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I was thinking similar. Look at when MH370 went missing, the pilots spoke English as do people working in the airports/ tower from what I understand so it's a major language.
I don't know many people in the US that speak Spanish even though we're forced to take a language in high school
There are 41 million spanish speakers in the USA and hundreds of millions in the Americas in total. I can get by in Spanish and I would like us to become minimally a bilingual country of English and Spanish.
English is the worldwide language of commerce more so because of America than the UK. The only other potentially viable language for the EU would be Spanish as many in the US speak it and most of the rest of the American nations do as well.
Erm the US is just one of many countries worldwide that speak English because of the English! After all its called 'English' for a reason! Put it this way what language would I be using right not if the English spoke French? Wouldn't be English would it! So yes the world (including) the US speaks English because of the English!
Erm the US is just one of many countries worldwide that speak English because of the English! After all its called 'English' for a reason! Put it this way what language would I be using right not if the English spoke French? Wouldn't be English would it! So yes the world (including) the US speaks English because of the English!
Yes, historically you are correct but I was referring to the reason English became and is the language of international commerce and that's because of the US in the last 50+ years has dominated the world. The top 5 corporations in the world by market value are American technology companies and 8 of the top 10 highest valued companies in the world are American.
Put it this way, The USA was 1 vote away from making German their national language 200 years ago and if that had happened, German would be the world commerce language.
Yes, historically you are correct but I was referring to the reason English became and is the language of international commerce and that's because of the US in the last 50+ years has dominated the world. The top 5 corporations in the world by market value are American technology companies and 8 of the top 10 highest valued companies in the world are American.
Put it this way, The USA was 1 vote away from making German their national language 200 years ago and if that had happened, German would be the world commerce language.
The US (among 1/4 of the rest of the globe) spoke English because of the British Empire, THAT is why the US speaks the language of the English and THAT is why the world speaks English today, the US made the choice to speak English for a reason you know. English made its destiny when Britain happened to have an Empire at a time the world was shrinking, German would NOT be in the position English is in today if the US decided to adopt German as its language.
The US (among 1/4 of the rest of the globe) spoke English because of the British Empire, THAT is why the US speaks the language of the English and THAT is why the world speaks English today, the US made the choice to speak English for a reason you know. English made its destiny when Britain happened to have an Empire at a time the world was shrinking, German would NOT be in the position English is in today if the US decided to adopt German as its language.
I disagree, had the US adopted German as its official language, for starters, I'm not sure we would have helped the "Allies" in WWII so the entire world history would have changed. We in fact have more people of German descent than English in the US and there was some reticence to us picking sides....had Hitler been able to converse freely with our President in the same language, we might have even been on their team.
Anyway, I know you'll never agree and you won't be able to change my opinion and we will both never know unless we figure out how to reverse time and do a re-run which I'd rather not do because I like how it turned out.
The GNP of India and Pakistan combined is 1/6th of the USA....which is more important to international business policy and banking not to mention tech and military do you think.
Yes the UK was a major trading country and is the reason English became so common but they handed the ball or we took the ball from them over 100 years ago and we've been carrying it and they are the benefactors or at least have been.
Exactly.
Without the USA, English speakers wouldn't have the luxury of not having to learn any foreign language.
I disagree, had the US adopted German as its official language, for starters, I'm not sure we would have helped the "Allies" in WWII so the entire world history would have changed. We in fact have more people of German descent than English in the US and there was some reticence to us picking sides....had Hitler been able to converse freely with our President in the same language, we might have even been on their team.
Anyway, I know you'll never agree and you won't be able to change my opinion and we will both never know unless we figure out how to reverse time and do a re-run which I'd rather not do because I like how it turned out.
German was never going to become the official nor de facto language of the US. There's a myth (which I've just noticed you quoted earlier!) which pops up every so often which claims the use of German lost by one vote, but this has been debunked as there was never such a vote in the first place.
And, as already pointed out, the US is certainly not responsible for the use of English in India, parts of Africa, Australasia etc. It's not even responsible for the use of English in the US!
As for being dropped, it's not going to happen. Whatever official deal (or not) is decided, the UK isn't going to suddenly cease to exist and will still be a trading with the EU in some form or other.
If it is a joke it is a bad one, because I heard nobody laugh ...
Well I guess 5 people didn't think it was a joke.
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