mathjax

Thursday, October 2, 2014

The invasion of English into Europe.

I travel to Europe periodically. Not very often sometimes every year and sometimes slower. My travel rate is approximately the same as glacier recession. Slow and steady. When I return I visit new parts and go through familiar ones like Germany and England.

Speaking of German and English

This is a sign outside the Vienna International Flughaven. Or should I say airport.

English, the language not the people, is ever marching into every corner of Europe. I have written about this phenomenon before. And this slow pace experiment - the observation of English into other cultures - is a demonstration of the hypothesis.

Not to worry, English and England are not the same thing. The English lost control of English language when they taught the language to the empire.

The hypothesis why all cultures are adopting English is simple: it is easier to learn, more people speak it, it is open source and modular, it is the language of law banking and science, and can change to meet any need instantly. No large character sets. No complex rules.  No college de la langue francaise (no governing body).



Meanwhile, the discussion about England divesting of Europe or the other way around goes on in political circles.  The fact is, once your citizens have adopted ESL - English as a Second Language - you have really changed your culture in any case. English has a beach head in Europe without Britons.  Borders are symbolic names as placeholders. 

English  is the original open source language.

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