On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 "Samuel W. Heywood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > For use as an international language, why don't > they consider adopting Latin instead of Esperanto?
Hi Sam, The UN has 6 official languages - English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic. In most of the world, the 'official' (governmental) language projects are driven primarily by the potential (future) economic needs of the government. In a few (rare) cases, a grass roots demand has opened the door for an additional language to be added to the educational programming mix. Almost always, that additional language has been English. So much of Europe has added English as a required second (or third) language that most of the under-40 population has some capability in English. Add to that the failure of the US and UK to have equally dynamic language education programs and the result is a de facto common ground - English. For better or worse, the common international language is becoming English. The driving force is business (money). Unless you find a way to make learning Latin economically beneficial, it won't happen. Additionally, various UN programs have their own 'primary' language. For example, in the realm of humanitarian assistance the preferred UN language is English. Translated, that means that an applicant for a UN (or UN associated) position must usually be fluent in English, unless local needs create another choice. Usually, that depends upon the scope of the project and which countries are involved. Whenever the UK or the US are involved as major players, the default language is English. In almost every area that has the potential for a humanitarian crisis (including war), the local people want to learn English. I've been working on a mini-version (about 1500 words) of English, so that the leaders in those (crisis) communities would be equipped to handle their own relief efforts and not have to rely upon the foreigners. That, and not Latin, seems to me to be more beneficial and practical. However, I still tell the local guys that they must "Carpe Diem" (seize the day) or somebody else will. Bob - ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com
