For the last 4 weeks I have been occasionally posting on this blog and I have been reading many other fantastic and interesting blogs (so much creativity out there). This has made my think about the languages used in blogs. Although I intended this blog to predominantly be about my artistic creative attempts, I have written some of these random (and sometimes disconnected) thoughts below.
I was born in England and as a child I lived in English speaking countries. My friends were often from many different countries but we communicated with each other in English. I was aware there were many other languages and not everyone spoke English and I picked up a few words of other languages as I went. That was fine with me.
As I travelled through different countries I became aware people were often using English to communicate with each other.
I was in a queue in German speaking part of Switzerland. The Spanish couple in front of me reached the front of the queue and, without any hesitation, started to converse in English with the German speaking ticket seller. That was real surprise for me. I hadn’t appreciated until then how English had become this common language for so many people.
I experimented with satellite TV in the 1990’s and that opened up TV from most of Europe and a little beyond. Suddenly there was French, Swedish, German, Spanish, Finish, Norwegian, Russian, Italian, Dutch, Luxembourgish, Arabic language being heard. Norwegian intrigued me – so many words that are still the same in northern England and Scotland. Why? What is English? Where does it come from? How does this all tie together? What were the reasons people outside the UK were using this language? I started to become interested in English.
The mist of confusion lifted a little when I found out how European Germanic languages developed.
One year I did a crazy trip through Europe: UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtenstein, Austria. By the time I found myself in an Italian supermarket being told the shop was about to close, I couldn’t think what to say in reply. English, French, German… I could hear Italian but my brain couldn’t work out which words in which language I should speak! I mumbled something in French. How do people cope with being multi-lingual???
In much of the world I can travel and only speak English. When I try other languages the reaction is often for the other person to start to speak English (probably because their English is better than my French, German, Spanish… anything!) This makes it easy for me and I am linguistically lazy. I am mostly thinking about conversations with adults – children are different as they almost always have one language and don’t learn another until later, but they rarely judge me as I converse with them in a few sentences of their own language.
Much of the Internet’s pages are in English. As the Internet was created in the US this may not be surprising. But is it good to have one predominant language? I can express myself best in English – does this mean I should always write in English? I am constantly surprised at how fluently and eloquently people write on the Internet when their first language is not English! Sometimes this leaves me with a dilemma – should I offer to correct slight mistakes, or would this be taken as criticism?
English is such a strange melting pot of different languages and I could write so much more… but that’s enough for anyone with the patience to get this far :o)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_used_on_the_Internet
http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/changlang/across/languagetimeline.html
Finding Something from Nothing 
Well said and thought provoking, to say the least :). I have heard before that English should be THE International Language, the one EVERYONE should learn in order to make it easier for English speakers to get along in other countries. I’m on the fence about that. Yeah, it’s nice to have one common language But (and isn’t there always a but?) I feel it’s taking away a lot of individualism. If everyone knows English then what incentive do we have to actually learn another language so when we are able to travel we can ask for the simple things like where the bathroom is, how much that apple is or carry on more complex conversations with complete strangers…exchange ideas and concepts, learn and grow. I like my individuality. I can agree with being able to fluently speak, read and write in one of the official languages in a country if you’re moving there (I’m in Canada so it’s English or French) since you will need to be able to function there for the long haul but I don’t really expect tourists to know the ins and outs of the language when they’re only passing through. You might as well ask an Australian or New Zealander to lose their accent when they fly all this way to be a tourist for a week or two. It’s not going to happen so why should we expect the Chinese, Swiss or any others to learn the language when the odds are they at least (hopefully) learned enough basics to ask simple questions just as I would try to learn at least functional language if I were to visit their country.
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I like the idea of a common language – it makes it easier to talk (I mean listen haha) to the rest of the world – more understanding, less friction.
But there are so many subtleties of language that it takes a lifetime to understand. Those slight changes of meaning depending on which word is spoken which mean perhaps your first language conveys deeper meaning. Maybe?
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Language questions is really interesting. I wasn’t that interested in learning different language back in school, before internet era. Now I think it’s fun trying to read and understand other languages than my first language Swedish. It’s a real challenge to write blog posts in English. I don’t mind being corrected, because I want to write correct. I’m a good writer in Swedish, but in English I probably suck.
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So maybe the Internet is mostly a good thing 🙂 And you were one of the people who made me think some more about English language.
I have to say Anna, you northern Europeans make me laugh when you say your English might not be so good 😉 I have heard better English spoken in Germany, Denmark, Norway (sorry, haven’t made it as far as Sverige yet) than native English speakers in England!!! OK, not everyone, but lots of people.
