Is English an inferior language?

<<English became a global lingua franca after 1945. Before that, English was just the language of the English empire the same way Spanish was the language of the Spanish Empire and French the language of the French empire. For example before 1945 English didn't have the preeminence it has nowadays in sciences, German could rivalize or beat English quite easily. As for diplomacy French had the same importance if not more than English. Definitely English was not a lingua franca before 1945>>

That's correct. The outcome of WWII had a profound effect on the English language. Even so, it took a good 30-40 years before it became widespread across Europe among ordinary people.

German, on the other hand, suffered a catastophic loss of linguistic influence. Not only were large german-speaking areas stripped of their populations but the country had to kow-tow to its new masters and the German language ceased to be an international tongue, although it still has a firm foothold in parts of Eastern Europe.

French hung on for decades but it's decline really seems to have accelerated in recent years. We no longer announce the Olympic results in French, its presence at the Eurovision Song Contest is token and its influence in international politics is continually slipping, even among former colonial nations. Also, French is no longer taught as the main foreign language in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland.

In August 1999 I went on a school trip to Romania primarily to view a total eclipse of the sun, travelling by coach all the way from Edinburgh (via the Channel ferry). In this small town very close to the line of totality my schoolmate and I were billeted with a couple and their 20 years old son who insisted on being called Michael rather than by the Romanian equivalent for that name - my mate and I were both 17 at the time.

Michael spoke excellent English, as did his friend Peter (again - Peter preferred that to the Romanian version) - both of these lads were passionate about speaking and improving their English, and it was quite funny at times to hear some of the expressions they used as they seemed a tad formal to us, a bit old fashioned really, but that's the way they were taught, probably from some old textbooks or tapes or something, but aside from that we had no trouble whatsoever conversing with each other, the four of us...it was an amazing experience.

We were astonished to discover how much they knew about the UK and we had to ask them several times whether they were having us on or something when they said they had never left Romania, let alone going to the UK. The driving force behind all this knowledge was the desire to speak English fluently, and they had achieved their goal in our opinion.....they were lovely lads indeed.

They showed us around their town, and after each stop and time to move on Michael would say: "Let's go - I invite you to follow me, please! I want to show you more!" It was so hard for my schoolmate and I not to giggle at this, he was so adorable, both of them were.

Michael's parents spoke not a single word of English between them, but both of them were able to speak German, as this was the mainsecond language of Romania for many years...until the fall of Communism and the death of the Romanian dictator Ceausescu who ruled over the country until then.

I asked both Michael and Peter if they spoke German and both were quite vocal in their complete lack of desire to learn it.....English is now the language of choice for young people in Romania now, not German.
He and Peter were both cantors in their local Orthodox Church and they "invited" us to hear them sing during one of their services which seemed to go on and on and on for ever more....we thought it would never end. The church was quite full, but the extraordinary thing was the fact that the congregation was segregated along gender lines - males in one part of the church, and females in the other.

They were lovely people but really quite poor, but in spite of their poverty they were happy to share as best they could, but we had been forewarned about this before we even left the UK and we all went equipped with boxes of all kinds of goodies for them, and I even ended up giving away to Michael my alarm clock, my recording equipment (except for the tapes), my watch, my trainers (too small for Michael himself) and a Gap top.....I was told that he would certainly sell them on once we had left. His Mum had to be paid in advance by our school in order to put food on the table for us during our stay.

One of the first words of Romanian we learned was "noroc" - which means "cheers" - a toast, the reason for this being due to the glass of vodka Michael's Dad placed before us at the breakfast table on the first morning. We both declined it saying that Scots don't have vodka with their breakfast, and certainly 17 years old lads don't, but we still said "noroc" as Michael's Dad knocked back his....at eight o'clock in the morning. As I said - lovely people, and Romania is one truly beautiful country, scenically....it was like going back in time about 150 years. We even went to the Castle of Count Dracula in the Transylvanian Alps....spooky.

Oops!! Uriel.....I bow to your superior knowledge - many thanks for all that info......maybe I was just a wee bit too harsh in some of my comments......I really don't think you guys would have stood idly by and watched as Blighty blithely succumbed to Nazi domination. A ruling King Adolf I ensconced among the splendour of Buckingham Palace really would have been an unthinkable abomination not only for us but for Uncle Sam as well, don't you think? A gracious Queen is a much better proposition.

I was indeed aware that I was responding to a troll in my earlier rant - but I don't like to hear Brits being categorised as cowards, no matter who said so.....it tends to bring on a red mist before my eyes.

"They were lovely people...."

Sure it's nice to you when everyone is licking the English-speaking arse. And you just "giggled" because it's so amazingly funny when foreigners don't speak like you and use formal language.

PS Ceausescu should be spelled Ceauşescu. You could've googled that one.

The British not only are cowards but evil people. They massacred the innocent Iraki people.

Guest Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:00 pm GMT
The British not only are cowards but evil people. They massacred the innocent Iraki people.

I think 'The British >>are<< not only cowards but evil people.' would be better.

LIES! The British are not cowards! They are very brave—especially when they are sitting in a pub.

Damian, anecdotal evidence doesn't count for shit. I met a Romanian who was passionate about learning Persian...

It's really rather like this: Most children in Eastern Europe learn the UK version of English due to old, established educational traditions, and most learning material comes from the UK anyway. Yet most kids who actually use the language do so to absorb the products of American culture.

In my country, when teachers hear someone ask whether "American English" will do on examinations or something like that, they usually think that U mean typin lyk d1s or using some heavy slang. UK English is considered to be the standard, but the reason for learning it is, without a doubt, due to America's status as a superpower.

Correct me if I am wrong but wouldnt it take courage to wage a war?
How can you accuse someone of cowardice and warmongering at the same time?

It takes courage to wage a war if the enemy is strong and the defeat is a possible outcome, but you don't need any courage to abuse from your power and destroy a small third world country that didn't pose any threat and make the population to suffer.

Although something that is commonly overlooked is that Iraq actually violated several UN laws that justify a nation losing its sovereignity.
These include genocide, attacking its neighbours and a regime of torture and murder.
The innocent Iraqi people were being slaughtered before the war.
But its much easier to pretend its just the USA/UK being evil isnt it?

<<<In my country, when teachers hear someone ask whether "American English" will do on examinations or something like that, they usually think that U mean typin lyk d1s or using some heavy slang. UK English is considered to be the standard,>>>

I find it amusing that foreign learners of English somehow thing that Americans only use slang and all Brits don't. They are then shocked to find that not only do Brits have their own slang, but "bad English" can in many ways far worse in the UK than in the US and is far less understandable. Perhaps chav-speak should be incorporated into foreign English language curricula?

Amazing, isn't it? Go to the UK and you will hear "ain't" and "she don't" and every other substandard usage in the book -- after all, they invented them! And yet somehow the US is supposed to have reached the pinnacle of success and power while apparently having a population that can only grunt and point.

<<Although something that is commonly overlooked is that Iraq actually violated several UN laws that justify a nation losing its sovereignity.
These include genocide, attacking its neighbours and a regime of torture and murder.
>>


Wow, so the USA should lose its sovereignty.