English language losing importance in the EU?

[Martymark]

England left the EU so...it makes sense?

[Shakari]

As much as it is a statement that probably shouldn't have been made to keep things tactful, he do have a point.

The brits have given up their right to complain about what language the EU uses when deciding to leave the union, and the reason for English being the lingua franca have more to do with the US than Britain by now.

Umm not really, the fact the England is 3000 miles closer and has 10 times the history behind the spreading of the language is why its used, also simply put europeans speak to more english people than american.

What the EU will use will be the most commonly used across the most countries, which is British English.

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Cause Murica kicked the British's ass out. There can only be one.

If we hadn't been fighting 2 other wars at the time then things would have been vastly different :P and its not our fault that US has mangled the language

[TripleZero]

English needs to stay as main language, whether the UK is a part of the EU or not.

It is easy to learn and already established as world language. As much as german would make sense for the EU it is too hard to learn.

Also people are lazy and few enough bother to speak good english, alot less would bother with german.

[Shakari]

Not sure if anyone here has experience working in a large businesses, but english will become a whole lot less important in the business world when the UK leaves the trade and business hemisphere of the EU. About ~70% of calls and communication already happen in German or French, as those are the main foreign trading partners, if UK businesses leave or move to those countries (as quite a few are doing) then yes... english will become less important in the european business world.

Anyone who has experience working in a multinational european company can explain you that.

That drunk idiot is apparently smarter and more experienced than most people getting triggered by his realism.

Thing is its not very accurate, those trading with the UK will still be trading with the UK ... no language requirement will change, there will be shifts over time but that generally happens anyway. Most Business's will use what ever is most convenient and currently in place.

Its not as though the UK will vanish and suddenly stop trading with the EU. The drunken idiot is not as smart as you think, he is exagerating by quite a margin.

[oxymoronic]

German should be the standard language in the EU anyway.

sure why not. i have respect for the germans. to come back from losing a world war to owning the continent in 70years is magnificent.

[Vash The Stampede]

If we hadn't been fighting 2 other wars at the time then things would have been vastly different :P and its not our fault that US has mangled the language

What you talking about? We improved English. It aren't that hard.

[oxymoronic]

English -is not- the most spoken language in big european businesses at all. The only time english is used in communications for european businesses is when they're dealing with UK companies -or- in the rare cases with US companies. There are a whole lot more german and french companies who are relevant to the EU economy than UK businesses are and communications with them happen in, you guessed it: german and french.

and thats why your avatar got his ass kicked in a duel and died despite cheating. not knowing shit

[Shakari]

American English is a set of dialects, actually.

And the reason it's called English and not American is because languages generally aren't renamed if the most influential nationality using that language changes. That it has retained its traditional name in line with normal language naming procedures isn't proof that the English are somehow more influential than Americans at this point in time.

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You don't say.

Ummm not quite, if going off pure "number of people speaking" American english is the largest, but thats down to the size of the countries that use it, if your on about geographical reach and number of countries then British english is largest, partial due to the effects of the British Empire.

So which is better, fewer countries with large populations speaking the language and less geographical spread or more medium/small countries speaking it and more world coverage. From the trade, commerce and relations point of view, British English does seem the better option.

Realistically though the arguement is a moot point, as Amercian English is not a language, its a dialect, ie a slight alteration of British English.

[oxymoronic]

No the reason people learn english is due to the simple fact that the UK colonized/owned a majority of the nations on earth at some point over the last few hundred years up to and including that majority of the eastern seaboard. The primary colonists were guess what english and when these folks took control of areas owned by Spain & France and they were told to speak english all this prior or during your war of independance.
Now despite the US now standing on its own 2 feet you still spoke english, not spanish or french but english and why well that is simple trade pure and simple, granted you did try setting up documents in other languages but they all were rejected as the rich folks and the majority of the people in the newly formed 13 colonies were of english background.

all this... when a person can simply say the most important language on earth is whatever USA speaks. whether that is mandarin, english, french, german, tagalog or fucking morse code. USA most important single nation so it will dictate. China is becoming more important, but then again I was around for the whole Japanese fiasco... so i know how it will end, with USA most important.

[Shakari]

What you talking about? We improved English. It aren't that hard.

lol! now thats amusing

[Macaquerie]

Ummm not quite, if going off pure "number of people speaking" American english is the largest, but thats down to the size of the countries that use it, if your on about geographical reach and number of countries then British english is largest, partial due to the effects of the British Empire.

So which is better, fewer countries with large populations speaking the language and less geographical spread or more medium/small countries speaking it and more world coverage. From the trade, commerce and relations point of view, British English does seem the better option.

Realistically though the arguement is a moot point, as Amercian English is not a language, its a dialect, ie a slight alteration of British English.

The thing is, there aren't "British English" speakers, there are British people, and goofballs who try to speak like British people and sound like idiots in the process. American English is more neutral in terms of grammar and pronunciation and isn't filled with as many obscure quirks that you're just supposed to know somehow. Just take music for example, singers all naturally drift toward the American accent because it has the most natural sound, can you imagine what the British invasion would have sounded like if they all sang with British accents?