Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

Superior or not, it's interesting how people from all over the world know a little, or a lot of English. It's also a language a lot of non-native speakers want to know. Is any other language so widely studied? It's pretty commonly used between people who do not speak it as a first language. I'm not sure any other language is used so often between non-native speakers. It seems like every continent has a fair amount of English. What other language claims that?

If it isn't superior, it sure has power and diversity.

(I also wonder if there is a language that causes as much confusion and frustration.)

[tomato]

Hello, endo!

Do you mean that we're at the TOP of the heirarchy because everyone else has to study our language and we don't have to study theirs?
Or do you mean that we're at the BOTTOM of the heirarchy because everyone takes care of us by speaking to us in our own language?

Myself, I see it the second way.

Hello, Omkara!

I've lost the documentation, but I once read an article which said that Jews and Asians have higher average brain capacity than White Gentiles--I forget who is first and who is second--who in turn have higher average brain capacity than Blacks.

However, the article said that it is not known whether or not brain capacity is a measure of native intelligence.

Therefore, if a White Gentile wishes, he can suggest that he is superior to Black people, but he would have to be consistent and say that he is also inferior to Jews and Asians.

Hello, jajdude!

For speakers of most languages, French is much easier to learn than English. Like English, French is already spoken not only in many countries but in many continents.

For these reasons, I sometimes suggest that French replace English as the lingua franca. Someone always replies, "Oh, no! France has been very imperialistic and there are people all over the world who hate the French! There is much less ill feeling toward the English-speaking countries."

If we keep electing presidents like 부시, that might not be true for very long.

Hello, kimchi story!

Not only do we preserve words from other languages, but we have different grammatical rules for words from different languages.

Here is a sampling of such rules:

■ We usually apply Latin suffixes to Latin words and Germanic suffixes to Germanic words.

Latin examples are responsive and possible. Germanic examples are handful and restless.

Admittedly, there are a few mongrels, such as beautiful and defenseless.

■ Most of our common word pairs consist of words of the same origin.

Examples are spic and span, neat and natty, and hands and heart.

We get heredity from Latin and environment from the French. Of course, French is a Romance language; nevertheless, we get those two words from two different sources, so we will have to count this word pair as an exception.

■ Most of our compound words are composed of words from the same source.

Examples are outhouse, birdbath, and handbag. There are a few mutts, such as penthouse, television, and classroom.

■ Only Germanic adjectives take -er and -est for comparative and superlative.

Let me share something which I learned from a thread on comparatives and superlatives:

If an adjective has only one syllable (hot, cold, nice, warm), or has two syllables, the second of which is the letter -y (crazy, funny, silly), add -er or -est.

Otherwise, use more or most.

Now let me share something which I contributed to that thread:

It so happens that almost all, if not all, of the adjectives in those two categories are of Germanic origin. So you may as well say, "Add add -er or -est if the adjective is Germanic, otherwise use more or most."

Try both of those rules, and you will see that they are denotively the same: smarter but not intelligenter, craziest but not insanest.

I first noticed these patterns when I was taking History of the English Language class.

[butlerian]

Ridiculous post. In order to find the answer to that kind of questions, an unquestionable amount of research would have to take place and - even after that - it would appear to be impossible. English is just a language, and we all know some of the inexcusable reasons for our dominance in world affairs.

[Geckoman]

[tomato]

I thought that the British Commonwealth was nothing more than a defense contract.

[The_Conservative]

So looking at the poll it seems if a majority here think the English-speaking world is superior.


No wonder they get so offended when Koreans say the same thing about their country.....

[oldfatfarang]

[quote="Geckoman"]

[kimchi story]

Hello Tomato
Thank you - that's exactly what I was talking about.

[contrarian]

Research, statistics what the heck for. The English speaking would is so obviously superior that doinbg that would be a waste of time.

The English speaking world; The United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and probably Ireland. You might even throw in Israel.

Of the G8 three are English speaking.

500 million people more or less that probably had well over half of the world's weatlh.

They are all democratic and have been for at least 150 years.

Their preponderance in things like the Nobel Prizes and educational attainments.

The people tend to be aggressive and hard working.

Nearly evryone else wants to be like us, come to live with us.

It is ethnocentric to say so, It is not politically correct to say so but it does not change the truth,

[tomato]

Are we also the most modest?

[blaseblasphemener]

[blaseblasphemener]

It probably also has a lot to do with geography. Peoples in the Northern Hemisphere are remarkably superior economically to those in the Southern H. Australia and South America are aberrations, but both enjoy spectacular mineral and agricultural wealth. Also, don't forget about Japan.

The rule of law may also be of great significance. It is one of the reasons many experts believe India is better positioned for global dominance, rather than China (that, and the preponderance of English speakers).

[Geckoman]

Lets not forget that India is an English speaking country.

-India is the world's largest English speaking country.

-India is the world's largest democracy.

(Regarding those two above points, you might be thinking: "What?! It's not the USA?!")

India is currently booming like China.

In terms of economic growth at this point China is still ahead of India because China implemented its economic reforms in the 1970s, while India implemented its economic reforms in the 1990s. So the raise of China is over shadowing the raise of India at this point.

But India has 4 things going for it that China does not have.

-India is a democracy. China is not.

-India speaks English. China does not.

-China has a greater brain drain then India. After studying and/or working
abroad for a while, some Indians come back to help India improve. This
is unlike China where, due to lack of democracy and freedom, most
people want to get the hell out, to never ever return (If you desire
having more than one kid, you better find a way out of China. It is still
illegal to have more than one kid in China. It's called the "One Child
Policy). So the brain drain is greater for China than for India.

-India has a good legal system that was set up by the British when
India was a British colony. This is unlike in China where the legal
system is a total mess.

We can not underestimate the above 4 advantages that India has over
China.

In fact, it is predicted that India's population will past the population of China by 2025 (Source: http://www.agapeindia.com/india_population.htm )

The raise of India! It will change the world as we know it (India's "Bollywood" already produces more movies than America's "Hollywood," though Hollywood's movies are still better. )

List of countries by English-speaking population: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population

[oldfatfarang]

Great insights people. Yes, it's true that Her Majesty's English has brought not only Lingua Franca, civilisation, the rule of law, a Prodestant work ethic, quality/modern education, and health and welfare to many countries. And of course, a very comfortable life-style for most. No wonder 'developing' countries try to emulate our life by learning our language.

But have you considered the REAL reason English-speaking countries are superior. That is, we have Tim Tams, Magnum ice creams, Sage fishing rods, mini skirts and Harley Davidsons. It is a constant source of delight (and worry) when I discover I can buy these products in developing countries. I think our days are numbered.