I think I’m trying to say – your English writing is almost perfect, as is the writing on so many blogs I read :o)
And it would be great if I could find some people who would translate this page into other languages so I can include on this blog post. (maybe that says something about my limited translation skills, but it would be interesting to get views on this subject from people who’s English isn’t that great)
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because Americans are vain and selfish…but you’re right…it’s neat how people from all over the world follow my blog fluently in English and I try to return the favor and check out their blog and it’s in Urdu or something…
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I totally agree. Would be nice to read a short post, that start with one language and then be translated to another language and another and so on. I think many blogs have followers from all over the world. It wouldn’t be impossible I think.
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Reblogged this on FärgaregårdsAnna and commented:
Language discussion I find very interesting.
Intressanta språkaspekter. Läsa gärna kommentarerna i originalinlägget också.
Anna
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Tusen tack Anna :o)
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Interesting thoughts your bring up! I love the English language but I’m open with the fact that I’m still evolving and learning more as I go. Being fluent in four languages, I would say English is my favorite. It’s easy to work with. Norwegian (my everyday language) for me gets to serious. Out of the scandinavian languages, Swedish it’s easy on the ears.
A.B.
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Thank you for your comments and thoughts Amina. They create more questions in my head… I hope you don’t mind 🙂
(Very tired after work so I hope they make some kind of sense)
I see things, little “tells”, when people write in English. People speak of English as being one language but I suppose the main flavours are US English and UK English with lots of other flavours around the world. Favorite versus Favourite? But it’s more than just the way words are spelled. I have taken a number of technical exams written in US English. Although it looks like UK English there is something about the way sentences are formed, the word order, the meanings, that make them just that little bit more difficult to really understand as a UK English speaker. They seem the same but they are not. Much more subtle difference than the difference between Dansk and Bokmål. So many different dialects and words still present in “UK” English.
Why is English your favourite? Are there more words to chose from? I’m interested to know why it’s easy to work with. I guess your 4 languages are the 3 Scandinavian and English (maybe I’m very wrong there!) Some day I hope someone will write in their blog about Scandinavian languages, their similarities and differences. (Or maybe open it up to Nordic languages). Swedish easiest to listen to, Danish easiest to read (quite the opposite to listen to), Norwegian somewhere in the middle (best of both worlds haha). And Norwegian – 2 languages – different dialects – how do you cope with that! I also wish someone would write about and explain Bokmål, Nynorsk, Samnorsk, Riksmål, etc. Maybe too much history gets in the way. Now I’m wandering away from the theme which is “English”…
One day I will also blog about something that seems to confuse even people who live in the UK – the difference between Britain, Great Britain, England, the United Kingdom… :o)
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You bring some interesting thoughts and challenges with the English language. Why English, you ask? Well, I guess one can say because (like you mentioned) it has more words. But mainly because it’s easy for me to express myself in English. It’s hard to explain everything but I’ve written a post in my blog on why I choose to write in English. Maybe that can give you a bit more clarity? 🙂 My native language is French, English comes second and third Norwegian. And weird enough Somali last (my mother’s native language).
Don’t get me started on the dialects in Norway. There’s over 100 dialects in Norway. For me, I speak and write in bokmål. But nynorsk for many, is a pain in the a**. And hard!
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May I ask where you come from?
I suspect Sweden, but I could be wrong.
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http://aminaberg.com/2015/03/02/english-my-thinking-language/#comments
Interesting read and far more clearly and lucidly written than my poor attempts. That’s why I create sculpture – because that’s the best way for me to try to take thoughts and make them into something physical. Whereas for you it is clearly the written word.
Different languages… different contexts… good thoughts.
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Thank you for your kind words. Art can be created and found in any shape and form.
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Jeg er engelsk
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I have since fallen across some related thoughts on English as a Germanic language which may be interesting to read. None of it very new… but interesting read anyway 🙂
http://blogs.transparent.com/norwegian/why-are-norwegians-so-good-at-speaking-english/
http://www.apollon.uio.no/english/articles/2012/4-english-scandinavian.html
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I’ve lived in the U.S. and Britain, and (forgive the generalization here) in both countries people aren’t great about learning languages. Which is a shame, because not only do they let you talk to other people, they also let you experience other ways of thinking, other ways of seeing the world, other ways of constructing a thought.
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It is a shame I may be hard-wired to “think” in English. I wonder if that is true? I don’t feel like it’s true but I may be just kidding myself.
