Is English an universal language?英语算是通用语言吗？

靳京

I heard there was a language called "World Language"(世界语) when I 1st started English years ago. However,    this language has been clearly disappearing from the society even though it is still one of the language majors. English is mostly accepted by Nations from all over the world not only at int'l meetings but general communication as      well, which has been regarded as Universal Language. However, I am still wondering if people speaking languages other than English doult about this idea? What's use of learning "World Language" at language colleges for 4 years and later for nothing in work and life? Does anyone here have anything to do/say with the peculiar language that's     even harder to survive? 

 

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很多年前在我开始学英语时，就听说有一种语言叫做“世界语”。然而，尽管今天这种语言仍是外语学院里的一个专业，但他很明显地是从社会中逐渐消失着。英语无论是在国际会议还是在日常交流，无疑地是被世界各民族所接受的语言，俗称通用语言。可是，我所好奇的是，不说英语的人们是否也这样认为？另外，在大学里学习四年世界语将来在社会和生活当中还有何用途呢？有任何人对这个很难火爆起来的特别语言有任何感言和了解吗？

靳京

I would like it to be spreaded throughout the globe.

弘德皇帝

To be frank, it is impossible. You should consider the different conditions and situations among all the countries. It may be easy for the U.S.A, but will it be the same in Swaziland? The level of education is totally different.

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Esperanto is something like Communism assummed by Karl Marx, which is sill a long way for us to persue.

弘德皇帝

我可以很正式的告诉lz，世界语曾经是一种寄希望于全世界各国人们通用的语言，并且由此制作了一面“绿星旗”，但很遗憾的是，这个想法没有成为现实。现在世界语的学习在全世界根本没有落实。如果你想听的话，故宫的讲解器有世界语的。

靳京

I just figured the exact word for "World Language"(世界语 ) is call "Esperanto". It   sounds like Spanish to me.

刚刚看到“世界语”的标准说法，听起来很像西班牙语。

靳京

You are absolutely correct. I think it's very hard for the world to accept also for the lack of language environment. This is not a traditional language with a group of people and culture which attracts other people to follow. It is a pure human creation that pushes others to learn. Therefore, it's been largely ignored. That's why I think it's a total waste of time for the stduents to learn very hard at college level for 4 year for nothing. Another Utopian idealism.

 

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By the way, it would be a miracle if you even thought about being able to popularize Esperanto in the US. Americans are so proud of themselves being born speaking English. They even despite bilingual education.

弘德皇帝

But to me, British English is the better, though most Chinese choose to use American one or Chinglish nowadays.

靳京

You are absolutely right on that, too. However，Americans always think the same thing because American English advances much faster than traditional British English in all cultural and scholastic areas.

 

弘德皇帝

QUOTE:

以下是引用靳京在2010-8-20 10:32:00的发言：

You are absolutely correct. I think it's very hard for the world to accept also for the lack of language environment. This is not a traditional language with a group of people and culture which attracts other people to follow. It is a pure human creation that pushes others to learn. Therefore, it's been largely ignored. That's why I think it's a total waste of time for the stduents to learn very hard at college level for 4 year for nothing. Another Utopian idealism.

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By the way, it would be a miracle if you even thought about being able to popularize Esperanto in the US. Americans are so proud of themselves being born speaking English. They even despite bilingual education.

I can't agree more!!But by the way, British people never regard Americans as the same level as them.

靳京

However, I still think, even today, that British English with standard London accent is still enjoying the utmost popularity in the world, there is no doult about that. Most people, like our Chinese, started it with the standard accent. However, it has been THE Americans, their English and culture(s) that make the North American accent so popular here in China whose people have been trying to follow the US as a model in almost everything other than language study. On the contrary, right after the old Great British began to decline, its language tends to become more and more conservative like their people and culture, while Americans have kept advancing in all perspectives.

Moreover, it's a lot easier for Americans to learn about other cultures and more reasonable to go learn and teach English as an exchange in foreign countries than the UK becuse the US is a big Melting Pot(大熔炉） with cultures of different kinds, and its people love traveling. Therefore, China is one of their absolute and safe targets to come. Advertisement in the US for teachers interested in teaching in China is much more popular than teaching in Korea and Japan. From this experience, we can certainly tell how much Americans love coming to China, along with job opportunities to stay as longer as they possibly can. Some even live here for good.

