will chinese replace as the world`s international language?

AssassinsMace said:

I don't think whatever has anything to do with which language becomes more dominant. It has everything to do with how multilingual a country is going to be. English is the dominant language that buys time for Americans who tend not to care about speaking any other language. English may be the dominant language but still the majority of the world have native languages than are non-English. There's going to be a day where Americans will feel left out and paranoid when they see people of different nationalities in business speaking a language they don't understand. I've actaully known more Americans than not who automatically believe when they see two people speaking a language other than English, they're talking about him or her. India brags about how their English skills give them an advantage over China. Why are they behind China then? How has China become the factory of the world for foreign corporations? I read an article about doing business in China and it interviewed a businessman from Mexico. He traveled over to China where whoever he was doing business with there had an interpreter waiting for him that spoke fluent Spanish. The guy was impressed because he said the interpreter spoke better Spanish than many people he knew. Human nature people are going to speak where they're most comfortable. How many people that are not Chinese speak Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect? Probably not that many. So how has China become a major economic player in the world? Contrary to what the West wants to believe the majority of China's international business is not from the US and Europe. They maybe the big parts but not the majority. And why did China weather the Western financial storm in 2008 better than expected when those in the West were waiting for China to collapse? Because of maybe China's domestic and diverse international business was conducted where English didn't really matter? I bet China probably is more multilingual than most countries and that's going to be China's advantage.

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I think is not that China or India will take over the world, it is simply the world is becoming more competitive, China and India deserve a place in the world that represent their economic size and the size of their population, however sometimes people lose the real impact of the current economics, definitively China will be a power, a world power, but this sometimes is taken out of context to represent things in distorted way.

Chinese is going to be an important language, many people are learning Chinese of course if they want to do business with China, but from that and say that Chinese will replace English or China rule the world, that is not an accurate picture of what really is happening in the world.

Before i did not know the whole aspect of the industrial development of nations like Brazil, India, China and even my own nation, Mexico, and what i have seen is of the 20 countries of the G20 all have developed so many technologies that basicly are very similar in industrial development, i think China is leading the BRIC nations in terms of pace of industrialization of a developing nation, but i have found that India has a very well developed industry, and the same applies for Brazil, these nations are not going to use Chinese exclusively for business, it is possible brazilians mexicans, argentinians or Indians will start to learn more Chinese, but it is going to be the same for Chinese, Chinese will learn Spanish, portuguese, hindi, and when they do not speak those languages they will simply use English.

MiG-29 said:

Chinese will learn Spanish, portuguese, hindi, and when they do not speak those languages they will simply use English.

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Are you trying to counter his point or just add to it?

AssassinsMace said:

I bet China probably is more multilingual than most countries and that's going to be China's advantage.

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kyanges said:

Are you trying to counter his point or just add to it?

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just saying that Chinese language will increase in popularity in the same way spanish, Hindi or portuguese will do.

I will give you an example, in Mexico there are several Chinese companies that sell the cars under a mexican name, most mexicans do not speak Chinese, so the main languages they are using in business between China and Mexico are English or spanish, of course chinese language interpreters are becoming more popular, but this is in the same way Japanese is now demanded, people want to learn Chinese but also Japanese but in no way Chinese will replace the place english has for mexico`s commerce.

And this is because many latin Americans know China is an important trade partner and business opportunity, but also they know India is a major trade partner and the same is for the USA or the EU, we are not going to be dependant in commerce to a single trade block, in the case of Mexico and Brazil; India and China represent the same opportunities and challenges.

Besides Chinese and English, another popular language is Spanish. Chinese may not become a dominant language in a multipolar world, but it is definitely one of the major ones. If you are doing business with someone and can speak their language, you gain a new level of respect in their eyes, which is why the number of people learning Chinese worldwide is increasing (another reason is China's interesting history and culture). Also, Chinese language is popular online, just due to the sheer number of internet users from China.

I'd have no problem either way. Good thing I'm fluent in both languages.

