This article particularly caught my eye. The statistics say total ad spending for the first half of the year is $2.88 billion, a 2.3% increase over the same period last year. Also, Spanish-language cable tv is up 75.3%, to $104.3 million, in the first half. A final statistic is that Spanish-language national magazines are also up 14.3%. This is surprising, and probably more so than most because I came from a non-diverse background, and I find it somewhat intimidating. Part of the reason I find it intimidating is because I've always had this notion that if you come to America, you should learn English. To provide what I consider a justifiable counter, if I wanted to visit China, I would impose upon myself a duty to learn Chinese before visiting.
My reason for this is multi-fold, and this post is in part a response to comments I have received. For simplicity and harmony's sake, I feel having to know only one common language is important. Whether it be English or Esperanto or Spanish, it matters, but not significantly. The reason I feel English is the most practical and efficient to learn (even though it's neither practical nor efficient as a language) is because A.) It's the language of business, B.) It's the language of medicine, and C.) it is the most internationally adopted language. When I say internationally adopted, I mean that people in positions of power and influence learn English as their second language more-so than any other language. Another reason I think English is important is because it is based on a mostly-logical alphabetic system. While there are some complaints, it's not like Mandarin with a difficult character system.
A final reason why we should learn one language on top of our native language (if it's not English) is that it makes communication much easier. In terms of programming languages, XML is considered somewhat of a holy grail because it is seen as a language that eliminates many other languages. It provides a common system of expression no matter what type of programming you are doing. Even though you can get specific with special-purpose programming languages, if that special purpose is no longer necessary, then the language is dropped because it no longer makes sense. In my analysis of programming languages, ideas and concepts are very, very similar, but the ease of which they are expressed, and their flexibility in creating dynamic solutions matters most. This is how I feel in general about languages, and even if English isn't the best language, I feel that there should be some language as the worldwide language.
Original Article: http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6497920.html
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3 comments:
I am glad you are willing to take a stand on this contentious issue! However i have a couple comments. first, think about WHY english has become the dominant language in business etc (i.e. the imperial roots...). How might people in other countries who don't view the spread of english? in light of this, does a single language really seem "simple and harmonious" for everyone, or just for those already in power who speak english?
i absolutely agree with you. I think people should learn the language of the land. For you are not saying that English is the "best" language, which people seem to gather from comments like this. But, rather, you state that if you went to China, then you would have to learn Mandarin, which is absolutely true.
Something about this post makes me think of the Tower of Babel. Something just doesn't feel right about everybody speaking the same language.
When you say "...having to know only one common language is important. " is this on a national or global level?
The language of dominance is constantly changing. It was Spanish, then French, and just recently English. With the strong economies of the EU and China, who's to say it won't change again?
What's logical about our alphabet system? Read these words: live, read, alternate, lead, minute. They all have two very distinct possible pronounciations with different meaning. The number of rules our alphabet breaks is really quite alarming. I would pick Spanish for this argument.
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