弘德皇帝

That's right, when we were young, we all learnt British English, including the pronounciation, grammar, spelling and even the using of sense. But most of my friends have spoken American accent now(the mixture of American accent and Chinese accent). The standard London accent is called cockney. It is just like our mandarin or "Putonghua". I can still remember the cockney voice of my teacher and the passage read in the cockney voice in the tape recorder.

靳京

I do not think it's Chinese students who choose American English or Chinglish to      begin with their language study. It is much of the market that has been taken by most   of the teachers from North America other than Great Britain. To my experience, it has   not yet been a very compatitive business. See how many native English teachers are    from American, and how many are from London or Northern Ireland? Therefore, the    Chinese have picked whatever is more available for their language market than  whoever like to take the market. Plus, the United States as the only super power still enjoys     the so-called best credit in everything in the globe that has been internationally recognized.

弘德皇帝

You are right.

靳京

"the mixture of American accent and Chinese accent" IS entitled Chinglish here even for official news report and proadcast over TV and radio. Even North Koreans imitate this typical accent from Chinese professor of English in China, and have been doing a great job.

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Another reason why people are more active in American English than cockney voice is that American vocabulary and expressions like geographical, cultural, technical, as well as political plaforms are a lot more repeated and widely spoken than Great Britain in all aspects of everyday life in the world. Therefore, people try one way or the other to sound like they are approaching modern English and language development. However, quite few has done the best job possible to sound close to the natives. Anyway, it's much better than nothing. Chinglish is kind of cute,too.

靳京

They'd like their English to sound llike it's different from the British one. But the history was the proof.  

弘德皇帝

that's right. Do not forget that there are so many cities names in USA can also be found in Britain. 

弘德皇帝

that's right, Americans are more relaxed, that's what they themselves even say. From the pronounciation we can also feel it.

靳京

I still remember the college-level ESL classes in America with people from 7 different countries struggling to master the American English in order to get into the credit classes for university. However, I didn't think their minds were yet settled down for it. So it was painstaking to many of them to pass and go. The accent was a big drag to them.

靳京

Once a person has his or her profession, the language only serves as a tool for communication, doesn't it?

弘德皇帝

you are right. Only the man who specializes in English will mind it

弘德皇帝

universal tool？I think it's really reasonable.

靳京

I don't think of the vast difference between the 2 Englishes. My original question was whether the rest of the world and people should take English as their universal tool to communicate at int'l meetings and special occasions.

茶渍酒痕

[BR]I don't mean to offend you, 靳京. You'd better check your spelling of the word "doubt".
[BR] 

弘德皇帝

Understanding is the most important but sometimes not spelling. 呵呵，其实看懂即可

茶渍酒痕

QUOTE:

以下是引用弘德皇帝在2010-11-7 18:07:00的发言：
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Understanding is the most important but sometimes not spelling. 呵呵，其实看懂即可

 

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Right, I can understand. Yet mispelling is one thing, I mean different story. 

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Do you think he will mind my frankness?

后海的鲨鱼

Where is the most powerful country in the world, there is the most popular language among the people. 

靳京

Back to my original question at all, the so-called universal English does not stand for American English only of course, as long as people from different corners of the world are able to communicate and share ideas and prosper all together peacefully.

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Will Mandarin ever become an univeral language of some kind at all? I do hope so but...........

靳京

If ever Chinese Mandarin became an universal language, what would the world be heading in the next century to come?

弘德皇帝

it's really hard for them to learn it. But we should be glad that Cantonese is not our Putonghua, or we will also be busy learning it.

靳京

It would be every hard 1st for Cantonese to become PuTongHua in China before it was considered the universal language. However, people from all over the world would have to tackle Mandarin as their 2nd language if they had to, as Austrilia and some other countries have already taken Mandarin as their 2nd/foreign language at college level to meet the challenge of 21st century while China keeps advancing steadily.