Why English?

[Jipay]

English was obvious. It's the most taught second language in Europe, and is really easy to learn.

Also, when I gathered with the different European at the time to create EB, we all spoke english.

Now english has its downside. We're regulary invaded by american kids who obviously don't have anything to do here, but I guess that's a side effect, and the small price to pay for being able to share your hobby worldwide.

As for French, there's already a french lego community, let's not step on their territory

Side note : Chiness and Indian aren't the most spoken languages. In fact people there use dialects which are completely different from region to another. So the number of people speaking the SAME chiness doesn't seem to be equaling the number of people speaking english.

[Cyclone Titan]

Yes! A true answer from the creator! Now that really answers my question. However, by American kids, do you mean spammers, or guys like me; an American kid?

[Hinckley]

Can you please tell me where the country Amsterdam is?

I'm American so no, I cannot.

[Deinonychus]

Well honestly, if we were showing a positive bias towards the language spoken in America, wouldn't the forum then be in Spanish?

[Commander Andrew of 501 st]

Well honestly, if we were showing a positive bias towards the language spoken in America, wouldn't the forum then be in Spanish?

There is no Emoticon that can show how funny that was.

I'm taking german in school and its almost the same as english.

Its amazing. My teacher said that she had to learn English at a early age in Poland, that makes it seem really diverse huh? I guess i'll shut up now...

[The Rancor]

True, but why couldn't he make it French? Or make numerous forums; English forum, French forum, Dutch forum, I could go on and on with the languages...forum?

CT

There is a 'Speak in Another Language' thread somewhere, unless it has been locked or deleted.

[commanderbly42]

"Dude, I hate everything that isn't heterosexual, white, ultra conservative and not willing to suck some of my body parts".

I think that you've just described half of the guys I know.

Anyhow, as most people have said, English is the most widely spoken language in the world (meaning that it reaches from the Pacific Islands, all the way around to America and that it's the main language of avation and many other things). Even though Chinese has more speakers, making EB in Chinese would be very impractical since a) most FOLs don't speak Chinese and b) Chinese isn't taught in European countries as a second language, unlike English.

[hollisbrick]

Oh for heaven's sake! I LIVE in Australia and don't speak like that, NO NONE does!

Although my bias against ridiculous speak may stem from my extreme anti-patriotic attitude.

Batbrick Away!

You'd hope so ay I was just muckin around, I am also an Ozy

[Johnny 5]

Because English is a modern lingua franca, like Aramaic, Greek, Latin or French were in the previous centuries. The question is: is it the last one and will be used in this way forever, or perhaps it will be - like all of the aforementioned - substituted by another language (Chinese?? How am I supposed to learn a language which doesn't even have a true alphabet?.. ).

There is a higher chance that the language that people use most for business will remain english rather than change somewhere down the line because in the past the premier business languages were centered around a particular country that was the richest or most powerful etc.

Now it isn't, you have the majority of the countries using english even if the native language spoken there is something else.

This came into being because the economic superpowers at the time when instant worldwide communication was being developed spoke english, resulting in the business language of our time being english.

Now english has more sticking power now than any other business language in the past because things like the internet, cell phones, and other instant communication technologies are making the world a smaller place therefore making english more and more widespread.

Microsoft recently came out with a study that everyone in the world is separated by only three degrees, which is virtually nothing.

The current countries that have the most economic power may change in the near future but I highly doubt that english will ever go out the forefront of the business world.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Johnny 5

[Norrington]

HA! Welcome to Xboxlive ... The place where angry and agressive young males (mostly sex-deprived too) engage in a relentless and fierce scolding battle involving not only such popular sayings as "your mom ... (insert message here) ..." but also "We'll nuke the crap out of you if you don't speak English" and of course "Dude, I hate everything that isn't heterosexual, white, ultra conservative and not willing to suck some of my body parts".

Like most here, I can say that describes most people I know. Even more so because most of the time I am surrounded by people who are very religiously conservative and well... stuffy.