How far will India's English advantage go? Not much. Just because IT and computer programming are important these days, the fact is in the macro sense of the computing world it's only a niche market because again the entire world doesn't speak English. IT and computer programming aren't going to be the pillar of Indian employment because the fact is you don't need that many people to do it. It also says something that Chinese programmers consistently beat and rank on the tops of international programming competitions. Where's the English advantage there when the universal language is really ones and zeroes? The emergence of China and the Western centered financial crisis has brought about emerging economies in the non-english speaking world. Something some probably thought was impossible and never would happen. China seems to not expect everyone to speak Mandarin and instead accomodates if possible those who don't speak it. The ability to adapt seems more important than who's going to have the dominant language. A dominant common lauguage is overrated by those that stand most to lose. It will only be a convenience and not paramount.

AssassinsMace said:

Where's the English advantage there when the universal language is really ones and zeroes?

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Nobody programs in ones and zeroes. And English *is* an advantage when competing for outsourced IT jobs from the US.

English is the language of business, and the Chinese people are very aware of that. English is a mandatory course in school.

However, on a macro-level, the real economic advantages are a stable society, a competitive work force, and a pragmatic government.

solarz said:

Nobody programs in ones and zeroes. And English *is* an advantage when competing for outsourced IT jobs from the US.

English is the language of business, and the Chinese people are very aware of that. English is a mandatory course in school.

However, on a macro-level, the real economic advantages are a stable society, a competitive work force, and a pragmatic government.

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Didn't I say English buys time for English centrists now? It's because that's how the English speaking powers have shaped the world? Speaking English is only a convenience. It doesn't give you and insurmountable edge or else India would be beating China. The world is changing and speaking English or finding a need for a any dominant language is not going to be as important. If English were so important in computer programming, why don't Indians beat the Chinese in programming competitions? Their English skills they say are better than the Chinese yet they never place in the top ranks. What does that say? And how come they don't dominate non-English speaking countries computer programming if everything is in English?

Did I say that the Chinese don't teach English? I said what's important for the future of a country doing global business is not bothering with a dominant language. It's the ability for countries to adapt to other people's languages is what's going to give the edge.

Let's use China's history as an example. China closed itself off to the rest of the world thinking it didn't need anything from anyone else. That made China unaware what was out there and couldn't adapt to potential challenges. And it cost China. Just imagine those who live so comfortably only knowing English thinking they don't need to learn any other language. Thinking English will forever be the dominant and most important language is like those who ghost wrote the bible for God speaking of the entire world as the only world they knew of at the time in which China and many parts of the world doesn't exist. God didn't know those parts of the world that he supposedly created? Those are the sign of times. Just like thinking English will and forever be the most important language. Those that believe that also believe the Western English speaking system will be forever because it's the dominant player today. But who's to say tomorrow? Just like the big mistake of those who wrote the bible. So unless the first language English speakers of the world plan to enforce English by any means necessary, English will be relegated to a convenience. If English were as important as they say, then India would be ahead of China. China would've collapsed soon after the Western financial crisis. The emerging economies would not be non-English first langauge speakers. China would not rank in the top of computer programming competitions. If it were that important then none of these things would be happening. Because China teaches English, it doesn't make official that English is the dominant language. It tells you China is more open to other languages. Like I said before, China's international trade is majority not with the US and Europe combined. Do Chinese do business with Koreans or Japanese in English? They do it in one or the others' language. That's called adapting. And look at the ridicule English speakers make of those who don't speak English well. That makes those who don't speak it well revert to the language that is more comfortable which ain't going to be English. There are so many signs that English is not going to be as imporatant in the future many in part because the English speaking world is shooting itself in the foot.

Just an anecdote: A Californian said:" If English was good enough for Jesus Christ it is good enough for me". That was about providing for Spanish speakers in communication with authorities and half a century ago.

siegecrossbow said:

I'd have no problem either way. Good thing I'm fluent in both languages.

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Certainly good for you. Very soon, you could be posting the same message as above, but in chinese language and on a chinese language equivalent of sinodefenceforum.com, rather than here.

Looking forward .... if sinodefenceforum really wants to attract quality people, it should change it's base language from English to Chinese.


Else, it runs a risk of being swallowed by chinese language defence forums


That is just my prediction for the future (.... very near future, actually).

A clear clue is the opinion of all the posters on this thread ... except Mig-29.

Anyone can see where all of them are headed.