thebrood_guy8
12-10-2006, 07:46 PM
it [English] is everywhere. some 380 million people speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many again as their second. A Billion are learning it, about a third of the world's population are in some sense exposed to it, and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient in it. it is the language of globalization-- of international business, politics, and diplomacy. It is the language of computers and the internet. you'll see it on posters in Cote d'lvoire, you'll hear it in pop songs in tokyo, you'll read it in official ********s in Phnom penh. Deutsche Welle broadcasts in it. Bjork, an icelander, sings it. French business schools teach in it. it is the medium of expression in cabinet meetings in Bolivia. Truly, the tongue spoken back in the 1300s only by the "low people" of England, as Robert of Gloucester put it at the time, has come a long way. It is now the global language
How come? Not because english is easy. True, genders are simple, since English relies on "it" as the pronoun for all inanimate nouns, reserving masculine for bona fide males and feminine for females (and countries and ships). But the verbs tend to be irregular, the grammer bizzare, and the match between spelling and pronunciation a nightmare. English is now so widely spoken in so many places that umptenn versions have evolved, some so peculiar that even "native" speakers may have trouble understanding each other. But if only one version existed, that would present difficulties enough. Even everyday english is a language of subtlety, naunce, and complexity. John simmons, a language consultant for interbrand, likes in a sporting, cooking, social, or methematical context--and that is before any little down words are combined with it. then as a verb, it becomes "set aside," "set up", "set down," "set in," "set on," "set about,""set against," and so on, terms that "leave even native speakers bewildered about [its] core meaning."
How come? Not because english is easy. True, genders are simple, since English relies on "it" as the pronoun for all inanimate nouns, reserving masculine for bona fide males and feminine for females (and countries and ships). But the verbs tend to be irregular, the grammer bizzare, and the match between spelling and pronunciation a nightmare. English is now so widely spoken in so many places that umptenn versions have evolved, some so peculiar that even "native" speakers may have trouble understanding each other. But if only one version existed, that would present difficulties enough. Even everyday english is a language of subtlety, naunce, and complexity. John simmons, a language consultant for interbrand, likes in a sporting, cooking, social, or methematical context--and that is before any little down words are combined with it. then as a verb, it becomes "set aside," "set up", "set down," "set in," "set on," "set about,""set against," and so on, terms that "leave even native speakers bewildered about [its] core meaning."