Arabic mandatory at Manhattan public school

[Al B. Sure!]

Which version of the Arabic will they learn? It's more fractured than Spanish. Actually, do kids learn metropolitan Spanish or Mexican Spanish in the US?

Spain Spanish. Vosotros and all that.

[Al B. Sure!]

Soon it might be relevant in the western hemisphere. Or does "global" mean "covering less than half of the globe"?

Is Spanish at all relevant in the old world outside of Spain and the Philippines?

[The Mad Monk]

Spain Spanish. Vosotros and all that.

Not in my school.

[gribbler]

Is Spanish at all relevant in the old world outside of Spain and the Philippines?

If you exclude enough countries, any language is irrelevant.

[Al B. Sure!]

If you exclude enough countries, any language is irrelevant.

Two countries. Two? That's excluding enough countries? 2?

Arabic's spread as a major language:



Then you have more people globally who know Arabic because of Islam, a religion that has spread globally.

Spanish is centered on Latin America, the Philippines, and Spain.

[gribbler]

So irrelevant in Europe, most of sub-saharan Africa, most of Asia, Oceania, and of course the entire western hemisphere is a "global language". Spanish obviously comes closer to being an actual global language. A lot of the green territory in that map is wasteland so it really isn't impressive.

[C0ckney]

even portuguese is more global than arabic.

[Hauldren Collider]

It's just a fact that Spanish and French are substantially more useful than Arabic.

[OzzyKP]

I don't see any reason to knock Arabic or claim it isn't a global language, it is. It is clearly one of the most spoken languages in the world. Of the languages people around the world should learn it is absolutely in the top 5.

That said, among those top 5, I'd put Spanish above it. Especially in the US where Spanish is everywhere. But there is no harm in kids learning the #5 language as opposed to the #2 or #3 one. *shrug*

[gribbler]

It's just a fact that Spanish and French are substantially more useful than Arabic.

Yes, although on the margin more people who know Arabic is probably better.

[DaShi]

They should be teaching the kids a real language like Java or C++, not Arabic.

Like people will still be using those languages in 20 years.

[Lorizael]

Like people will still be using those languages in 20 years.

30 years and going strong for C++.

[DaShi]

Pu^2 is the language of the future.

[Tupac Shakur]

Is Spanish at all relevant in the old world outside of Spain and the Philippines?

Why do you think Spanish is relevant in the Philippines?

[Elok]

Two countries. Two? That's excluding enough countries? 2?

Arabic's spread as a major language:



Then you have more people globally who know Arabic because of Islam, a religion that has spread globally.

Spanish is centered on Latin America, the Philippines, and Spain.

Spanish is also spoken by a rather large (and growing) number of people in the US. And while Latin America (i.e. everything south of Texas, in this case excluding Brazil) is starting to come into its own--albeit slowly--most of those green countries are bass-ackwards dictatorships and/or fundamentalist states who have little to offer besides oil. And we're starting to take green energy seriously. If we ever fill the road with electric cars (which is not inconceivable, especially within the lifetime of today's elementary school students), we will have essentially no reason to bother with the Arabic/Muslim world barring something totally unforeseen and unforeseeable.

[DinoDoc]

we will have essentially no reason to bother with the Arabic/Muslim world ...

293977.gif

No reason?

[Al B. Sure!]

What people are failing to realize is that millions of Muslims outside of the Arab world know Arabic because of Islam. Remember, the Qur'an is in Arabic, prayers are in Arabic, etc. so millions of Muslims throughout the world know Arabic because of the faith.

I dare anyone to argue that Islam is not a global faith.

[Al B. Sure!]

There's a reason why Arabic is among the 6 official languages of the United Nations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officia...United_Nations

The official languages of the United Nations are the six languages that are used in UN meetings, and in which all official UN documents are written. They are:
Arabic
Chinese (Mandarin)
English
French
Russian
Spanish

Then among languages with the most native speakers, Arabic is #5 behind Mandarin, Spanish, English, and Hindi-Urdu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ative_speakers


Everyone is showing their provincial Eurocentric asses.

[Elok]

293977.gif

No reason?

No good reason, if you prefer.

There's a reason why Arabic is among the 6 official languages of the United Nations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officia...United_Nations



Then among languages with the most native speakers, Arabic is #5 behind Mandarin, Spanish, English, and Hindi-Urdu:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ative_speakers


Everyone is showing their provincial Eurocentric asses.

...because it's not useless if the UN uses it? I'll grant you that it's "global," for whatever that's worth. Doesn't mean we should bother learning it once our ongoing conflicts with Islam are done.

[gribbler]

What people are failing to realize is that millions of Muslims outside of the Arab world know Arabic because of Islam. Remember, the Qur'an is in Arabic, prayers are in Arabic, etc. so millions of Muslims throughout the world know Arabic because of the faith.

I dare anyone to argue that Islam is not a global faith.

So what? Is Latin a global language if the Catholic church uses it? Is Hebrew a global language if Jews are all over the world? No.

[gribbler]

Does Al think Russian is a global language because the UN uses it?

[Al B. Sure!]

So what? Is Latin a global language if the Catholic church uses it? Is Hebrew a global language if Jews are all over the world? No.

There's barely any Jews in the world.

And Latin has 0 native speakers. Liturgical capacity alone is not sufficient to make it relevant.

But if a language is #5 in native-speakers PLUS it is a liturgical language, that means something.

[DinoDoc]

No good reason, if you prefer.

I'll allow it.

[gribbler]

There's barely any Jews in the world.

And Latin has 0 native speakers. Liturgical capacity alone is not sufficient to make it relevant.

But if a language is #5 in native-speakers PLUS it is a liturgical language, that means something.

Not really. Japanese probably matters more than Arabic because Japan is one of the world's largest economies while the middle east is full of autocratic shitholes. The only reason to study Arabic (if you're not Muslim or living in the aforementioned shitholes) is to work in the CIA to keep us safe from people living in the autocratic shitholes who are plotting to kill Americans. But you started with the assumption that Arabic must be relevant, then you listed a bunch of the language's traits and claimed those traits make a language important.

[Al B. Sure!]

GDP PPP US$trillion by country/organization:

EU $14.7
US $13.8
China $6.9
Japan $4.2
India $2.8
Arab League $2.7

$2.7 trillion economy is small now?

[Dinner]

Not in my school.

Mine taught the vosotros form and some words which the book said were used in Spain and Argentina only.

[Al B. Sure!]

Yeah we learned vosotros but were told that Latin Americans don't use vosotros but use ustedes. We were taught the vosotros conjugations regardless.

We weren't taught pronunciation with the Spanish lisp, though.

[gribbler]

GDP PPP US$trillion by country/organization:

EU $14.7
US $13.8
China $6.9
Japan $4.2
India $2.8
Arab League $2.7

$2.7 trillion economy is small now?

Yes. 3% of the global economy is pretty minor.

[Tupac Shakur]

I'm still waiting to hear why Albie thinks they speak Spanish in the Philippines.

[Al B. Sure!]

I'm still waiting to hear why Albie thinks they speak Spanish in the Philippines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...he_Philippines

I never said they speak Spanish in the Philippines exclusively or majorally. All I said was Spanish is RELEVANT in the Philippines and it is. It was the official language of government until 1973 and is still promoted.

From the 1987 Constitution:
http://www.chanrobles.com/article14language.htm

Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis.

Even Arabic is promoted in the Philippines to get back on topic. Suck on it, gribbler.

Spanish is relevant in the US, as well. It's not relevant in the Old World, however, besides in Spain and the Philippines, as I said.