On my previous posting, I got a comment
Abdou Diouf is right. The Hegemony of English is a threat to European languages and cultures. 1 billion dollars for multilingualism is nothing compare to the benefits accruing to the UK and to the USA as a consequence of the hegemonic role of THEIR language
I agree. But why am I as a British citizen being forced to pay for this? Why dont the people who demand protection of their languages pay for their own translations?
Also, I dont really see how USA and UK is actually forcing people to use their language. Do you see that? I dont. It just means that people find English easier to use and operate. So I am failing to understand how one blames the UK and USA. Do we also blame India? or Australia?
How about Italy for putting in the hegemony of Latin? Or Greece for the Greek bits? Or how about Saudi Arabia for Arabic? How about Hindi in India? How about the French for the French hegemony in Francophone Africa?
Languages and Religions grow because people are drawn to it and believe in it and use it. If they arent impressed, the language or religion will die out. And no amount of subsidy will save it. It will end up like Sanskrit and Latin !
All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!
2 comments:
I admit to having some guilt being a part of the English wave our world is seeing.
It is by far the standard language in business.
It is by far the most popular second language taught in non-English countries.
And I suppose it's all to our (The English speaker's) advantage.
Why is it that the US and UK are being singled out in the comment? Maybe a refresher course in geography will show that there are other independent English speaking nations in the world too.
Besides, it is an advantage to have a common language to communicate globally. If one is so disenchanted with english, there's nothing stopping one from learning a new language of one's choice - is there? Rather that hegemony, it is a disadvantage to the english-speaking countries ....everyone else speaks their own native language, in addition to english! Non-english speakers score a run....english speakers go home duck!
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