Language questions
FAQ - Miscellaneous
Why exactly did English become the most powerful language internationally?
In summary, English has become the leading international language due to three different factors. Firstly, the language came to have a strong position in large parts of the world through the empire that Great Britain established from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Secondly, the USA became a leading nation technologically, economically and politically during the first part of the 20th century and continues to hold this position. Thirdly, industry, communications and international contacts have developed in the 20th century in such a way that a common language for contact across language regions has become much more desirable and necessary than before. English was there to fill that need, while the other European languages for various reasons were pushed aside. (Source: "The languages and the history", Tore Jansson)
Which are the largest languages in the EU demographically and by number of speakers?
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Is the eurobarometer Europeans and languages reliable?
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What would be the result of changing surveys to read not "are you able to converse in English" but "are you able to win arguments in English?"
That is a good research question. To our knowledge, it has never been studied by contrasting these two questions in comparable surveys. In arguments you have to persuade your opponent in some way, and persuasion, like all parts of rhetoric, demands full control of the language that you have to use in that situation. A politician who is forced to use a language that he/she can't use at an adequate level acts against his/her own interests (and those of his/her voters). The same applies to ordinary citizens.
Has Esperanto failed?
Please view the response on the separate page.