English was obvious. It's the most taught second language in Europe, and is really easy to learn.

Chiness and Indian aren't the most spoken languages. In fact people there use dialects which are completely different from region to another.

1. Actually, in most cases, English is the most hard to learn, what with all our complicated little rules for grammar and all that.

2. True. In India alone, there are no less than 140 dialects.

I personally think e should change the forum to Latin, as no one would have to ask what weird new words like "strewth" (by the way, thanks Sinner for explaining that.), "truthiness,"(that is a word. Or, it was in the 2005 edition of Merriam-Webster Dictionary) "wikiality," mean.

SQPR ON!

P.S. I was considering making a joke referencing the "My Fair Lady" song "Why Can't the English Teach their Children how to Speak?". Funnily enough someone else mentioned the relatively bad language teaching in the UK.

Edited August 17, 2008 by Norrington

[LEGOMAN132]

Nach mhaith leat Gaeilge a fhoghlaim? Wouldn't you like to learn Irish :)

I know some Irish but not much.

I do have to say that iam happy this is in english but if it was not i would just learn what ever one it was in.

[rriggs]

...let's not forget India which also has more than a million inhabitants.

I have worked with many Indians in the past and they have so many languages and variations of languages that they (nearly) all just use English outside their families/close friends. English is certainly most used in business in India.

Chinese and Indian aren't the most spoken languages. In fact people there use dialects which are completely different from region to another. So the number of people speaking the SAME chiness doesn't seem to be equaling the number of people speaking english.

I believe that Mandarin is the most spoken Chinese dialect.

Nach mhaith leat Gaeilge a fhoghlaim? Wouldn't you like to learn Irish :)

Sad to say that, although I did most of primary school in Ireland, I would struggle to string two Irish words together now and my accent got bullied out of me at English secondary school!

Cheers

Rog

Edited August 17, 2008 by rriggs

[brickzone]

1. Actually, in most cases, English is the most hard to learn, what with all our complicated little rules for grammar and all that.

I saw some of a foreign student's English notes one time, and the list of irregular English verbs was rather terrifying.

Fortunately in my Irish speaking primary school we spent less time on the intricacies of the English language than the Irish language. I think the latter is more regular as regards grammar, although certainly the noun genders and groupings for mutations etc. when used in various cases took a bit of learning (they were drilled into us though, again a contrast to how English was taught). I think the oddest aspect of my teaching was how I ended up knowing the Irish words for some grammatical constructs, but not the English translation (same applies to primary school Maths, early Irish History, basic Irish Geography)! I do not remember ever "learning" English verbs, or even learning the English for words like "tense" (of a verb), "conditional" (tense - it was "an módh coinníollach" to us). "I" before "E" except after "C" was learnt after "leathan le leathan, caol le caol" (broad <vowel> with broad, slender with slender - referring to the Irish spelling rule where i,e and a,o,u must match either side of a consonant in a word).

My English may not be perfect, but it has proved sufficient for a Masters thesis and publishing some academic papers. Here's hoping I can pull together the PhD thesis!

[rriggs]

I saw some of a foreign student's English notes one time, and the list of irregular English verbs was rather terrifying.

The technicalities of English (irregular verbs, correct tenses, etc) do not seem to be taught in UK/Eire in the same way that other languages are taught. I still remember French and Latin lessons at secondary school when the teachers spoke about (for example) past and present participles. This meant nothing to me as this is not what we were taught about in English lessons. For a long time at school I thought that participles, irregular verbs, etc were just something that existed in foreign languages! I think these sort of things were mentioned in Gaelic lessons at primary school but was too young to pick up what they were...

At least me grammars, spellings n stuff is all gud now innit?

Cheers

Rog

[Francis Marion]

Wouldn't you like to learn Irish :)

I actually want to...

[Fluyt]

Side note : Chiness and Indian aren't the most spoken languages. In fact people there use dialects which are completely different from region to another. So the number of people speaking the SAME chiness doesn't seem to be equaling the number of people speaking english.

