Pressing 1 for English is serious business.

And FUCK French. It's a snooty bullshit language designed for talking down to people. Spanish (I'm talking real Spanish, not the Mexican bastardization) sounds much better. But that's just my opinion, of course. Fuck French.

That was a pretty idiotic statement.

SO the question must be asked, are you the racist that call Vol at work?

Considering he praised some form of Spanish, I doubt it.

Heh. Guess the sarcasm didn't translate well in that post. I was just trying to provide a counterpoint to the complaints in this thread regarding Spanish speaking immigrants. I just picked French out of a hat. I could just as easily have used German, Russian, etc.

Honestly, if I had the time, I'd work on becoming multi-lingual. I'd greatly prefer that to one unifying language. There are too many phrases and concepts that don't translate accurately from one language (culture) to another. (For instance, according to the Dalai Lama in his book Ethics for the New Millennium, Tibetian Buddhism does not have an equivalent concept for the Western idea of "guilt.") A unifying language could erase various culturally oriented perceptions that have the potential to benefit the whole of mankind. At the same time, I do see how it could put us all "on the same page." I guess I'd just prefer the benefit of knowing multiple languages in order to open historical avenues of study.

Of course, there is the fact that mathematics and science have already presented the world with unifying languages, so an actual conversational language isn't really necessary in order for mankind to progress scientifically.

Being multi-lingual is awesome. I still need to improve my German and I need to learn more French. I can also read Cyrllic (just don't comprehend the language it's used for) as well as Old English (same deal).


Also, very awesome post, Vault Dweller.

I know enough German to get around and look like an American tourist...

Damn. Cyrillic and Old English? Impressive. I had enough trouble with Middle English. Right now, I know enough Spanish that I could get by if necessary. Like I said, just haven't had the time to study any other languages.

I met a girl in one of my classes who learned Welsh. That seems like another interesting (but "useless," as she put it) language.

uhm........
most accents are hott, except spanish ones.
"ay mami" UGH

you're all racist jerks regardless of your views

Finnish.

haha look at the Spaniard taking offense. Carlos Mencia makes you guys look so distinguished...

Like I said, I can't comprehend Cyrillic and Old English, but I can read and pronounce the words pretty decently. Most Russian I know is "Ya Amerikanetz," which is "I'm American."

Heh. Guess the sarcasm didn't translate well in that post. I was just trying to provide a counterpoint to the complaints in this thread regarding Spanish speaking immigrants. I just picked French out of a hat. I could just as easily have used German, Russian, etc. Honestly, if I had the time, I'd work on becoming multi-lingual. I'd greatly prefer that to one unifying language. There are too many phrases and concepts that don't translate accurately from one language (culture) to another. (For instance, according to the Dalai Lama in his book Ethics for the New Millennium, Tibetian Buddhism does not have an equivalent concept for the Western idea of "guilt.") A unifying language could erase various culturally oriented perceptions that have the potential to benefit the whole of mankind. At the same time, I do see how it could put us all "on the same page." I guess I'd just prefer the benefit of knowing multiple languages in order to open historical avenues of study. Of course, there is the fact that mathematics and science have already presented the world with unifying languages, so an actual conversational language isn't really necessary in order for mankind to progress scientifically.

Even Mathematics and Science require a medium to explain new principles and such, a unifying language would still do a lot for the people of the world in my eyes, at least for public speaking and such.

I propose everyone be forced to learn Lojban

First I've ever heard of it. What is its current purpose?

I believe it was created for strictly academic purposes. Haven't looked into it too much.

In FireFly, humanity speaks English and Chinese. Sensible really. English is the language of buisiness in the west, and most far eastern cultures have present or past use of Chinese characters.