comment that Mandarin and Spanish are more commonly spoken languages in the world, with English coming in 3rd. Interesting...

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   tsmogposted 10 years ago

   There are 13 different major languages spoken by half the world population I discovered for an article on education. English is a prime leader spoken more than not because of location naturally being the U.S. The U.S. is third in ranking for population led by India and China. Again we see English as a language is third following Spanish and Mandarin ranked first. (I peeked
   
   That leads me to believe it is not universal as yet. Should there be a universal language? I agree with yes while saying English is probably the universal economic language. Business I fathom a guess is predominantly conducting with English.
   
   Here in California commonly Spanish and English are available most everywhere with public forms. U.S government forms are available with a click in different languages on the internet. I look at Wikipedia and Project Gutenberg (Free ebooks with expired copyrights leading their available publications) for mainstream language demands.

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      Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the facts about Mandarin and Spanish being more widely spoken than English, although I agree that for business itʻs probably English more commonly used.

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      tsmogposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have been researching Teaching recently Hawaiian Scribe. These came up while I was discovering what a teach in the U.S. pretty much must have awareness of in that field today. Languages popped up with reading and writing skills taught and etc.

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   sheilamyersposted 10 years ago

   I don't think there needs to be a universal language, but if one was ever chosen, I don't think it should be English because it's the most confusing one I can think of and most people have a difficult time learning it. And if anyone agrees it should be English, then I need to ask if you mean the Queen's English or the American version because while they follow the same rules of grammar, there are many differences in spelling and what words are used to name things. That alone should show how confusing English can be.

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      Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Growing up with English, I didnʻt understand how difficult a language it really is until I tutored ESL and then I saw the silent letters, different pronunciations for same spellings. It is really hard to teach non-English speakers & to learn it.

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   GuitarGearposted 10 years ago

   We translate public documents into foreign languages because, for the time being, we want the people who speak those languages to fully understand what we have written.  There may come a time in the future when the people who write the documents won't care if "those people" understand.  They will become a small segment of the disenfranchised lower class who will be subjugated to the will of the ruling class if the escalating economic disparity in this country continues.

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   liesl5858posted 10 years ago

   Yes, English is our universal language that every country needs to interpret their own language. Without English, I don't know how we all cope trying to understand other people's language without the English language. If you know how to speak the English language as well as your own language, then you are able to communicate with anyone.
   I am glad to have learnt it.

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      Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree, being bilingual is very important in todayʻs world.

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   M. T. Dremerposted 10 years ago

   A universal language might be useful for travelers and international relations, but I think that establishing one would run the risk of losing a little bit of culture that makes each country so unique. Imagine, if you had a choice which language to learn, wouldn't you pick the one that gives you the most opportunity? Which means virtually all other languages would die out, and I think that would be a loss, culturally and linguistically.
   
   However, if a universal language was established it really shouldn't be English. As sheilameyers pointed out, its one of the hardest languages to learn. It's also one of the most convoluted. I once heard the English language described as a thug that takes other languages into the alley, beats them up, then rifles through their pockets for extra vocabulary. It's kind of like the current U.S. system of measurement versus the metric system. It's possible to see the current system as 'easy' when you grew up with it. But in reality, the metric system makes more sense.

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      Hawaiian Scribeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, coming from Hawaiʻi where ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi (the native Hawaiian language) was made illegal to be taught in public schools from 1893 until 1983, I know how a language dies out. We are now regrowing the language but itʻs been all uphill.

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      sheilamyersposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hawaiian Scribe: I hope the native language springs back to life. I've never been to any other countries, but I think it's very cool to hear the various languages.

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