What is the official language of the European Union?

Criostóir,

If ur going to write, can you write bi-lingually in Gaelic as well, so I can understand :D?

thanks, :)
ceaser!

As much as I regret it, English is becoming the language of Europe, and of the world for that matter.
Simply because of where it's spoken.
Australia speaks English, and we're almost on the opposite side of the world from the British Isles. In Hong Kong there's a big English speaking community, as does Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.
USA and Canada are also English speaking countries.

Don't forget Holland and Scandenavia, especially Holland! You can live in the Netherlands and you would never need to learn a word of Dutch! My unlce Bill lived in the Netherlands for eight years, and never picked up a word of Dutch, because everyone spoke English! On my trip, I seemed to have gotten a little extra treatment because I made an effort to speak Dutch! Yet, English is becoming the new language. Even ICELAND, which is way out in the middle of no where, uses English, Danish and Icelandic!

And don't forget London either.......I've been there a fair number of times and on each occasion I was able to find people who spoke English.....

:)

Lucky you! I remember a pub in London where I was thought to be the only native English speaker in the crowd. I didn't dare tell the poor bloke that I had a foreign passaport. The fact is that when I'm not sun-tanned I look like I'm almost from anywhere in Europe. ;-)

I have questioned many times myself if the English Diaelcts spoken in the Southern United States should be classified as their own languages. I have seen many films from the US, and I think that many require subtitles. The Slang and prononciation is soo bad! British English can be just as bad, Scottish English (especailly from Glasgow) can be hard too to understand, even for fellow Scots! Personally, I think that the most beautiful and best English is South African English, it is very proper and beautiful, and the Dutch accent to it makes it really really lovely to listen to!

Subjectives opinions such as the one I've just read would only make a very poor linguist and we should try not to prejudge varieties of English because of accents or pronunciation. There is no such thing as the most beautiful English. As far as communication and understanding goes there is a formal international variety of English with minor national differences in countries where English is native. The educated Australian, NZ, South African, Irish, British or American all correspond to beautiful united English in variety. It's like those who say that Quebec French or South American Spanish would be bastardised versions of their European counterparts no matter how well they master their own languages. If I may say so, and I apologise beforehand, defending that the best English has got a geographical setting is absolute bullshit.