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[darwin dali]

The predominant use of English is now so boring, it's even turning native English-speakers like myself off of listening to the music.
That's why the suggestion of a non-national language like Esperanto is even more entrancing. Why should Belgium use a man-made language, when a living language, namely Esperanto is more acceptable?

Huh? Esperanto a living language?

[darwin dali]

I'm studying English Literature at university

Gee, I always wondered where you got those nice words from....

Anyway.. sorry, but to be fair, German is a lot more complex and difficult than English (i think it has more words and word combinations as well, I saw somewhere on Wikipedia that german has 9,000,000 words but im not too sure). Both French and Spanish are also more grammatically complex and have a richer vocabulary than english. Italian is easier and simpler than english. But from the wider-spread languages (English, French, Spanish and Chinese) English is the easiest.

The number of 9 million is based on the following (you can read up on it in German only unfortunately, but it's hinted at in Wiki): it's words AND word combinations which artificially inflates the number about 30-fold. A simple example is Dresden, a city in Eastern Germany, not a word per se, just a name, yet listed in that database with 9 million entries total. But not only Dresden is listed, other combos such as Dresden-Altstadt (Dresden Old Town) and others are listed as well. All of them would NOT count as words since they are names and don't contribute to the usable vocabulary. Anyway, it is generally accepted that English has the most words of all languages with an estimate of 500,000 (depending on how you count), German has around 300,000, Latin around 45,000.

As I have pointed out, with English it is rather easy to get to a low level knowledge that affords you the capability of conducting a meaningful conversation - that's part of the explanation for its success as a world language. You don't need a good grasp of grammar and yet most everybody can make sense out of what you're talking about since no inflections or conjugations are necessary to make yourself understood. Even the order of words in a sentence is relatively flexible in English. Try this in German or French and you earn a big fat question mark in response. So, for other languages you need to get to a much higher level of comprehension and mastery until you're able to converse in a meaningful manner.
The difficulty of English (and native English speakers, which I'm not, may not be aware of this) lies somewhere else:
One thing is indeed the richness of the language with the gazillions of words and short mostly monosyllable words that is. So, one difficulty is the huge vocabulary. Another one is the spelling rules (which are very inconsistent to say the least compared to most other languages). And don't get me started on pronunciation rules - there aren't any! In German or Italian or French, once you know the rules, you can read and pronounce ANY text you read in that language. Try that with English! That's why only the English dictionary needs to have a pronunciation key for almost every word listed
So, these are all vocabulary related difficulties.
Another area of difficulty is grammar. Despite its superficial simplicity mentioned above, if you want to speak or write really good English, it gets difficult very quickly. Picking up on the subtle differences you introduce by placing a word before or after another word in the sentence can be a daunting task. Or the stress on words. Just look at this example:

*I* don't think he should get the job.
Meaning: Somebody else thinks he should get the job.

I don't think he should get the job.
Meaning: It's not true that I think he should get the job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: That's not really what I mean. OR I'm not sure he'll get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: Somebody else should get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: In my opinion it's wrong that he's going to get that job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: He should have to earn (be worthy of, work hard for) that job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: He should get another job.

I don't think he should get that job.
Meaning: Maybe he should get something else instead.

And then all the prepositions - their sometimes interchangeable usage is confusing and sometimes introduces subtle changes in meaning as well.
I'm sure I left out some other things - this much for now

[texasmr2]

As I have pointed out, with English it is rather easy to get to a low level knowledge that affords you the capability of conducting a meaningful conversation - that's part of the explanation for its success as a world language. You don't need a good grasp of grammar and yet most everybody can make sense out of what you're talking about since no inflections or conjugations are necessary to make yourself understood. Even the order of words in a sentence is relatively flexible in English. Try this in German or French and you earn a big fat question mark in response. So, for other languages you need to get to a much higher level of comprehension and mastery until you're able to converse in a meaningful manner.

