Posted by Jakeman on November 21, 2005, at 20:16:57
In reply to Re: France is » Jakeman, posted by alexandra_k on November 19, 2005, at 0:50:19
Alexandra,
I think that's great that you have worked on learning Maori. Some day I hope to visit your country. A New Zealander professor of mine always referred to it as "god's country."
>Yes English has become the standard that everyone wants to learn here and world-wide.
>
> I don't think the majority of people in the world would be happy to hear you say that!I was referring to the fact that English has become the language of business in the world. Several friends of mine have, or are currently, teaching English in various countries in Asia. My prediction is that eventually Chinese will become the dominant language for international communication.
Someone may correct me, but I think the Native American languages have almost died out. But there is an effort to keep them alive, especially on the Indian lands.
Spanish is the second most spoken language in the US, especially in the Southwest where I live. I have friends whose grandparents spoke Spanish as as their primary language, but now the grandchildren are taking Spanish lessons to relearn it. The "original" langugage here was from Apache, Commanche and other tribes. Like English here, Spanish is also a language of the conquerors. I guess times change, people adapt, as always, survival is upmost. At the same time we want some connection to our heritage.
warm regards, Jake
poster:Jakeman
thread:576892
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20051121/msgs/581012.html