I am not so good at writing and speaking other languages, although I will give it a go and try to pick up some of the language of whatever country I am in. Mostly I just like to converse with people from other countries because their outlook, background, experiences, what they learnt at school, what they read, what they watched on TV, the way they then went on to think about the world – they are all deeply interesting and make me think and question my own thoughts and ways of seeing things. That’s why I love these blogs!
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Hardwired to think in English? From what I’ve read, the brain’s amazingly flexible, making new connections all the time. So learning a language rewires it–if wiring’s the right word for it. Some people have an easier time with languages and some struggle, but I’m guessing that any bit you pick up leaves its track in your brain.
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Cool post! Well.. just the other day, I was wondering the same thing.. why English? Why not ANY other language from across the world?!
But then.. (since my first language isn’t English) it’s really interesting & educative to learn a new language.. isn’t it? 🙂
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I’ve been thinking about your comment since you made it a while back. It seems easier to learn a language the younger you are. Maybe that’s just me! There is a theory that you learn faster when you are younger but you retain what you have learnt better if you are older.
I really should read some theory on this subject 🙂
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So is it a historical accident because the English (for better or worse, let’s not go into that just yet) ended up in so many countries around the world? Or is it actually a useful language with many different words and subtleties? Or is it actually American that people want to learn 😉 Or, maybe, it is pretty useful for the world to have a common language in addition to everyone’s first language and it really doesn’t matter what that common language is?
As usual I have more questions than answers…
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Yeah! It’s pretty much important for the world to have a common language.. how else will they communicate then? 🙂
Hehe.. sometimes, the more you ask questions, the closer you come to your answer! So NEVER stop questioning! 😀
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Apparently, before you’re roughly twelve you can still learn a new language without an accent. After that, no matter how good you are, you’ll never quite match the accent. But even after twelve, yes, I think you’re right, you do have an easier time learning languages when you’re young. Still, it’s possible, as an adult, to learn a new language. I don’t do it as easily as I did when I was in my teens, but I can do it.
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It appears that English is the universal language.
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You wrote a very interesting post …well I am native Italian english is my second language.
I was born and I grow up in Italy until 12 years ago when I moved to US I had 3 years of english in middle school. In Italy we have languages to choose at school: English, French or Spanish in some part of Italy also German it is mandatory, is part of the school system and programs. From my experience learning the basic of a second language at school is great and very useful in case is needed in the future. I see the difference here in US, there is no a second language at school, if you want to learn you have to do it privately if before College. When I arrived here my english was very basic and silly…but pretty soon my basic become more and I think I did pretty good during the years! I have to say that is great to speak fluently 2 languages. Of course I still make some mistakes here and there and I don’t mind if someone correct me…I could go more on with this…but this is a little testimony of my experience…if you would like please visit my YesterdayAfter Blog I am an Artist / Designer everyone is welcome 🙂
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I think it may be developing into a universal language. Not too sure whether it is “the” universal language. Perhaps people in China and South America would have a different view.
A universal language would be pretty useful and stop so much misunderstanding in the World… but English has so much political and historical baggage that comes with it. My problem is I listen to people’s opinions on their first language and their thoughts on language but I have English as a first language and can’t really judge it’s usefulness compared to so many other languages.
I had an interesting conversation with a Lithuanian a few days ago so maybe I will write another post about language 🙂
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We are far behind here in the US in learning foreign languages, fortunately the world is leaps and bounds ahead and we can communicate in English in most countries. Thank you for the lovely article, I agree completely.
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Interesting you should write your blog in English. Did you ever consider writing your blog in English and Italian?
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My Blog is wrote in English only! All my followers are from everywhere in the world and they all speak english…maybe in the future I consider to have it in Italian too I will see. 🙂 thanks for the suggestion.
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Thanks for the follow! Stop by anytime…
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As an Aussie I grew up speaking English and I totally agree, we are very lazy because it is the dominant language. I also have a smattering of phrases in other languages from my travels and people’s faces light up when I try their language … but like you they quickly revert to English as they have far more skills than me.
Nice to meet you!
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English is the language of science, of aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. Knowing English increases your chances of getting a good job in a multinational company within your home country or for finding work abroad. It’s also the language of international communication, the media and the internet, so learning English is important for socializing and entertainment as well as work! Thanks for the information.
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It is great to have one predominant language, but I think that sometimes it can make a person too proud of themselves and forget about learning other languages. In any case, the world is becoming more globalised and if you’re working in a place like Hong Kong (where I’m from), you’ll see that English is often not enough to stay competitive. Anyway, I have a personal blog about language at https://www.megaexplorer.net and I’ve been transferring my posts to wordpress lately.
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