Who do you side with?

Gabriel:

English by no means the ‘universal’ language

Languages are not only communication tools, but in their diversity they are also integral parts of world culture. Communication and development policies which are not based on respect and support for all languages amount to a death sentence for the majority of languages in the world. It is generally accepted that in the past century the greatest challenge to linguistic diversity has been the spread of English; but, statistics show that no more than ten percent of the world's population speak English as a native language. English is by no means a 'universal' tongue just yet - and in my eyes it is unsuitable as one, along with all other national languages.

Personal experience will show that a person talking in a second (non-native) language will never reach quite the same level of fluency as the native. The beauty of national languages is in their differences, their complexities - but it is these same treasures that make national languages too difficult for intercommunication. This is a reason why an easy-to-learn, auxiliary language like Esperanto should be used to solve the language problem.

Dan

‘Global English’ is already becoming a pidgin language

Paradoxically, I actually think that in the long term, it is the English language that is the most in danger. As English becomes the lingua franca, it becomes primarily a tool for communication between people of different nationalities. Many people will rarely, if ever use it to talk to native speakers. This 'Global English' is already becoming a pidgin language and I think that the idea that most foreigners speak better English than native speakers (quite widespread in the UK) is a misconception. It is becoming acceptable to say things like, "he go shop" and "I learn English three year". While non-native speakers will continue to have a rich, expressive language as a native tongue, English may lose all its depth and leave native speakers with an inadequate language. It seems unfair that I'm expected to speak foreign languages as a native would, whereas speakers of English as a foreign language are only expected to communicate.

Nawal Thorat