Goethe, (1749-1832)
“A different language is a different vision of life.”
Federico Fellini, Italian film director.
“The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein
“Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. They certainly make life richer for those who know more than one of them.”
Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word
“Language is our mother, we absorb it with our mother’s milk. Language is our oxygen, our chlorophyll. We are inseparable from our language. Language is inside of us. It’s in our heads, but also our hands, our sexuality, our bodies. Ripping our language from us is like ripping out half a pound of flesh.”
Bernard Pivot
“Poetry is what gets lost in translation.”
Robert Frost, American poet.
“The world is a mosaic of visions and each vision is encapsulated by a language… every time a language is lost, one vision of the world disappears.”
Professor David Crystal, British linguist, honorary professor, University of Wales, author of “The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of the English Language”
“A person’s humanity is measured by the number of languages he speaks.”
Slavic proverb
“English is not the world language, but broken English is.”
A proverb from Internet
“If you put yourself into the state of mind of Europe in the 15th century, Latin has a very beautiful future ahead of it…
… If, on the other hand, you put yourself into the state of mind of the world today, English has a very beautiful future ahead of it.” ”
Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word
“Everywhere, our language is shedding tears
Because its children are turning away from it
Leaving it alone with its heavy burden” Poem in Ouolof (Senegal) Useyno Gey Cosaan
“My language, my precious possession
My language, the object of my affection
My language, my dear art”
Maori poster (New Zealand)
“If Guarani is lost, who will pray that the world will not also be lost?”
Guarani proverb (Paraguay)
46 arguments…
The media, politicians and hearsay… all agree in saying that English is: dominant, essential, omnipotent… in short, THE language that you need to be able to speak. Without English, you’re lost!
Certainly, the “omnipresence” of English cannot be denied, and it’s useful to be able to speak the language of Shakespeare with dexterity; but does this “omnipresence” allow us to conclude that possessing English is sufficient, or that learning other languages is no more than an intellectual exercise?
Is English enough for travelling, for mutual and subtle understanding between people and cultures, for studying, for working and for a balanced personal development…?
Is English the first or the only language that you need to know?
Are other languages useless or at best secondary?
Would life be simpler if we all spoke one language, avoiding the constraints and perils of multilingualism?
in other words…
- monolingualism: is it a prospect for the future, an ideal that we should desire and defend?
- is multilingualism a barrier to the exchange and diffusion of knowledge?
Based on the opinions of experts, sociologists, linguists, English-speakers and non-English-speakers, the testimonials and experiences of travellers, students, teachers and professionals, the following 46 arguments are going to prove the contrary! (and at the same time offer you some food for thought on the dangers of such a position).
- Because there are 6912 living languages in the world!
- (Number of those languages that are nearly extinct: 516)
- Because 92 per cent of the world population is not English speaking
- Because 873 million people speak Chinese as their native tongue, as against 340 million for English, which also comes in behind Hindi and Spanish!
- Because there are five billion people who don’t speak this language.
- Because in Papua New Guinea, they speak 820 different languages (living)
- Because English is the language with the most words (about 250,000)
- Because Spanish doesn’t have any irregular verbs!
- Because in conquering the world, English is loosing itself
- Because English is not as easy as we think
- Because of the limits of a lingua franca
- To develop your capacity for creativity and problem solving
- Because a predominant language = a predominant context
- To travel to… the USA
- Because linguistic skills bring business opportunities
- To combat linguistic and cultural genocide
- To keep your mind healthy
- To discover the legendary Silk Road
- Because languages improve learning ability
- Because English is not the most important language in some regions
- Because do we really want a world with just one language?
- Because the vitality of languages depends on their interaction
- To get to know your own language
- Because languages reveal new worlds
- Because languages are vital for international negotiations
- To gain a competitive advantage
- To see life from another perspective
- To expand your world
- To protect and preserve different cultures
- To increase your chances of finding a mate
- Because it’s easy to mingle when you’re multilingual.
- Because everything sounds better in French.
- So you can read newspapers in foreign languages and discover what they’re hiding from you.
- So you don’t go blind trying to read subtitles on foreign films.
- So you can pretend to be a foreign tourist when cornered by a ticket inspector.
- So you can impress your date by speaking the lingo to the waiter.
- So you can finally read instruction manuals from cover to cover!
- So you can whisper sweet little nothings in multiple languages.
- Because prices are always 50% higher when given in English.
- Because the locals will let you in on where they’re hiding all the cheap, excellent food & wine.
- So you can watch something other than CNN in foreign hotel rooms.
- Because otherwise all Europeans will you’re think you’re ignorant, arrogant and small-minded.
- Because otherwise all Europeans will assume you’re American.
- Because otherwise all French people will assume you’re an idiot.
- Because it’s fun.
- Because there are hundreds more arguments!
English-speakers’ points of view
