[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Most languages are dying out pretty rapidly, in a historical context. I’d guess that in a few hundred years, our decendents will speak some blend of English, Mandarin, and Spanish. Those that refuse due to ‘cultural reasons’ will find themselves marginalized and relegated to the ‘backwaters’ of whatever society then exists.[/quote]
You’re kidding right?
Dutch is my first language. It’s spoken bij about 25 million people. Those are real millions, with 6 zero’s.
Most people here speak a second, or even third or fourth language like English, French, German, …
But no way is the Dutch language going to be extinct. Not in a couple of centuries anyway.
English is the dominant language atm for international relations, like Latin was centuries ago. And if you wonder why the Chinese didn’t speak Latin, that’s because the Chinese weren’t important then. The world ended at Europes borders. Kinda like the situation you live in now.
Anyway, English is used for international relations. For instance, if a German wants to talk to an Italian, they’ll probably talk English. That doesn’t mean they’ll keep talking English. They’ll switch back to their native language when speaking to their wife and kids.
And especially for Zap, don’t you remember the “incident” when Bush rediculed a US reporter for asking Chirac a question in French?
Please, explain to me how this is different.