Of course the Bulgarians will debate ebulliently in Bulgarian, just as the Italians will campaign indefinitely in Italian. And the French will argue fervently in French, while right up to the end, the Finns will deliberate in Finnish. But when the MEPs come to Brussels, they will all speak one language.
And it won’t be Romanian. Sure, Commissioner Leonard Orban is all for multilingualism, and the full report of his imposingly-named “Group of Intellectuals for Intercultural Dialogue” concluded that “Promoting a ’second mother tongue’ strengthens multilingualism and intercultural dialogue,” but there is something called “reality” and it will certainly make its presence felt this year.
For one, the enormous costs of maintaining the EU’s translation and interpreting services will have to be questioned at a time when industries and countries are fighting for economic survival. Then, there’s the environmental aspect of generating so much paper-based documentation. Making it all digital would be a rational alternative, but it would not address the crux of the matter.
Enter English. And here is the proposition in favour of getting all MEPs to use the world’s lingua franca:
The evidence points to the imminent collapse of the European Union’s official language policy, known as “mother tongue plus two”, in which citizens are encouraged to learn two foreign languages as well as their own (ie, please learn something besides English). Among Europeans born before the second world war, English, French and German are almost equally common. But according to a Eurobarometer survey, 15-to-24-year-olds are five times more likely to speak English as a foreign language than either German or French. Add native speakers to those who have learnt it, and some 60% of young Europeans speak English “well or very well”.
That’s Charlemagne in the 12 February edition of The Economist. Hard to argue with the logic of “English is coming“.
Quoting Philippe van Parijs, a Belgian academic, Charlemagne adds that “speakers at EU meetings automatically choose the language that excludes the fewest people in the room. They do not use the language best known, on average, by those present (which in some meetings will still be French). Instead, they seek the language that is understood, at least minimally, by all. Thanks to EU enlargement to the east (and poor language skills among British and Irish visitors to Brussels), this is almost always English.”
Yes, let’s learn as many languages as we can and, yes, let’s honour their diversity and beauty, but let’s not waste millions on denying the reality that one of the 23 official languages is, luckily for all of us, better suited to saving resources and money than the other 22. Especially when those resources and that money could be, should be, used more effectively and efficiently in a time of crisis.
(16 votes, average: 3.50 out of 5)
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As a certified Bachelor of English fluent in three unrelated languages (a Germanic one, a Slavic one and a Finno-Ugric one), I would also like to add that despite the opinion of native speakers, English is by far the easiest common language to learn. Unless we all agree to adapt Esperanto as the EU’s official language, there are some very good reasons why it has to be English.
Funny that Charlemagne should write in the Economist on 12 February that, according to a Eurobarometer survey, 15-to-24-year-olds are five times more likely to speak English as a foreign language than either German or French. Add native speakers to those who have learnt it, and some 60% of young Europeans speak English ‘well or very well’”
- because only this morning, 23 February, I have heard from my friend, Professor Renato Corsetti, an education expert in Rome University, that while most Italian children try to learn English at school, they learn it unsuccessfully, ending up by speaking English badly. Commissioner Orban, ignoring what happens on the ground, persists in maintaining his policy of multilingualism, even though it is failing and is bound to fail. Human nature is against it. English has been developed for internal use, and I love it, having been born and bred in England and having taught it to English children for forty years. But every national language is too complicated to be used internationally. Even MY lovely native language is very difficult for foreigners to learn - and expensive, too, as learning it takes a long time. This problem will not go away, much as some English-speakers would like it to. They get a kick out of being superior to foreigners in their ability to express themselves in English. I get no kick that way. My kick comes from having learnt Esperanto and thus being able to communicate with foreigners on EQUAL TERMS. It’s a nice feeling. More English-speakers should try it. Esperanto can be learned for nothing on internet. All that is required is a bit of good will. Best wishes to all who are going to have a go. David Curtis, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
Ohh nice post however , really??
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