Comment on Why do Americans always presume that everyone speaks English
lemmyknow@lemmy.today 2 weeks agoIf there’s ever a universal language, why should it be English? Why not Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese? Those are also language spoken by many people. Is it because many (though not all) Americans can’t be bothered to learn about other languages and cultures? If anything, it should be a conlang, such that it benefits no one. Or at least no one is currently raised on it. I for one would vote Interlingua, seeing as it is supposedly easier for and based off European languages like Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, but also English, German, and Russian (or so I hear)
That whole clear and obvious trend I mentioned is a good place to start, but as far as the language nobody currently speaks the last thing you want to say when trying to get everyone to adopt something is that it won’t benefit anyone.
As far as Chinese, Spanish, Hindi, etc. yes those could be a good option but they are simply not the best option.
Well, tbh I do be sometimes annoyed at how prevalent Murican culture is. Especially when you consume content on this lingua franca of sorts. But also, I mentioned Interlingua, which afaik is based on and easier for those speaking many Latin-based languages such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, plus something about English, German, Russian. Which would perhaps benefit many (though not all) equally
boonhet@lemm.ee 2 weeks ago
English started becoming the lingua franca before American cultural dominance even. It happened because of British naval superiority and dominance over trade