why does everybody speak english?

[jonemo]

there are so much other nice languages in the world,. think of
Helenistic, Latin

or also modern ones like
German, Spanish.

I think it is part of the general education to speak one of them. A forum would get more lively if there would be different languages. Oder findet ihr etwa nicht?

[beernuts]

That's quite possibly one of the most nonsensical things I've ever heard. Everyone speaks English because it's a common tie. I think you would find that if you started out with a board where there where multiple languages spoken, you would find they would eventually choose on one. It just so happens that this board chooses english. It is most likely the devs' native tonue, and it's known by a lot of people. If you were to start speaking a bunch of different languages, the forum would become the opposite of lively, because many people would be left out of the discussion depending on what language you're speaking in.

[Verb]

Well, i speak English becuase i live, and have always have lived, in England.

is that a good enough reason?

if you want to find a forum where the language is not english, maybe try looking for one without an american or english domain. like http://www.phpbb.de/forum/index.php

[tykeal]

Those other languages that you mentioned might be part of a general education somewhere, but not here in the US at least not in any of the schools I ever attended. Yes other languages were offered, but not a single one was required.

I voted for 1 (english) as it's my native tongue. I took a couple of years of Japanese while I was in high school but since that's the only place I ever spoke it (and I never became very fluent) it's pretty much rotted right out of my head.

College saw me try to pick up ASL (American Sign Language) but yet again, it's rotted right out of my head because it's not something that I use.

Now I admit, english is a rather rotten language. But it's become the most common language on the Internet from what I've seen. It's probably due to the fact that >50% of major websites are in the US *shrug*. Of course, I've probably got blinders on and it may well be some other language

[MoonBuggy]

in the UK it's required that you do at least one forign language from ages 12 to 16, but I still voted 1 because I can't really [i75af0]speak[/i75af0] much german, but I can normally read enough to get by

[jonemo]

The reason to post this topic was, to here your opinion about learning and speaking other languages. When the usamerican ones of you say, that noboda learns an other language over there, it is sign of the intellectual poornes of them.
Do you really think, that every person in the whole world should learn english, to be able to get in contact to you?

I'm a pupil - 14 years old - and speak english (learning it since i was 7 years old), latin (learning for 3 years) and hellenistic (learning for 2 and a half year).
Also i'm learning spanish and have few problems to understand italic texts.

I do not say this all to swank. I want to say, that all those languages help to understand the world - and all the other things i'm learning - a bit better.

Perhaps that sounds funny to you. But learning the old languages (latin an hellenistic) changes your point of view ore than to learn maths.

[CLee]

The point of having a common language is so that everyone doesn't have to learn 5+ other languages to speak with each other. All they need is just one plus their native tounge. Since English has already been established as the common language world wide thanks to our British cousins, then there is really little since for Americans to learn a second language. And if they do pick up a second language nation wide, it would probably the Mexican version of Spanish.

[toxckrayon]

for starters, English is the only language I know how to swear in.. and I'm quite learned in that area, not just with the American English, but the British and Australian versions as well.. and I do hope one day to take full advantage of Canadian English.

With that said, many people in the US study foreign languages, mostly in the higher levels of education.. either secondary school or university, some even younger.

The difference is, it's usually elective here. Noone is forced to learn another language. In other countries, where a second language is mandatory, it's usually English.

English also happens to be, by most measures, the most difficult language to learn. It's pretty safe to say that with all of its rules and exceptions, there are probably very few people in this world who can speak English 'fluently.' Fortunately, it's also very adaptable.

It's also by no means a standard, since Chinese is the most widely spoken language by far, but it has become a common element. For Americans, another language is just a novelty / utility, not a necessity, unlike in Canada where the province of Quebec has made it necessary to introduce a bilingual system or in Britain where you're surrounded by countries with native tongues other than English.

I consider it highly unfair to insist Americans are stupid simply because they don't speak your language. Unfortunately, your written skills leave a lot to be desired as well, but then again, I've seen worse from people who speak English as a first language.

[tykeal]

I agree that just because we tend not to pick up a second language we aren't stupid. But then again. I'm "fluent" in multiple programming languages and semi-fluent in math. I may not be able to speak in another countries language but I can be understood by those that I really care to be understood by anyway

Personally I wouldn't mind picking up another language. But since I've been raised with only (American) English being spoken around the house and other languages were a novelty at best, it's [b0aeb0]very[/b0aeb0] difficult to pick up another language for me. I think in, dream in, and speak English. (Well... that dream in thing is a little iffy, I had these horrible nightmares in college all in Pascal *shiver*)

[psoTFX]

[quote4ad17="toxckrayon"]It's also by no means a standard, since Chinese is the most widely spoken language by far[/quote4ad17]
As a first language, English is (or can be) spoken by more people than any other AFAIK ... as well as being the international maritime and aviation language of choice (and business by default).

As for me, I'm pretty useless at any language you can't program in ... including English