the main language will be...
In the next 100 years the mainlanguage will be.........in millions:
Europe 500-1000 English
North America 500-1000 English with Spanish influence or Spanish with English influence.
South America 500-1000 Spanish with a lot of English influence
South Asia 1500-2500 Hindi with a lot of English influence and seizable English speaking minority.
Africa 500-1500 English, French, Arabic.
South East Asia 750-1500 going to be a toss up between Chinese, Western and Indian influence.
In Vietnam and Thailand there is no question but Indonesia and Malaysia its hard to tell. The Philippines is a joke, they already speak English.
East Asia 1500-2000 Definite Chinese
In the next 100 years the mainlanguage will be.........in millions:
Earth - 0 Speakers of all languages.
<<South America 500-1000 Spanish with a lot of English influence>>.Perhaps 500-1000 Portunhol,not Spanish.
<<South America 500-1000 Spanish with a lot of English influence>>
English influence 0%. Spanish and Portuguese. Bilingual area.
<<North America 500-1000 English with Spanish influence or Spanish with English influence.>>
English and Spanish. Bilingual area.
>> [North America] English and Spanish. Bilingual area <<
You're making me laugh. How do you figure? The states adjacent to Mexico will certainly have a lot of Spanish speakers. But that doesn't mean that say, Wisconsin, or Minnesota, or North Dakota will have any Spanish influence at all--ever. Same with Canada. You'll only hear a lot of Spanish speakers in huge cities like Toronto and Vancouver. And the number of Cantonese and Mandarin speakers in Vancouver dwarf the number of Spanish speakers. And let's not forget French in Quebec.
That's easy. I guess Spanish will be compulsory at school in USA in the near future, like in Brazil. The opposite in Mexico. They will study English. In Canada people will study en, sp and fr.
So, North America will be bilingual in theory, of course.
>> Canada people will study en, sp and fr <<
Sorry, but Spanish is useless in Canada. Chinese is more useful because of Vancouver.
>> . I guess Spanish will be compulsory at school in USA n the near future, like in Br <<
Not gonna happen. We live in a democracy. People would vote that down, especially in states that have little or no Spanish influence--like the Northern states. And many states are passing laws making English the official language. If English were threatened, more states would do this.
if we won't self-destroy, I think english will be 'the lenguage' as first, second, third lenguage but most people of the world will know it.
It will be interesting if a comercial or political union happens in all americas south center north....what do you think will be 'the lenguage'?
I agree with xing about the rest of the world, except europe...i live in spain and people take care of their lenguage a lot here at europe although they know other lenguages too.
Usually a language becomes lingua franca when it's spoken by an area of countries with power to influence the rest of the world. Given that money speaks louder than anything else, economic power is the most important thing.
However, this varies a lot according to economic trends and cycles. Wealth is never stable in a capitalist country: there are the economic cycles. Countries that are trendy now, may make many people to think that learning the language of that country is an investment. But after one or two decades, those countries start to decay and other languages spoken elsewhere become fashionable.
300 years ago, nobody wanted to learn English. English was really a bastard lingo full of corruptions from French and German. Look at what is English nowadays.
40 years ago, speaking Spanish was the opposite of a hype thing. Nobody wanted to know Spanish. Look at the Spanish language today.
In 1989 Germany was at the height of their wealth. Many people started to think that German would be THE language spoken in Europe (and beyond). Since then, living standards in Germany fell, so it's not fashionable anymore.
Anyway, I think that Chinese is an obvious bet.
Russian may also have an important role, specially if Russian speaking countries improve their living standards. If oil prices are high, Russia becomes richer. Then, many people will want to learn Russian. Beware that Russian is spoken in the most centralized area of the world: Euroasia.
Arabic may have also a word, but that depends on the necessary reforms backward Arab and Muslim countries have to do.
Portuguese will be the Brazilian form. It is dependable of improving the living standards of Brazil, Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. If Portuguese speaking countries remain poor, the language will disappear. This seems to be what Spain dreams about Portugal and Brazil.
French? Will have the same fate of Portuguese.
<<Wealth is never stable in a capitalist country: there are the economic cycles.>>
In socialist countries there are economic cycles too. Look at China for example, their economy's facing severe crisis too.
I forgot that Chinese is a group of languages, so among them, Mandarin is an obvious bet.
>> There are sizeable Spanish communities in Northern states like Illinois and New York (third most populous state) <<
There are sizeable groups of just about any kind wherever there are large cities.
>> It will be interesting if a comercial or political union happens in al americas south center north....what do you think will be 'the enguage'? I agree with x <<
Why would there be one language? The European Union is a political union and it has many languages spoken. I'm sure nobody in any of the countries within the EU would give up their language.
>> 300 years ago, nobody wanted to learn English. English was really a bastard lingo full of corruptions from French and German. Look at what is English nowadays <<
English was spread because of colonization. And what do you mean corruptions from French and German? English has very few words borrowed from German. The only ones I can think of off-hand are Schadenfreude and Kindergarten.
>> 40 years ago, speaking Spanish was the opposite of a hype thing Nobody wanted to know Spanish. Look at the Spanish language today <<
I'm not sure what a "hype thing" is. But what do you mean nobody wanted to learn Spanish in the 1970s? Do you mean Americans? Or other people? I haven't noticed any changes in attitude towards Spanish.
>> iving standards of Brazil, Portugal, Angola and Mozambique. If Portuguese speaking countries remain poor, the anguage will disappear <<
Disappear? I'm sure the millions of people in Portugal and Brazil, etc. would beg to differ.
>> This seems to be what Spain dreams about Portugal and Brazil [that it will disappear] <<
Yeah right.
>> French? Will have the same fate of Portuguese <<
Why?
>> Anyway, I think that Chinese is an obvious bet <<
A bet for what? That it will become compulsory in American and European schools.
>> Given that money speaks louder than anything else, economic power is the most important thing <<
I don't see why it would be the most important thing. Imperialism, cultural domination, and entertainment industries are far more effective at spreading a language. That's how English became the world language.
>> There are sizeable Spanish communities in Northern states like Illinois and New York (third most populous state) <<
There are sizeable groups of just about any kind wherever there are large cities.
When I say "sizeable" I mean that 15% of total population living in the state of New York is Hispanic. That's not just like other ethnic communities .
Why would there be one language? The European Union is a political union and it has many languages spoken. I'm sure nobody in any of the countries within the EU would give up their language.
European Union is a very weak political union, nothing that can be compared to the USA. A strong political union always requires a common language. Only Mercosur might achieve the same degree of cohesion than USA because there are only two languages that are almost mutually intelligible.