English has dominated the global economy but not everyone speaks it. The main reason that English has become the head honcho of languages in the business world is because it is spoken by those that have the money to do business; Americans. Now I’m not saying that Americans are the richest people in the world, and that everyone is poor in comparison (well kind of), I’m just stating that America has the largest economy in the world, is the richest country in the world, and has the largest businesses in the world (Wal-Mart being a good example). In other words, I’m referring to the country more than to the individual. So I don’t want you to misinterpret what I am saying.
Okay, sure, I’ll admit that’s not the only reason why English has taken over the global economy (British colonization comes to mind), but I think it’s probably the biggest reason. The fact that English is the strongest language in the global economy has caused a bit of a problem for the non-English speaking nations of the world. I’m not just talking about counties like Mexico, El Salvador, and Peru. I’m talking about other nations like Germany, France, Russia, China, and Japan. Sure some some countries have it worse than others, but there is always a language barrier between nations. Some times the English speaking businesses don’t even take into account the native language of the country they are selling their products to. The English speakers of the world (again referring mainly to Americans) really don’t care about other languages but their own. For example here in America, there is no emphasis on learning a second language. We don’t have public schools teaching Mandarin, or Portuguese. Sure they teach Spanish and French a little, but it’s rare for a person to be bilingual here in America due to the material taught in public schools.
One example of this was when Vicks Vapor Rub was being sold in Germany. Now in German the letter “V” is pronounced as a “F” in English. “What’s the big deal?” you might say, well it just so happens that when Germans would say, “Vicks” they would pronounce it with a German accent, “Ficks”. Now ficks in German, is a four letter word we say here in America that starts with an “F” and ends with a “K”. The American company that sells Vicks, having no knowledge of the German language, started to sell the product. Needless to say that after a few months, the company decided to change the name to “Wicks” (the “W” in German is pronounced as a “V”) in order to quell any discontent customers. I feel like this a good example of a language barrier with English, and at the same time a criticism of how bad America is at foreign languages.
So what exactly are the nations that don’t speak English doing to keep up with the dominance of the English language? How can they compete when they don’t understand the language of the people across the table? Obviously it’s up to the nation dealing with the English speaking nations (America), because the English speakers don’t care much for foreign languages (again America). A lot of countries have adopted English into their schools in order to keep up with how English is dominating the world. Germany for example has a grand English program in their schools. The program makes almost all German children learn English, well enough to communicate with any native English speaker with little difficulty. Of course, they tend to teach a more British influenced English, than an American one, but I guess something is better than nothing. In Japan they have a program for teaching English in which they hire English speakers from English speaking nations, to come teach in their public schools.
The nations that are not as developed as Germany and Japan are having a bit more problems. Sometimes the only way to learn the English language is through higher education. Public schools can not afford to have an English professor, so many have to rely on going to college to learn English. Since you actually have to pay to attend a college many can’t learn English because they simply cannot afford it. In nations like these, not many learn English, and language barriers become even harder. Unfortunately only the rich can learn a language that is so useful for the survival of a business, so competition between companies can easily be won by, who has the better English speakers. This can cause many businesses to go down, and when a business goes down that means that many jobs will be lose, which in turn means a larger rate of poverty.
As you can see, English has changed the world so much. Countries have been making English more accessible so that they can compete with the English speakers of the world due, in large part, to the fact that English speaking nations don’t really care for learning foreign languages. So it’s up to them to learn. But again this really only applies to countries like Germany, which having there own strong economy, can afford to teach English. Countries like Mexico can’t afford to pay to have English teachers in grade schools, even though they would like to. I find it interesting that English has shaped the world so much, and at times am really grateful that it has taken over, because if, for example, Japanese were the strongest language in the business world, I would have a lot of trouble programing my DVD player. But I still have some worries for the future. Will eventually English influence the world so much that other languages will go extinct? I truly hope not because, it is horrible to think my great grandchildren will not share with me, a language that we can call unique and our own. I truly find myself at a loss of words when I think about this.
Levi "Der Schriftsteller" Ayala
Wow there are a lot of great points in your essay and I agree with a lot of what you are saying. Great job breaking the issues down and giving your takes on the various positions!
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe America is the richest nation anymore (I think China takes that title!) but we are among the top economic powers in the world. Between the US and Britain, we make up a large portion of the global market. Because there are two economic superpowers that speak English, I believe that this has helped spread the use of English through the globe. The Vicks example you use is an appalling and also a bit humorous example of the language barrier, I especially liked reading that portion of your discussion.
In my discussion I also went into a fact that you pointed out. In order for less advanced countries to “keep up with the joneses” they will almost be forced into learning English. This in itself is difficult, because many of these countries lack the financial capabilities to teach all the members of their society a different language. Because of this, many of the richer members of these societies will learn English, or have the opportunity to learn, while those who are less fortunate financially will not have the opportunity to learn. This will widen the economic class gap in these countries and maybe create tension between their people.
Though I am an English speaker, I know the importance of those languages which are not as common. They are important for the customs, and practices of ethnic backgrounds that are much different than our own. Though I do not like the fact that languages are being wiped out due to English, I like the idea that individuals from very different parts of the world would be able to communicate as if they were neighbors. It is a difficult subject to tackle for sure!