The E.U. Language's

zeemoud · 17-05-2001 11:52PM #1

I'm was just after reading the topic about how the english language has broken down over the years and lost alot of its power.

Then i had a novel idea what if the E.U. had one language we would not have to worry about other people learning slang versions of English/French/German. and as the E.U. is basically self sufficient we could be alot better at communication.

and so o thought some more!!

the it sprung to mind LATIN, Latin is one of europes riches languages and so many great works have been in latin over time.Imagine if we all spoke the same language and had the same money and were all one big family!

It may be hard to Learn now but as time would pass we could have better teaxhing and so on.

At the moment there is no other viable available because lets face it no French person wants to speak german as mother tongue and visa versa(see i've learnt latin already)

TwoShedsJackson · 17-05-2001 11:58PM

Originally posted by zeemoud:
Then i had a novel idea what if the E.U. had one language

It already does. Esperanto.

Magwitch · 18-05-2001 01:20AM

If you had left him be Castle Troy he would have twigged it eventually in a moment of blinding relelation (or at least have written his idea to a public newspaper)

Keep your powder dry and your pants moist

C B · 18-05-2001 11:18AM

In truth esparanto is rarely used and hardly anybody understands in properly. It is not a living language and it is devoid of the cultural nuance that make language such a beautiful thing.

One of the most wonderful things about Europe (and that which seperates it from the US) is that it allows distinct cultures to exist in mutual admiration rather than force them into a "melting pot" to create some sanitised, homogeneous glob.

The ability to understand the language and culture of other individuals is essential if we are to understand, respect, and cherish their perspective and opinions. Which in turn is essential to the creation of a truly liberal and progressive social dialogue.

In short lets help our children to hear as many voices as possible in the fashion they were supposed to be heard. Imagine the gift of being able to read Voltaire, Machiavelli, or Dostoyevski, in the manner the were written, full of cultural nuance and hidden sub texts rather than an immasculated Penguin paperback.

P.S. Perhaps teaching Latin and German to young children may lay the foundations for this.

Hobbes · 18-05-2001 01:59PM

Originally posted by Schwarzfahren:
I'd agree with CB. You'd lose more than you would gain by having a monolingual E.U.

yea we'd have to start speaking to the French!

Magwitch · 18-05-2001 04:05PM

Very True CB

I have no talent for languages (in fact quite the oppoisite). However I have travelled and do have a grasp of the main European languages. I do however speak with a degree of confidence an Eastern European Language. In learning it (and it took time believe me) I came to under stand not only the roots of that nations culture but the mind set behind it.

In the fullness of time a "mixed" language will evolve, probubly a product developed buy low/non skilled non-European migrent workers.

However it is the diversity of languages that makes the EU unique. Language is absolutly fundamental to the way we interpret the world around us. Subtle (or even major) differences in grammer etc lead to an almost entriely different perspective on an event or an idea to the person observing.

There are far eastern languages for instance that if you drop a plate you would say "it jumped from my hand". This takes personal responsibilty out of the hands of the individual. You can probubly see hoew this would affect a mass of people (ie. a indiginous group or nation as a whole) This is of course a more extreme case but I do know a guy who went to Italy to learn the language so he could read Italian philosophy. If he did not, he argued, he could never really understand it.

Long live diversity and may we kick our own national habit of lingual laziness.

ps. I would point out that there are in excess of 300,000 esperanto speakers in the EU. I think our own lack of exposure is due to the afore mentioned laziness as a nation (the curse of all English speakers)

Keep your powder dry and your pants moist

Hobbes · 18-05-2001 04:23PM

I thought the european language that everyone understood was to speak each word very slowly and loudly in English.

azezil · 18-05-2001 04:36PM

i don't see the point in having a 'european language', why not just encourage the development of universal translators which can fit into a nice little badge

, problem solved!

"just because ur not paraniod, doesn't mean they're not after u!"

Victor · 18-05-2001 11:38PM

Originally posted by C B:
In truth esparanto is rarely used and hardly anybody understands in properly. It is not a living language and it is devoid of the cultural nuance that make language such a beautiful thing.

Yeah, how do you say "gwan ye finething" in either Latin or Esperanto?

Latin may be a great circus, but does it provide bread?

Changing call sign to SIERRA PAPA OSCAR OSCAR FOXTROT.

Schwarzfahren · 19-05-2001 12:06AM

I'd agree with CB. You'd lose more than you would gain by having a monolingual E.U.

"Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est"
-Francis Bacon
Schwarzfahren.net

Blitzkrieger · 19-05-2001 12:55AM

of course there's some people who've never heard of esperanto.....

Well if you look at the Eurovision song contest, you'll go blind (da-dum-tissssch). Only three countries had the cheek not to sing in english.

English is going to be the international language because of the sheer wealth of the US.

Clintons Cat · 19-05-2001 01:14AM

In the fullness of time a "mixed" language will evolve, probubly a product developed by low/non skilled non-European migrent workers.

How do you mean? Surely they would just learn the language of the host nation and communicate in that.When i worked in Oxford Street Wimpy burger bar there was an unofficial "English Language Only" rule in place,the management would reprimand anyone speaking in tongues as a result there was a lot more social interaction between the various nationalities that worked there {turks,itallians,afro carribeans,brazillians,indians,brits}than in workplaces i have worked where no policy exists,where people seem to gravitate to their own ethnic group and converse in their own language.

Dun · 19-05-2001 09:20PM

Social interaction is one thing - loss of culture is another. English only rules tend to raise inferiority complexes or discrimination as far as I have seen.

Manach · 19-05-2001 11:29PM

My choice of a second language would also be Latin, in memory of the last time there was a Pan-European empire, and the fact that everyone will be equally poor in it's speach.

Greenbean · 20-05-2001 12:05AM

Hmm, I hear the respect of cultures thing (arguing for disparate languages) - but to be honest that doesn't entirely work. To truely and really understand another person its absolutely undeniable that the better the communication between people the better they get along, languages can only be a barrier in this respect - this is a gigantic con for the disparate languages argument.

Blitzkrieger · 20-05-2001 03:07PM

I'm tellin' 'ya english is the future

The sheer wealth of the US and it's corresponding influence on the world, means that a lot of foreigners are already learning/speaking english. Learning a new language is difficult for some people and takes time and effort for everybody. The average american will be too arrogant and/or lazy to bother and will adopt a 'our way or the high way' approach. If you want to trade with the biggest consumer market in the world, english is practically a necessity and defintly a big advantage. Result : more and more people will learn english.

azezil · 21-05-2001 12:58AM

Funny thing just happened to me in work, a guy from South Africa came in. He could speak his own language and French and thought all us Europeans spoke the same language, or at least understood each other.

He found it amusing that he traveled all the way from South Africa, learned to speak French, and a little English n hear was I in Ireland, just across the water n hadn't a word of French!

So maybe a "European Language" is not necessarily the answer, but to motivate ppl to learn at least one other European language!

"just because ur not paraniod, doesn't mean they're not after u!"

Illkillya · 21-05-2001 01:22AM

Latin is no good, because of its grammatical structure, it is not well suited as a spoken language. For example, there are some sentences in which the words can be arranged in only one or two ways in English or French, while in latin, the structure of the sentence is not as well definied.
Latin-deluxe sounds good tho.

The E.U. Language's

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