VIP Class Notes (Lily) [R/S]

Pronunciation

dominant- DOminant

linguist- LIN guist

verge- ver ge

Esperanto- es BE ranto. **sp is sb sound** (special, spill, spell, spat, sprout)

Vocabulary

1.dominant= ruling

ex: Chinese is the dominant language in Shanghai, not Shanghainese.

2. linguist= people who study the structure of language

ex: Many linguists believe that Chinese will be the dominant world language.

3. verge= edge, close to

ex: verge of an emotional breakdown.

4. extinct= die out

ex: Pandas, white tigers, dolphins, whales are becoming extinct.

https://www.english-online.at/society/languages/history-of-languages.htm

Over the past centuries, English has become the dominant world language, mostly because of the British Empire and the rise of the United States as a global political and economic superpower. Many linguists say that Mandarin Chinese will become the new number one language, because it is the mother tongue of over 1 billion people. China is on the verge of becoming a new economic superpower and many international corporations already advise their workers to learn Mandarin.

In the past, some attempts have been made to create a global language for everyone. A Polish scientist, Ludwik Zamenhof, invented Esperanto at the beginning of the 20th century.  His goal was to form a neutral language with easy words and grammar that is not so difficult to learn. Linguists claim that up to a million people use and speak Esperanto today.

Languages that are not actively spoken any more die out over a period. Linguists claim that 90% of the world’s 7000 languages will become extinct within the next 50 years.  Other languages, like Latin or ancient Greek, died out centuries ago, but are still needed in fields like medicine, biology, history or archaeology.

Do you think Chinese will be the dominant world language?

I don’t think Chinese will the dominant world language, but I believe more and more people will start to learn Chinese because even of the large number of population of China, most of them are not educated. They do not use foreign language for daily life. English is very wide used for people in business and for daily life, also this is a tradition, because it has been used as a world language for many years. Additional, English or some other languages, they have something in common, foreign people will learn it as a second language. In political, economical situation of China grows very quickly these years, so more people will choose Chinese as second language, but still needs a long time.

Revised

I don’t think Chinese will the dominant world language, but I believe more and more people will start to learn Chinese. Even though there is large number of population of China, most of the people are not (well) educated. They do not use foreign language for their daily life. English is widely used for people in business and for daily life, also this is a tradition, because it has been used as a world language for many years. In addition, English has a common base with some other languages,  many foreigners will learn it as a second language. Although the economic situation has been booming in China over the recent years, so more people will choose Chinese as a second language, but it will still take a long time.