languages in the EU

[wushijiao]

Here's an interesting article:

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3064790

[Machjo]

http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/eulang.html

[steven]

With the accession of another 12 member states

the European Union has changed legislation to

give any of the more than two dozens of languages

an equal right in the EU government. However

the costs are surmounting. Imagine the host of

translaters that have to be employed.

In my view - as a German an EU citizen myself -

it would be easier to implement only

one official language for this federation, as it

is the case in China. I mean, even if there are

some minority groups in the country, all the

documents are merely written in Chinese.

So there seemingly are no protests to this

all-under-one-cover approach.

I would like to exchange with interested parties

about your stace on this affair.

Steven

[Jose]

In my view - as a German an EU citizen myself -

it would be easier to implement only

one official language for this federation, as it

is the case in China

I disagree. What language would you choose as the sole official EU language? If you're thinking of English, this would mean that all EU officials would need native or near-native communication skills in English. That would make a lot of very competent people uneligible for posts in the EU bureaucracy, which would in practice be restricted to people from Britain and Ireland and the odd ones from Scandinavia and the Netherlands.

Even though translation costs may be very high indeed, it is an inescapable reality that Europe is a continent where many languages are spoken and lots of people, including most politicians, can only conduct a conversation fluently in their native tongue. The situation is completely different from that of China or the US, where anybody with a high level of education, even those who speak a minority language at home, will speak the official language fluently.

[carlo]

What about Chinese? An overwhelming majority of EU politicians would be equally inept at it, ensuring a level playing field. Translation and publishing costs would be greatly reduced, as it is well known that Chinese characters take up less space. And cash-starved language students, and hard working first-generation immigrants from the mainland, would suddenly turn into a major political force. 一统天下！

[Machjo]

After all, the former USSR tried the same with Russian, now many outside Russia hate the language because of its association with the USSR. So as English grows in Europe, we must ensure that it does so within a democratic process, because if the primary sources of that growth are coming primarily from the science establishment and multi-nationals, a reaction could follow in an attempt to take language back into the hands of the people. Certainly, if the MEPs could somehow convince the EU's population that English ought to be the official auxiliary language of the EU, then fine (although I doubt very much that many would accept that). Otherwise, the EU might have to look elsewhere for a solution. One possible solution could be Esperanto, I believe, since it's not associated with any particular political, religious or national system, past or present, which might offend any ethnic or other sentiment. But I suppose in the end the best solution would be to find a language all Europeans could agree to.