“It says here that English is becoming a second language in schools these days”
“Really? What’s the first?”
“Profanity”
English is third (or maybe fourth after Spanish)
Second is txt mssg.
jb
HJ,
the ‘English’ language situation in Australia is so bad that even those of Caucasian background, who spend twelve years in schooling, still are unable to receive/accept a basic ‘native’ language education. It seems that under political correctness, while English is the only compulsory subject in higher education (college), little effort is taken to learn it correctly. It is more a status symbol to talk as they would text a message.
The Federal government is also legislating that a condition of accepting Australian citizenship is to prove the ability to actually speak English (so much for embracing a multi-cultural society). Even native born Caucasians are not required to be proficient in English useage and yet those who seek to accept Australia as their new home are penalised.
From memory, my stay in California around ten years ago, statistics were told to me that Spanish was the more commonly spoken language, with English taking second place.If we sent all the illegal immigrants home that would change…
Warren,
Be careful what you wish for, just imagine … who will pick the produce, why will wash … (insert your favourite) and on and on and on it goes.
Most of what we get in the stores here comes from Brazil anyhow. All our good veggies go over seas.
A law passed by the Legislature recently went into effect in Kansas, making English the official State language, and limiting use of other languages in certain applications.
JimC.
Hooray for Ks lets hope the rest of the states get on the band wagon. Later RJD
Ken,
Every time I read and/or listen to that kind of spiel, I’m reminded how close that supposed vote was way back when. Can you imagine the official language would have turned out to be German? Or Pennsylvania Dutch for that matter. That would have been an absolute scream. 
I’m a firm believer in “If you come to our country you should speak the language!” And it really p*sses me off when I buy something and I have to turn the instructions 10 different ways to find the English ones.
Wow! You read the instructions? I’ll have to try that some time. Yeah, right.
You’re right Ric. Don’t waste your time. You’ll only thumb through 10 pages of instructions only to discover that the only thing in English is “Plug the cord into the wall outlet.” Everything else is in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, German, French and Arabic.
Warren Mumpower said:English is rapidly becoming second or third. Soon the primary US language will be one of: Spanish, Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian etc), or Indian/Pakistani. I don't speak any of those. I guess I'll have to go back to school to learn the now, new American language.
I'm a firm believer in "If you come to our country you should speak the language!"
John Bouck said:The fact is, languages change over time. All languages. And it seems that the older we get, the more concerned we get. But if language didn't change and evolve, we'd all still be grunting at one another in caves.Warren Mumpower said:English is rapidly becoming second or third. Soon the primary US language will be one of: Spanish, Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian etc), or Indian/Pakistani. I don't speak any of those. I guess I'll have to go back to school to learn the now, new American language.
I'm a firm believer in "If you come to our country you should speak the language!"
English is probably more prone to change than most languages. It has a very mixed pedigree to begin with, and is very open to new words and phrases constructions. That is one of its great strengths: it will tolerate change and it will tolerate misuse. Add to that the fact that it is the language of several of the world’s strongest economies, and you have a language that is well placed to be the world language of trade.
In other words, English is in no danger of extinction. On the other hand, a language as robust as Russian has enough English in it now to cause concern. And the French have laws against it.
English is changing over time and space (though I doubt it was ever one cohesive language). Californians tend to find Australians hard to understand. I met an American cab driver in D.C. that I couldn’t understand. And I wonder if the British can understand one another.
So take heart. Our beloved language will survive and flourish and change, just as it has always done.
I didn’t know there were any Americans left in DC…
Now, if you want somebody you can’t understand…and he’s not Brit, go to New York…:?
Kevin Morris said:
........................................So take heart. Our beloved language will survive and flourish and change, just as it has always done.
And it is a very versatile tool to use profanely.
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:Kevin Morris said:
........................................So take heart. Our beloved language will survive and flourish and change, just as it has always done.
And it is a very versatile tool to use profanely.
Intersting you should mention profanity. I was, at one time, thinking of doing a Masters or PhD on that very subject - before the need to eat got the better of me.
Profanity is fascinating in terms of its neurology (it seems to survive intact even after major brain damage), its history (words that were once vulgar are OK today and vice versa), and culturally (how to insult people of other cultures).
Insults are fascinating. The very strongest of insults seem to vary from one culture/language to another. For the English, it’s sex. For the Germans, it’s excretion. For the Spanish, it’s religion, and for the Inuit, it’s intellect. I expect there are other priorities, eg. personal hygene.
But alas my academic days are behind me so I play with trains instead.
Kevin Morris said:Hans-Joerg Mueller said:Kevin Morris said:
........................................So take heart. Our beloved language will survive and flourish and change, just as it has always done.
And it is a very versatile tool to use profanely.
Intersting you should mention profanity. I was, at one time, thinking of doing a Masters or PhD on that very subject - before the need to eat got the better of me.Profanity is fascinating in terms of its neurology (it seems to survive intact even after major brain damage), its history (words that were once vulgar are OK today and vice versa), and culturally (how to insult people of other cultures).
Insults are fascinating. The very strongest of insults seem to vary from one culture/language to another. For the English, it’s sex. For the Germans, it’s excretion. For the Spanish, it’s religion, and for the Inuit, it’s intellect. I expect there are other priorities, eg. personal hygene.
But alas my academic days are behind me so I play with trains instead.
One of my “vices” is cruising the language section when visiting bookstores. A find that needed to be bought was “Talking Dirty”, if the fora weren’t such genteel places (hehehehe) that would be quite a resource.
:lol:
Well guys, if you ever get called something and you have no idea what the hell it ment, type it in here…
Its greatly expanded my appreciation of the English language in all its variations…