Learning a second language.

[Charlatan]

I think we are all lucky to be english. It is the most prevalent language in the world as it is wide spread, but mandarin is the most spoken. Recently I tried to learn a few new languages from phrase books, and it was harder than i thought.

How do we get the whole world to speak english, or make it easier for them to speak english? I propose we teach the kids 'slang' in thier own language with sentence structure similar to english. This will popularise the language there, and they will know how to put a sentence together. If we were to teach them first the structure, or grammar, and find a way to make people on radios and tv to make jokes as if they were english and otherwise inane aswell, they could easily grasp a few words here or there, and then learn the language that connects the world.

[el ايمان]

I'm not surprised that you failed to learn another language using only a phrasebook. And for the record, I think its a bad idea to try and Anglacise the rest of the world. Why not try and teach everyone Mandarin? It already has the most speakers, and they sing on-tune, to boot.

[Angry Citizen]

Because English is a significantly better language for many objective reasons.

[el ايمان]

Because English is a significantly better language for many objective reasons.

Better than Mandarin? Possibly. But better than something with more regular grammar and pronunciation like Spanish?

[Angry Citizen]

Yes, actually. English is a child of West Germanic languages, North Germanic languages, and Romance languages, taking heavy influences from each. It is in a prime position to create brand new words on the go, and indeed has a rich history of doing so. Instead of taking words from language families entirely dissimilar to its own, English can draw upon its vast history and create words entirely in keeping with other words. This adaptability is why English is so valuable. Its lack of standardization is its strength - although I agree with you that pronunciation and spelling does need some level of standardization. I have thought about introducing French accent characters into some of the novels I hope to write as a test to see if it catches.

[LetThereBe]

I have thought about introducing French accent characters into some of the novels I hope to write as a test to see if it catches.

Make sure to switch over to hexadecimal while you are at it.