Language and Identity

I believe English will never dominate the world. There are several reasons why it will never happen. One of the reasons is the strong relation between language and culture. A great number of countries have their own cultures even though globalization has been developing rapidly, and their cultures have hardly changed. The culture of English, which includes English as a language, has influenced many countries; however, these countries will never be dominated by English. Another reason is the connection between language and identity. I would like to discuss this idea.


There is a strong relationship between identity and language. One of the functions of language is to communicate with other people who are located in the same society. To communicate with others, it is better to have a common language. From this point of view, language indicates the society which people belong to and if we consider this theme widely, like the country or area where people speak the same language, the language may become one of the elements to identify the people. Furthermore, it is widely believed the language indicates a part of people’s identity. Considering these issues, language is strongly related to identity so that different languages may indicate different identification.

On the other hand, language is changing over time. For instance, a lot of English has been exported to Japan and some English words are used commonly in these days. For instance, lunch, restaurant, even “English” as words are spoken in common. This may be considered as a part of domination by the English language. Moreover, the more English words are used rather than other languages, such as Spanish, French and so on. Regarding this point of view, English has been dominating the world. Furthermore, if this process will continue, it may be possible that English will dominate the world in the future.

In conclusion, I think it may be possible to take over a part of lthe language and influence a lot of the other countries; however it is impossible that one language can dominate the others completely because the language, which the person speaks, is part of the identity.

English will never dominate the world.

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

We live in small world, globalization is all around us and whereever we go somehow we will be affected by it.

However, every nation wants to have their own identity, their own culture and languages as well. On the other hand people want to contact each other so they can exchange views, development in different fields. But that could be impossible if they do not have same languages .

And in my opinion English can be the international languages, it is easy and there are a lot of countries where English is the first or second language.
So it is not wrong to learn, speak and use English. It will never going to cancel any other languages.

McDonald's is the best?

Most people say that McDonald’s is one of the most successful companies in the world. It is true that you can find easily the big ‘M’ wherever you go in the world. Thousands of people go to McDonald’s and have lunch, thinking they are eating the best hamburger. These days, thanks to globalization, global products are thought to be better than others because they have the same quality all over the world. However, I think it is not true.

The first reason why McDonald’s was successful was ‘standardization’, which is to make the product have same features and qualities. They created the fastest and most efficient way to provide the same taste of hamburger, and it worked. People were pleased because they could eat a delicious hamburger which they could eat in different places. However, we should realise that the same quality is not good quality. Most of global companies try to produce their goods in the cheapest, as well as the most efficient way. What it means is that they do not want the best quality product, but a reasonable and fair one.

On the other hand, most local companies want to create the best product because their market is a local , not international. Their marketing target is local people, for this reason, they provide various kinds of goods with very good quality which their people like.

To conclude, global products do have not bad quality, but also not the best quality. However, I am sure that if I were going to have a hamburger for lunch, I would chose a local restaurant rather than McDonald’s.

English will never dominate the world.

I am writing to agree that English will never dominate in the world because every country has own language.People want to use their own language which is simple for them, to communicate and to change ideas.People continue with their culture which they have been inherited from their parents, and they are doing different kinds of activities happily using their language
and their culture.It is true that people only need English in business sometimes, because some kind of business need to be imported or exported,there fore, they need to communicate in English.Also to label packets by using English words ,and also some goods are written in English and are sold on line.
Further more, it will never replace other language because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures.I agree with this comment that, if you replace other language it will be possible to introduce the new culture which is going together with the language.As a result people will be forced to adopt English culture and forget about their culture,which is not good.People need to have freedom and do what is right and good for them.
In addition it is good for every country to use their language and their cultures.By doing this they will develop their countries and be able to abolish poverty .

Lastly but not least English people should encourage other countries to study English ,by listening to the radio , reading magazine,on the Internet, and going to school etc. Also if possible to help poor people who do not have enough money, or total they don,t have money to pay for school.This will help them to do well in their business inside and outside,

English

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

It is very difficult for English to dominate the world someday because people want to keep speaking their own language, but whether we like it or not, learning English is a need in the globalised world where we live nowadays. A person who manages to dominate the use of this language has more advantages and chances than other people who do not know the language.

As far as I am concerned, English is the global language par excellance. If you know English you can communicate with almost everyone all over the world and this is something that I have been able to check by studying outside Spain. Since I am in Sussex, I have met people from other parts of Europe, but also from countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, the United States,... and it is amazing how you can communicate with all of them through one common language: English. Furthermore, if you know English you are able to work everywhere and you have more opportunities to be chosen for a job than a person who does not speak it, but it is not true that you only need English in business. English can be very useful in almost every situation, from reading the instructions of an electrical appliance to travelling anywhere.

However, this fact does not mean that everyone must stop speaking their own language and start speaking only English, leaving their culture behind. The point is that it is good to know another language different from your mother tongue and if you have to choose another language, the best choice is English because nowadays it is the most worldwide language.

In conclusion, English may not dominate the world, but you certainly may dominate the world by speaking English.

