Korean Job Discussion Forums

mithridates

I know I put up a post on this before but it's nowhere to be found. Shocked

That's okay, this time I have a shocking title.

This is from November 2004:

If you go to internetwordstats.com right now you'll see that English has dropped down to 32.8%.
Here are the stats from 2002:

Chart of Web content (milions of webpages by language) 2002

English 1142,5 56,4%
German 156,2 7,7%
French 113,1 5,6%
Japanese 98,3 4,9%
Spanish 59,9 3,0%
Chinese 48,2 2,4%
Italian 41,1 2,0%
Dutch 38,8 1,9%
Russian 33,7 1,7%
Korean 30,8 1,5%
Portuguese 29,4 1,5%
Swedish 15,1 0,7%
Polish 14,8 0,7%
Danish 12,3 0,6%
Czech 11,5 0,6%
Turkish 4,9 0,2%
Hungarian 4,1 0,2%
Greek 2,0 0,1%
Other 168,0 8,3%
Total Web pages 2024,7 100,0%

So how long until we are second or third on the list? I'm thinking by the time the Olympics in Beijing come around that Chinese will be in #1 place. All they need is to get one on three people using the internet and they're there.

Gord · Joined: 25 Feb 2003

jinglejangle · Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Location: Far far far away.

Umm....china's growing FAST.
I think you'll find your estimate a bit off.

Gord · Joined: 25 Feb 2003

One in three people don't even have a phone in China. Over half the population is directly involved with argiculture and do not live in developed urban centers. Good luck getting one in three online in three years.

mithridates · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 2:23 am Post subject:

mithridates · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:03 am Post subject:

Now that I think about it, by 2009 when Korea plans to have an English teacher in every school, English will probably be down to about 20% of the internet and the Chinese economy will be about 50% bigger than it is right now. I don't suspect that English education in Korea will go down for a while though. They'll probably look at it this way:

-English for prestige, travel, displomacy, movies, etc.
-Chinese for money
-Japanese because it's easy. And for money.

Deconstructor · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Location: Canada

Whether we like it or not, China is going to overtake the US economy by 2040. I don't know what this would mean to English still being the international language. I suspect it will still be that, but eventually will have to share the international spotlight with Mandarin.

On second thought, there are many dialects in China. How prevalent is Mandarin and does it have what it takes to be another international language? Any thoughts?

PS-Just the fact that this thread has been created tells me we're beginning to feel vulnerable.

mithridates · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:38 am Post subject:

Mandarin's not only the official language, but the word itself
�� (butonghwa) literally means 'the language spoken widely' and is used in Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and is the one studied by nearly all students of Chinese.
I'm not really sure what's going to happen, especially in Europe.
It's not impossible to have two must-have languages, but it makes things just that more annoying for the average person since they have nothing in common except word order, though not even all the time. That would add another three years at least to the serious diplomat or foreign trader-in-training.

Deconstructor · Joined: 30 Dec 2003 Location: Canada

I suspect English could lose its prominence once the epicentre of the world economy shifts from US to China.

However, Chinese would have to be myth makers. Part of the reason why English is so popular is because it's been made into a hip language by Hollywood movies and the music industry. If the Chinese can create legends on the screen and on the stage, it is possible that they can also make Mandarin as sought after as English.

crazylemongirl · Joined: 23 Mar 2003 Location: almost there...

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

The international language tends to follow the cultural, economic and military leader. French remained the international language for a century after England was indisputably the economic and military leader. France held on to the culture leadership until about WWII, but by then English had become the international language.

It's true that China's economy will surpass the US's economy sometime around 2040 if nothing happens to prevent it. The comment that if Chinese culture becomes popular is spot on. However, it will make a difference if the Chinese government gets its act together.

It's highly unlikely that an extremely corrupt, outdated one party government will inspire many people in the world. The trend doesn't seem to be going that way.

English will hold sway without a challenge from Chinese for a while.

Another advantage English has is that all science journals of importance are written in English. Even French scientists publish in English. (!) On top of that, India uses English as a second language. As India develops (almost as fast as China), English will be strengthened. Has anyone noticed how many truly gifted Indian writers are writing in English? It seems to me that there are more good Indian writers than American, much less British or the rest. And don't forget Bollywood. India may save our jobs!!

English has a good century left in it. Maybe more.

peemil · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Location: Koowoompa

What's "Non-English?" I've never heard that language.

mithridates · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:31 pm Post subject:

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

mithridates · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:04 pm Post subject:

Not a quote. I just got that impression. Kind of like my dad with his 1978 Ford Pinto that he only let go of last year because somebody promised to redo the body and completely restore it.
"What do you mean it's old?! Take it out to the garage for an hour or two and it'll be fine!"