Chirac warns of 'catastrophe' of world 'choked' by US values

[Last Conformist]

@I'm not sure how the Roman Empire proves that having one language is good. It was functionally bilingual on the administrative level for most of it's existence, including the entirety of the "classical" period from Augustus to Constantine. The only times the population was anything like of one language was it's final phase when it was reduced to Greek-speaking bits of Greece and Anatolia.

Needless to say, the EU doesn't amount to anything like "common rule", and for certain won't for a considerable time to come.

[Tingkai]

I don't know if it was more uniformed back then, but assuming it was how does that prove the theory that colonial American English was better?

[LDiCesare]

One of the lessons of the Roman Empire is that one language and one culture were good.

I thought the Romans in the eastern half of the empire used mostly Greek and not Latin.
Having a common language for business is a good thing. Forcing people to use that language everyday would be bad, but I can't see anyone promoting that today.

[The Mad Monk]

Hang on -- I want to hear more about how Shakespeare spoke with a southern twang.

[Sprayber]

Originally posted by Tingkai
I don't know if it was more uniformed back then, but assuming it was how does that prove the theory that colonial American English was better?

It gives you something to go on about

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Tingkai
I don't know if it was more uniformed back then, but assuming it was how that prove to the theory that colonial American English was better?

I'm repeating the comments of Englishmen and Americans at the time.

Besides, if American speech is more uniform, in general it will be better.

As another example, the speaking was clearer (American English emphasized, for one thing, actually sounding out syllables when learning to read - that's an American invention).

An example: Rev. John Witherspoon (came from Scotland to become the first president of Princeton): "The vulgar in America speak much better than the vulgar in Great-Britain, for a very obvious reason, viz. that being much more unsettled, and moving frequently from place to place, they are not so liable to local peculiarities either in accent or phraseology. There is a greater difference in dialect between one county and another in Britain, than there is between one state and another in America."

[Pekka]

Nothing wrong with southern accent.. Some make fun of it, but I think it's nice accent. I'd like one of them cowgirls to come with a gunbelt and cowboy hat on (nothing else!) and say 'come on Pekka darling, ride me like a little pony', and I'd be all Yeeehaas!

[Last Conformist]

It was "better" than what the English spoke in the sense it was closer to the Standard (and yes, there was a Standard version of English back then).

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Hang on -- I want to hear more about how Shakespeare spoke with a southern twang.

Yup, what we call a Southern accent is really just seventeenth century English, and it was used in the North and the South of the colonies.

[DanS]

Surely, in the modern age of literacy, learning a second language is possible without destroying the primary language. This just proves the point that Chirac's fear that the world is choking on American values is absurd at best and borders on willful delusion.

Do you not even know your own country? Look at your national voting pattern and then look at who votes republican vs those who vote democrats. The republicans do better in interior states while democrats do better in coastal states (west coast and northeast US). These voting patterns reflect different cultural values.

Please note that there are lots of very large cities in the interior of the country. Also note that most Americans live in suburbs, not inner cities. So, for instance, the metropolitan Houston and Dallas areas -- among the largest cities and most modern in the US -- are strong Republican.

[The Mad Monk]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker


Yup, what we call a Southern accent is really just seventeenth century English, and it was used in the North and the South of the colonies.

You know this conflicts with generations of Shakeperean actors and historical reenactments, right?

How did they figure this out? I'm thinking poetry and songs, for some reason.

[Kuciwalker]

Well, Boorstin says so, and he's a leading scholar of colonial history, and this book (well, a few chapters of it, but I read the whole thing) is part of my high school US history curriculum, so...

[Kuciwalker]

Plus, it makes sense.

[JohnT]

Funny how Chirac doesn't warn of a catastrophe of a world 'choked' by Western values, of which the Anglo-American is but a subset of a larger group that includes, a-hem, France.

[JohnT]

In case anybody cares, American films have represented 28% of Palm d'Or winners since 1939 (18 winners). However, even our made-for-TV productions have been known to beat out the worlds best cinematic creations, as was shown last year when Gus van Sant's Elephant, a movie first aired on HBO, won.

Palm d'Or winners by BO take: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/...?id=cannes.htm