tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post2460540017897965588..comments2023-10-09T11:42:35.333-04:00Comments on Our Deer Baby: House Stuff and Some People are Funny about LanguagesAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05058163876793685461noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post-49005576524069946052011-07-20T15:09:30.816-04:002011-07-20T15:09:30.816-04:00Ah thanks. My answer to her was a distant memory o...Ah thanks. My answer to her was a distant memory of something I had read before. The only thing I knew for sure is that English wasn't the first language. <br /><br />Sure, I like Arabic, it is a nice flowing script and I don't think they have any of the tonal issues that Chinese has. <br /><br />KarenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058163876793685461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post-1079694721987221672011-07-20T13:20:11.590-04:002011-07-20T13:20:11.590-04:00Here, I googled it. According to this page:
1. Ma...Here, I googled it. According to <a href="http://exploredia.com/most-spoken-languages-in-the-world-2011/" rel="nofollow">this page</a>:<br /><br />1. Mandarin, so you were right - 1,151 million people<br />2. Spanish<br />3. English<br />4. Hindi / Urdu<br />5. Arabic<br />6. Bengali<br />7. Portuguese<br />8. Russian<br />9. Japanese<br /><br />Different sources have them in a different order, though. I vote we make Arabic the universal language, it's supposedly incredibly easy. Plus it will really tick off the Anglo-centric world. :)Mongoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13545512692510569390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post-84424807715135648902011-07-17T00:20:06.223-04:002011-07-17T00:20:06.223-04:00Yeah Wendy, I was amazed too how UScentric she was...Yeah Wendy, I was amazed too how UScentric she was, but I guess it is not totally uncommon around here.<br /><br />Mongoose, yeah, English speakers seem to get 'lazy' language wise because it is understood in so many places, so why bother speaking anything else. <br /><br />I have to admit that I was not sure about Chinese, but I was pretty sure that English wasn't the most spoken language and I wanted to see how she reacted to have another language as 'the world language.'<br /><br />I will have to look into language frequency some time soon, but for now my on line time is very limited between house selling and family visiting so that will have to wait. I am curious though. <br /><br />KarenAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05058163876793685461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post-89288021119641012082011-07-15T15:52:17.188-04:002011-07-15T15:52:17.188-04:00Most people who speak English as a first language ...Most people who speak English as a first language are lazy and undisciplined and you can't teach them anything. Most of them can't even speak English properly, or comply with basic driving rules. Whereas most people who speak Chinese as a first language can do as they're told, and therefore they can be taught. English will be the universal language, and Chinese will be the language of the ruling elite.<br /><br />That being said I'm not sure there really are more speakers of Chinese than of English. All the Chinese do not speak the same "Chinese" and many can't understand each other's languages. On the other hand, most of India speaks English to some extent, and there are almost as many people there as in China. Large parts of Africa also speak English, and many Europeans learn English as a second or third (or fifth, in my case) language.Mongoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13545512692510569390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813998.post-8999360814747920162011-07-15T09:33:14.507-04:002011-07-15T09:33:14.507-04:00You know, because the United States is at the cent...You know, because the United States is at the center of the universe and everything revolves around us, it only makes sense that everyone should learn English. In fact, it should be downright illegal to even THINK in a different language! <br /><br />Jeez...Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07997121014038871131noreply@blogger.com