English as a First Language? Don't Learn Another Language Then.

[St Leo]

"if you're somewhere where nobody in a 200 foot radius speaks english, you probably don't want to be there"

Are you referring to the Pentagon or to Wall Street? Those folk just don't speak good ol' Silicon Valley English.

[mrmitchell]

Bah. There are 6000 languages, but most are small ones that are dying off all the time. We already are working toward a universal language (sadly).

[mrmitchell]

huh? I thought I posted. Oh well

Bah. There are 6000 languages in the world, and more are dying every day. Eventually, we will come upon a universal language. But it won't be pretty.

EDIT: Oh...the last one wasn't there.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Drogue

Why the hell not?! Why do peasants not count? It's a bit of a sweeping generalisation to say that China is full of peasants. Especially considering it's one of the worlds economicall fastest growing nations. And more people speak Madarin than English IIRC, so it seems foolish to discount it.

I know it sounds horrible, but its true. Its not that they don't count as people, they're just not players in the global market. Business people speak English, and business makes the world go round... like it or not.

China is an economic power because it has over a billion people. And because they are going more and more free market all the time. If you put a billion and a half monkeys in a barrel, they'd be an economic power too. Nothing against the peasants, they just don't count for much because we never hear or see them and therefore never have to interact with them. They may as well be mute.

[Drogue]

We don't see and hear them, but how (or why) would you go about stopping them speaking Mandarin or Cantonese between themselves? I think the shear logistics involved in enforcing all Chinese to speak English would make ti not worth it. The facilitires needed to teach all the world the English language would be immense.

I think we may end up like that, but I very much doubt in my lifetime.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Drogue
We don't see and hear them, but how (or why) would you go about stopping them speaking Mandarin or Cantonese between themselves? I think the shear logistics involved in enforcing all Chinese to speak English would make ti not worth it. The facilitires needed to teach all the world the English language would be immense.

I think we may end up like that, but I very much doubt in my lifetime.

No, no... I'm not saying we should MAKE them speak English. I'm not that much of a ***** I'm just saying if we HAVE to pick an international language, it should be English instead of Chinese because English is much more broadly used.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
Business people speak English, and business makes the world go round... like it or not.

Maybe in Canada but not in China. Have you seen all these foreigners trying to learn Madarin so they can work and do business there? Please, broaden your worldview a bit.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Boddington's
When multinationals move into an area to obtain cheaper labour, they inevitably raise the wage rate in the host country

According to which law in economics?

Originally posted by Boddington's
I reckon those jobs BT are providing in India are really coveted by employees; they will be far better jobs than they are used to. Better pay, better conditions, shorter working hours.

You know those call centres? The operators are trained to speak with a British (or US) accent. Why?

[Imran Siddiqui]

According to which law in economics?

According to any law of economics .

Seriously, multinationals have to pay their workers just a tad bit more than what they would be getting at the jobs they currently work at, or else there would be no workers for the new factory of Nike (or whomever). The wage rate must be raised for a MNC to come in. Which law of economics? Supply and Demand, basically.

[Dis]

well it's easy to say that when you come from an English speaking country

But I'm sure more people speak chinese or spanish than English. Maybe we should conform to those languages.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Dissident
well it's easy to say that when you come from an English speaking country

But I'm sure more people speak chinese or spanish than English. Maybe we should conform to those languages.

Spanish, no.

Chinese, yes. Chinese is the most spoken language int he world.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

According to which law in economics?

According to any law of economics .

Seriously, multinationals have to pay their workers just a tad bit more than what they would be getting at the jobs they currently work at, or else there would be no workers for the new factory of Nike (or whomever). The wage rate must be raised for a MNC to come in. Which law of economics? Supply and Demand, basically.

On the contrary, that is not necessarily the case. In many Third World coutnries working for an MNC is very often a status symbol, so there is no need to increase wages.

Yes it is Supply and Demand, but not in the way you think.

[Dis]

Chinese just isn't practical in the written form. Spanish is much easier to learn.

If anything Spanish should be the official language.

[Nubclear]

Originally posted by Dissident
Chinese just isn't practical in the written form. Spanish is much easier to learn.

If anything Spanish should be the official language.

Chinese isn't practical in written form....?

[Urban Ranger]

Beats me too