Will English become an official language in Germany?
This is logical. Due to its aging population and labor difficulties, Germany needs more foreign talent. But compared to more established immigrant countries like, say, Canada, it is significantly less welcoming to newcomers as a society. German is another obstacle.
Here is what Mark Twain said about the German language:
"My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.“
English is not simply praised for its simplicity. The main one is ubiquitous. English is clearly the heir of historical languages like Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek, or Latin in that it is a lingua franca or a widely used and nearly universal language. Mandarin in Asia and Spanish in the Americas is currently its only competitors.
Sometimes it's just simpler to use English. Other times, like in Singapore, India, or the Philippines, it maintains harmony among local language populations who may otherwise be at war with one another. Like in the European Union, it frequently combines the two. English is therefore given preference as an official language, one that citizens can use to communicate with their bureaucracy, both there and in a lengthy list of other places.
Why then won't nations like Germany make English a national language? The proposal from the Free Democrats was swiftly rejected by other parties and lobby groups for government employees. Some claimed that adopting a second official language would result in unacceptably high administrative and staffing expenditures. Perhaps. However, that just ignores the advantages.
The actual, more visceral reason why many people reject the common tongue. They are protesting the cultural globalism and cosmopolitanism that English represents. English is for "anywheres," or those who hardly care where their local Starbucks and yoga studio are located anymore. National languages and local dialects belong to "somewheres," or people who cannot or do not wish to live somewhere other than their hometown.
According to a five-year study published last month by the German government, 15.4 million individuals are currently learning the language globally. There has been an increase of 62% in Denmark, 16% in France, and 30% in the Netherlands since the last study in 2015, while 2 million Poles are now using their der, die, and das.
So you can be sure that German will not die. Be one of those 15 million who learn it.
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