Thank you DD I can now rest my case !

[darwin dali]

As I have pointed out, with English it is rather easy to get to a low level knowledge that affords you the capability of conducting a meaningful conversation - that's part of the explanation for its success as a world language. You don't need a good grasp of grammar and yet most everybody can make sense out of what you're talking about since no inflections or conjugations are necessary to make yourself understood. Even the order of words in a sentence is relatively flexible in English. Try this in German or French and you earn a big fat question mark in response. So, for other languages you need to get to a much higher level of comprehension and mastery until you're able to converse in a meaningful manner.

Thank you DD I can now rest my case !

This is all true unless that is, if you speak one of the only two truly universal languages: math and eroticism

[McLaren Fan]

Good job on typing that out. I could only be bothered to explain it briefly in two sentences! What you say is completely true, which is why Samuel Beckett, an Irishmen, decided to write in French. He said using French made it easier for him to write 'without style'. The order of the words, the words you choose to stress and the synonyms chosen can have a significant impact on a sentence's very meaning. Beckett, and others as well, were very aware of the weaknesses of language, of which that it is one. Indeed, his becoming a dramatist also reflected this, for by writing drama, Beckett was showing he needed more than words.

[texasmr2]

You know I have never downplayed my lack of correct grammar or punctuation yet what we have achieved here with this thread is a common ground. As long as one is understood we should not have to contradict or demean them for such superficial thing's?

[McLaren Fan]

I should also say that English provides politicians with a way out of a tricky situation: "No, what I meant was..."

[texasmr2]

I should also say that English provides politicians with a way out of a tricky situation: "No, what I meant was..."

So very true!!!

[darwin dali]

Or remember this one? It depends on what the definition of is is

[texasmr2]

Or remember this one? It depends on what the definition of is is

DOH!!!

[f1ea]

I'm sure I left out some other things - this much for now

DD, You have way too much time on your hands.
Note that I stressed 'way'... so how does the meaning change there??
This is also common in spanish. Depending on your stressed word, the meaning of the sentence changes.

Guys I have a serious problem concentrating on long texts... so i'll just remind you the initial post I made about why english is the preferred language for simple music writers:

English is easier to make rhymes and its the language to get on MTV with, that's why most 'artists' use it to write songs on. Its full of monosyllables and ###-nyms (words that sound the same but mean something else) such as to, too, two. Easy to place whenever you need a cheap rhyme.

I may not be an English Literature expert like MFan but I stand by what is above

Now... can we talk about engineering, or eroticism?

[darwin dali]

DD, You have way too much time on your hands.
Note that I stressed 'way'... so how does the meaning change there??
This is also common in spanish. Depending on your stressed word, the meaning of the sentence changes.

But does it change for EVERY single word in a sentence like in my example? It does not in most other languages I have some insight into.

Guys I have a serious problem concentrating on long texts... so i'll just remind you the initial post I made about why english is the preferred language for simple music writers:

English is easier to make rhymes and its the language to get on MTV with, that's why most 'artists' use it to write songs on. Its full of monosyllables and ###-nyms (words that sound the same but mean something else) such as to, too, two. Easy to place whenever you need a cheap rhyme.

I don't dispute that at all - however, even though it all started out with Eurovision, etc., we were talking about why English IN GENERAL has become the international language.

I may not be an English Literature expert like MFan but I stand by what is above

Now... can we talk about engineering, or eroticism?

You first

[texasmr2]

Now... can we talk about eroticism?

[f1ea]

You first

Oohhh finalement! Tu sais, je trouve ton Francais très excitante; mais ce que j'aime le plus c'est quand la fille prends l'initiative, alors... la salle est à toi

à bientôt !

[texasmr2]

You first

Oohhh finalement! Tu sais, je trouve ton Francais très excitante; mais ce que j'aime le plus c'est quand la fille prends l'initiative, alors... la salle est à toi

à bientôt !

Yes I agree !