this post was submitted on 25 Feb 2024
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Unpopular Opinion

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[–] SquiffSquiff@lemmy.world 33 points 8 months ago

OP: You haven't given any positive rationale- this sounds like idealism

My counterpoints:

I live in the UK. I can get to several other European countries in time to have lunch there and be back home for supper. I have visited several of these countries. In each case I have attempted to speak the local language (I studied French at (high) school for 5 years). In each case, as soon as I open my mouth, locals respond in English with apologies that their English isn't perfect (it's usually fine anyway). As a result it is almost impossible to improve in that language since there is little opportunity.

You are forgetting the 'common language' problem: Let's say you have parties from 2 different countries or states that speak completely different languages. What language do you choose for communications between them? one-on-one you might take turns but what happens when you have 3? 4? or maybe 20-50 like India? What language do you suppose Poland and China communicate in? What language do you use to cover news in science and technology? The other trade languages have largely lost out to English on the world stage.