Well, English-speaking countries also have different types of English, so technically they aren't speaking the same language either ("English-English", "American-English" etc. Some clear differences would be stuff like: color/colour). The differences might be fairly minor, but the same is true for at least some of the Chinese dialects.

[Opproperaar]

Well I have to admit that I didn't check India's official language statuts any thoroughly but it does further prove my point that Chinese is unlikely to be the world's next lingua franca. As mentioned, in this globalised world everybody knows at least one world of english, so to speak. Internet and the media make English stick far more harder than Latin or French ever did. I can imagine that to somebody completely inexperienced with Cinese or English English must be far easier to learn.

Well, English-speaking countries also have different types of English, so technically they aren't speaking the same language either ("English-English", "American-English" etc. Some clear differences would be stuff like: color/colour). The differences might be fairly minor, but the same is true for at least some of the Chinese dialects.

Well the same could be said of Dutch. Some people say we in Belgium talk Flemish which is incorrect since both nations adhere to standard Dutch (Belgium also adheres to standard French and German btw). Flemish is simply a dialect but within it differs so much from region to region that there are actually pocket diaries being published for people from a different Flanders region so as to understand each other or even learn each other's dialect. I don't know if that's the same in say, England for example though.

[snefroe]

i believe it's even "English" English... i remember Jipay almost bit off some one's head when he referred to European football as "soccer"... YEAH!!! that'll teach the stupid Americans !!

and am i glad, this site is not in French! It's the second language in Flanders (which is the Dutch speaking part of belgium, at least for the time being ) but if this were a French speaking site i'd probably have 4 posts instead of 4000...

[the enigma that is badger]

The differences might be fairly minor, but the same is true for at least some of the Chinese dialects.

Flemish is simply a dialect but within it differs so much from region to region that there are actually pocket diaries being published for people from a different Flanders region so as to understand each other or even learn each other's dialect. I don't know if that's the same in say, England for example though.

Mutual intelligibility is a much bigger issue with the Chinese family of languages/dialects (bit of a fuzzy issue on the distinction between the two, as far as I've read and heard from natives) than with English. Variations of modern English differ in accent, a few spellings, and idioms, but for the most part are identical. Depending on the Chinese dialects/languages you're comparing, intelligibility can range from complete to practically nil. I know someone who speaks Shanghainese and Mandarin perfectly, but they're for the most part completely lost when it comes to Cantonese.

I might want to physically assault people that inquire if they can "axe" me a question, but it's clear more or less we understand one well-enough as if any two people speaking any variety of English. With Chinese, that's far from a given.

[Opproperaar]

and am i glad, this site is not in French! It's the second language in Flanders (which is the Dutch speaking part of belgium, at least for the time being ) but if this were a French speaking site i'd probably have 4 posts instead of 4000...

Alors, ça serait une façon d'exercer notre français, non?

[The Mugbearer]

I think because EB is a international website. And English - international language, than known by billions of people around the world.

[Minifig Lecturer]

By 2030 Spanish Will Be the World's Second Most Widely Spoken Language After Chinese. Just 22 more years ..

[rriggs]

By 2030 Spanish Will Be the World's Second Most Widely Spoken Language After Chinese. Just 22 more years ..

So, it's decided then. EB will remain in English for the next 22 years and then we can decide whether to chage to Chinese, Spanish or Irish.

Cheers

Rog

[KDog]

I took German in high school and college but have since forgotten about all of it. I was never great at it, anyway. I'm pretty ashamed that I only speak English. I am thinking about trying to learn Spanish, just because there are so many Spanish-speakers now in the States.

[Captain Zuloo]

English is the primarily spoken language all throughout the world. 20-25% of the world speak English, and many people speak English as a second language. And yes it is EURObricks, but the majority of Europeans speak it as a second language so it would be silly to put it in French. Then only a handfull of the people speaking French would be able to use it.