... in response to Re: EXCUSES, posted by Onephd on Apr 22, 2005"Without some real incentive, neither you or I would Learn 'Language X'".
The incentive--the bonus--for someone studying "Language X" would be immense were the language widely used throughout the world, such as English is today.
The country of Chile is a case in point:
"In Brazil, some lawmakers want to slow the advance of English. But Chile is embracing it. 'We have some of the most advanced commercial accords in the world, but that is not enough,' Sergio Bitar, the minister of education, told the New York Times. 'We know our lives are linked more than ever to an international presence, and if you can't speak English, you can't sell and you can't learn.'"
France, on the other hand, is an antithetical case. That nation seems to despise English. Though French may be more aesthetically pleasing, it isn't as practical on a global scale. English is constantly evolving, thus much richer, more elastic, and a greater tool for innovative expression. It's sort of the Linux of languages.
On one site, the contrast between the French and English languages goes something like this:
"There are fewer than 100,000 words in the French language.
"The central idea of writing is, of course, the idea. Ideas by their very nature are wispy sorts of things. This being so, you can''t grab an idea and do with it what you will. Rather the best for which one can hope is to encapsulate the idea and preserve it for time immemorial in some sort of ethereal amber. We call this amber, language; the basic building block of which is, of course, the word. (We are speaking now as poets and not as linguists.)
"As such, writers of English have the good fortune of having hundreds of thousands of words from which to choose. When you think of it, the English language writer always has at least three words for any idea, each rooted in the Latin, the Germanic or Saxon tongues, and the Greek. Think of a word for human habitation: city, town, metropolis, and so on. And that's just the start. In the English-speaking world we also owe a heavy debt to Algonquin, and Hebrew, and Malay (ketchup anyone?) and Maori, and Zulu and Hmong among a multitude of others. I think you can spot the beginnings of a trend here.
"And then there is the entire realm of 'jargon,' scientific and otherwise, those specialized patois or vocabularies known only to those in specific fields. Computer-related jargon is multiplying at an extraordinary rate. And since English has become the lingua Franca of the Internet, English words are being created and non-English words co-opted at an ever-quickening pace."
http://www.languagemonitor.com/wst_page7.html
There can be no doubt that if someone from LA had a firm grasp of the English language, a greater array of opportunities would be open to them. Many Asian countries seem enthralled with learning English; and imagine the exodus of Filipinos ever occuring if it hadn't been for their focus on English early on in primary schools. The individual Filipino expatriate is a prime example of the global payoff of learning a language other than that attributed by culture.
Aside from the popularity/utility of learning English in the afformentioned places, here's a list of countries where English is an official language or is predominantly spoken:
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Barbados
Beliza
Botswana
Canada
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Liberia
Malawi
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritius
Micronesia
Namibia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
South Africa
Swaziland
Tanzania
Trinidad and Tobago
United Kingdom
United States [for now, at least]
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Even the "enlightened" of the anti-Western leaning nations of the world seem to have grasped this:
"Possibly the greatest concentration of these [English-language newspapers and magazines], paradoxically, is in the region that is commonly stereotyped as being the most resistant to American and Western culture: the Arab world."
The author accurately describes English as a tool that connects the Arab diaspora, "...many of whose members reside in English-speaking countries."
"I've seen the future and it speaks English"
http://headheeb.blogmosis.com/archives/015064.html
This is why Chile has rushed to teach their nation English--and why your novia should rush to learn it:
"'The common denominator of the countries that have done best in this age of dashed expectations is that they are the countries where English is spoken,' U.S. economist Paul Krugman said in a recent issue of Fortune. Besides the fact that English is the language of technology and of business, Krugman reckons that English-speaking countries were largely immunized against the Crisis by the ideological groundswell they underwent in the 1980s in favor of open markets and against government intervention. 'Perhaps the rest of the advanced world missed the tide because it couldn't read [economist] Milton Friedman in the original.'"
The rest of the article is quite interesting, and includes the following observations:
"'You will not rise in rank if your English is way beyond help,' says Philippines Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado."
"'In technology, business and diplomacy, a command of English is essential,' says Najib Tun Razak, Malaysia's minister of education."
"English is now the prime language of learning - perhaps even of thought. 'Books on current findings are almost entirely in English,' Malaysian Education Minister Najib points out."
"If the employer has to choose one of two candidates with similar technical qualifications, but one candidate's English is much better, he will get priority."
"English is the language that offers the single biggest market, the largest pool of talent, the most educational and research capabilities, and the greatest probability of being able to communicate with anybody else on the planet."
"MIND YOUR LANGUAGE!"
http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/99/0730/cs1.html
