| Stephen,
When you say "In the years to come, I think English will still be the dominate language of the world, just look at Japan in the 70' who was almost the second richest country in the world, but her culture and language are not adopted by the rest of the world." You have to remember that Japan, although the world's second-richest country, has still been a distant second to the USA in GNP since WWII, with a substantially smaller population. Thus using bigbro's "buying power model" (which is applicable, at least to a rough approximation), Japan's cultural reach is still much less than that of US for a long time period, and things like broadcasting and movies out of Japan are a lot less. Still, it's not accurate to say that "her culture and language are not adopted by the rest of the world." I don't know exactly what you mean here, because the culture/language of USA hasn't really been adopted that much either, as I pointed out in my post before-- people tend to stick to their native cultures or adopt elements of a "regional beacon." If you mean that English is widely spoken as a foreign language and US books/films/TV have popularity outside of the US, that's true, but frankly that goes for Japan too. Here in the US Japanese culture-- especially in things like manga and anime-- is a trendsetter for some elements of USA culture. Lots of US students like to study Japanese as do many in Europe-- Japanese culture is truly enormous in California, and since I moved east I've found it to be pretty popular around here too. And in East Asia, Japanese culture is very widespread, all the Japanese TV and music pop-stars, despite the fact that so many people, especially us from Korea, were brutalized during the Japanese occupation. My point above was subtle so I'll restate it: I have nothing against people in East and South Asia becoming more conversant with English and using English on signs and in public places where a lot of tourists gather. At out present historical moment English is the language of the world's most powerful country, and the language in which a lot of interesting culture and useful technology is expressed. What I am arguing vehemently against is this lemming-like stupidity-- yes, stupidity-- that makes people act as if they're "left out," "primitive," or "behind the curve" if they don't speak English like a native. In Korea, many parents used to send their kids to America during their formative years-- separated from their Mom and Dad-- or do this awful procedure to cut the muscle tissue beneath the tongue, b/c they wanted them to speak English without an accent. This is an outrage, and it just shows that too many people are caught up in the fad of the moment. Tomorrow is always another day, folks, and what's hip and important and popular today may be much less so tomorrow. That's why it's important that cultures in developing countries, especially those in East Asia, take pride in and reinforce their own ancient cultures and make sure that they maintain a close connection with them. In the long run, I'm not sure what historians will say about the world in the early 21st century-- probably the USA as the world's sole superpower will be an anomaly, a temporary blip. And if countries jettison their own cultures in favor of the USA-fad-of-the-moment, they'll be left adrift and ruined if that powerful countries is no longer so powerful. Even today, fluent English is useful for a small subset of people in East Asian countries in a subset of jobs that involve a subset of business, tourism, hotel industry, whatever. That's many millions of people, obviously, but this should categorically not lead to drastic changes like the adoption of English as an official language in a country which has been producing great literature, philosophy, and music in Korean for many millennia before the USA came into existence, or even before English materialized as a language. That's just lemming-like stupidity, and forgetting our ancient history while becoming too wrapped up in what may be a passing fad. Wangjianshuo, IMHO China should also restructure its own educational system somewhat-- the Chinese government overemphasizes English way too much in the curriculum. Again, it's fine for people to have a basic familiarity with English, but only a small fraction of students are really going to have the aptitude for language as a main subject, and an even smaller number will actually use English practically for a job when they finish high school and university in China. I frankly believe that China is wasting an enormous amount of time and money on English in the educational system, when the Chinese would be a lot better off using some of those resources in the curriculum for mathematics, science, technology, engineering, and native Chinese culture, which is one of the richest and most ancient in the world. This is categorically not "turning inward" or anything like that-- it's just plain common sense. Just offer upper-level English courses as an elective subject the way they do in Europe, and for those who really like English and want to master it (which will still be many millions of people), fine, but it shouldn't be forced upon people the way China is currently doing it, since the vast majority of people won't have much use for it, and in the time they spent struggling with English they will have therefore not learned another subject that might suit them better and be more useful. What's now going on is just a waste, and again smacks of lemming-like faddishness-- different people have different skills, and if some students prefer focusing on math, science, business, political science, music, art, or engineering rather than English, they should be encouraged to do so. This will also help China to become much better off economically, since it won't waste so many resources teaching a language that the vast majority of students won't take to and won't use beyond a basic familiarity, and it will instead be investing in teaching things like science, engineering, and business that will be more useful and efficient, and also cater to students' natural interests. As a final thought, I should supplement what bigbro has stated by pointing out that a language's importance is also a product of how important its people decide to make it in addition to buying power alone. Simple willpower. Although French isn't all that widely spoken as a first language in comparison to, say, Russian or German, French is still important as a world language in part because the French and Quebecers are so protective of it. And since France has such a rich and vibrant culture, both historically and currently, it has a lot to offer, which makes French a still very popular language. People in China especially have over a billion people who speak Chinese and one of the world's most ancient and richest cultures, and if some Chinese people would simply be more admiring of their own language and cultural achievements-- and stop being so meekly deferential to the fad of the moment-- then Chinese will instantly become even more popular as a world language, I promise. Again, it's fine to put up the road signs and public places also in English, but I feel that too many Chinese people have an inferiority complex about their own language and culture, which they should not have. Remember that the world in many ways is what it is today because of Chinese accomplishments in science, philosophy, and technology from ancient times and Middle Ages that spread to Europe. Also, considering the way Chinese people were brutally treated and massacred by the British during the Opium Wars during the 1800s-- even worse than both they and we Koreans were treated by the Japanese later on-- the Chinese would be foolish to become too infatuated with a culture that still carries that historical baggage. Many English-speaking people will look down on Chinese culture if Chinese people cater too easily to them. As Kwong said, anyone who's been in China for 5 years should not be allowed to force a business meeting full of Chinese people to be conducted in English only. Also as Kaili was pointing out, English-speaking people will naturally tend to learn Chinese more efficiently and better if Chinese people themselves regard Chinese as being more important for them to learn-- simple psychology at work here. For my part, I love to speak and write in English and I've even won literary prizes in it, but I never, ever consider English language or culture to be superior to my Korean homeland. They're different and complement each other, not superior and inferior. If we Asians just show our own culture and languages that respect, more Americans will start learning our language and culture, too. I'd certainly feel much more comfortable if more Americans start learning the languages of places they visit, rather than expecting everyone to roll out a red carpet for them. |
Why We Use English Signs?