Possibility and Hope for English

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

I partly agree with this statement. I agree that English will never dominate the world and it'll never replace other languages. I think language plays a large part in your identity. I have experienced it myself through studying England since April. I've been here for approximately eight months and fortunately I haven't had any close Japanese friends here, so I don't have opportunities to talk in Japanese in my everyday life. The only chance to talk in Japanese is talking on Skype with my mother and boyfriend at the weekends. However it's sometimes really difficult to find time to talk because there is a huge time difference between Japan and England. When we couldn't talk for three weeks I was completely sick for the Japanese language and I couldn't concentrate on my studies because of a lack of enthusiasm about English. At the time I felt like I was sick and not in my right mind. The lack of opportunity of talking in Japanese made me sick and drove me to listen only to Japanese songs and watch Japanese TV on Youtube. I wasn't aware of doing that but I instinctively needed Japanese language. It made me feel like the loss of some part of my identity and realised that languages play a large part of identity based on my experience. I could learn about other countries and their languages intensively but never live without my language. Therefore I don't think English would replace other languages. People can't give up their own culture and language because their culture and language are implicit and they are deeply rooted in their identity. Identity is not replaceable. Even though people live in other countries for a long time you would never forget your language or culture and you would not be assimilated by their cultures. You could adopt their culture and language and feel their culture plays a part of your identity but it won't be replaced.
Nowadays more and more people can speak English and it is considered a natural thing. But I believe the aim of learning English is not only as a business tool but also an international tool for communication in order to broaden understanding and accept other cultures . If English is the only tool to communicate with others, why don't you start learning English? You can see another world which you have not seen before through communication with people from all over the world. I believe that to broaden your ideas leads to individual development and enrichment of yourselves. I also hope it will lead to world peace.

English as a lingua franca

English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.

English is becoming more popular everyday. It has reached the point where it is considered a lingua franca, which means that English is the language used to communicate internationally. When you meet people from different countries who speak different languages, there is a strong tendency to use English to initate communication. Therefore, the main question at hand here is to know whether English could one day dominate the world or not.

Without calling into question the popularity of English in the world, it is fairly thought that English will never eradicate all the other languages. The reason for that, first of all, is that English culture is not as popular around the world and, therefore, people will want to keep their own, which means keeping their own language as well. Another reason is that English is mainly used in business, so people who aren't "business people" won't feel the need to speak English.

Nevertheless, it is impossible to predict what the future will bring. And because nowadays, English is taught in elementary schools in countries where it is not the official language, we can fear a dominance of English among the new generation. The technological progress will also contribute to the growth of English speakers because of the descriptions and explanations of the products having to be understood by the largest part of the world population.

All being well, English won't replace other languages because of the fear of losing diversity in languages and cultures. I think that people are very curious and that they like to discover new things, new lifestyles, travel and meet people from all walks of life. Notwithstanding, English is already omnipresent in the world and it is certainly not going to stop its expansion now.
If English comes to dominate the world, many people will lose their jobs and especially translators!

In my opinion, culture and language are very important to every human being. Indeed, these are things that bring people together, the need to feel that you belong to a culture shared by a community is inherent in each of us. It involves a set of values and ways of life that are characteristic of a particular group of people and that make them unique and different to other groups. There is no doubt that being part of a culture gives you a sense of identity,which is vital for everyone.Indeed, identity is something that is imbued with great meaning and that is enormously important for the well-being of a person . It is a concept that is widely referred to in literature for example. Authors often allude to the issue of loss of identity and its negative consequences . So, I think that there is a tendency in human nature to struggle for one's identity.When I say identity, it encompasses the sense of belonging to a culture and speaking a language. This is the reason why I doubt that the English language will ever be able to dominate and replace all languages .However, we cannot deny that English is spoken all over the world .Moreover, the English language has led inevitably at the same time to the diffusion of the American culture . There are countless examples around us which prove that the world has become hugely Americanised . Indeed the result of the expansion of English has been the expansion of a culture which seems to have become worldwide: everyone goes to Mac Donald's, listens to English songs, watches the BBC. We have become so deeply emerged into this culture that we should feel in quite another world should it be removed from us. However, even though nobody cannot deny the fact that we are involved in this culture and that English seems to reign supreme, it appears that people cannot detach themselves from their own culture . It is something that people want to preserve, notwithstanding the spread of the English culture . With regards to that, it should be noted that in some countries today,certain people are reacting violently against the English language and culture. Indeed, this originates in this constant fear present in each person of losing his culture and as a result his identity.To conclude, I would say that I disapprove of the idea that the world will end up becoming an homogenous culture ruled by English.

Speaking English all over the world

Communication is the basis of our societies.

For ages, people around the world have tried to open up to other countries for different purposes like conquering, trading, globe trotting or just getting more knowledge about other cultures which come from the other hemisphere. But the differences in languages and cultures can sometimes mean an obstacle for those who want to get in contact with their fellow friends. That is the reason why some people have been working to introduce gently a sole language to make communication between people from different countries easier.

One of the first attempts was the creation of a language whose basis rested on a mix of many Roman (or Latin) languages which was called Esperanto. The aim of this creation was to introduce it as a new international language which would be taught all over the world to facilitate the contact between human beings.

Unfortunately, it wasn't successful and was forgotten very quickly. Perhaps this was because it didn'y have any roots, any culture and any rules like normal languages do. So, the resarchers had to trust in the ease of human beings to adapt to new cultures they want to communicate with. And I suppose that is how English has gradually become the language known as Lingua Franca.

Still, even though English is nowadays the language used in business and trade, I don't think it will become the sole language spoken everywhere. In fact, if we observe countries which use English as a first language like the UK, the USA, Australia, etc. we realise that there are some discrepancies within the same language! So, imagine the result if we had to be forced to speak English in every country...we would have thousands of varieties of English and the problem would remain the same!

The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that we are conditioned by the culture and the language we have been brought in. Depending on the culture, we can have different ways of approaching the same situation. That is why people won't ever speak English as a first language..It is not only a reason of will but also and overall a matter of culture.

5th December

Choose to write about either
1. Global products are good because you know that the quality is the same all over the world. I want to know that a hamburger is a good hamburger, not some strange local idea of a hamburger.
2. English will never dominate the world. It'll never replace other languages because it forces other countries to adopt English cultures. People want their own culture and their own language. They only need English in business, sometimes.