Imagine there are no languages...

[Brad]

Originally Posted by Xenon

@Chris: nope, everyone in StarTrek speaks german here

I hate it for the guy that had to dub Kirk.

[davidw]

Je parle francais en petit peu.
Ik spreek Nederlands en ik heb ook in Nederland geleefd.
I speak American English as well - not very good at British English.

[DirectPixel]

Originally Posted by christianb

Je parle francais en petit peu.
Ik spreek Nederlands en ik heb ook in Nederland geleefd.
I speak American English as well - not very good at British English.

you mean: un petit peu.

[Wayne Luke]

Language is the result of culture and existance. To simplify everything down to one language would hurt the world in the bringing forth of new ideas and cultural inheritance in my opinion.

Many smaller cultures are already losing their identity and focus due to outside forces, this would only speed that up and we would lose great resources.

[davidw]

Originally Posted by DirectPixel

you mean: un petit peu.

Yeah, I never said I spoke it well :P

[Allan]

Originally Posted by christianb

Je parle francais en petit peu.
Ik spreek Nederlands en ik heb ook in Nederland geleefd.
I speak American English as well - not very good at British English.

Yep, le francais est un langue difficile a apprendre d'apr?s certain :devious:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep, French is one language difficult to learn according to some :devious:

[rlamego]

Originally Posted by Michelle

What do you think about the idea of a universal language? Can you imagine what it would be like if all the people in the world spoke the same language? Would you like something like that to happen? Do you think it will ever happen? Which language do you think will be "picked"?

If we ignore the fact the this is as practicable as is possible, I think the idea would never be supported.
Michelle, take a look at the world and you will see more separatist movements than unifying ones. Right on your doorstep, what is happing in Macedonia and Albania? And Corsica, Basque country, N. Ireland, Scotland and even Wales? Spain is falling apart! Now that Catalonia will become independent, other provinces will soon follow.
And what's the strongest reason for these separatist movements? The realization by the individuals that their culture is unique and not a part of something else/bigger.
Ask any separatist and they will tell you "I'm not Greek/Spanish/French, I'm Macedonian/Basque/Corsican!"

I think Wayne Luke said almost everything. Language is not only a product of culture but also one of its strongest pillars. Language is also a key element in brain development and mental processes. That's why German people will always be excellent engineers but poor diplomats =)
When a language/culture is too much permeable to foreign influence, you start seeing signs of cultural degradation and weakening. Lost of examples in African countries or more recently Brazil, not to mention entire cultures totally erased/assimilated at even a faster pace like North American Indians for example.

So to answer the rest of your questions, a world where everyone would speak the same language would be as boring as warm non-alcoolic beer, enjoyed only by British chartered accountants as soon as they overcome the fact they were speaking Mandarin!
It would mean the end of "Kleftika", "na zdorovje" shouts across the table, cod fish for xmas and following Japanese tourist groups just for fun.

No thanks =)

[davidw]

Originally Posted by Allan

Yep, le francais est un langue difficile a apprendre d'apr?s certain :devious:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yep, French is one language difficult to learn according to some :devious:

I didn't have much trouble with it, but then again, I only took 3 1/2 years of it (2 1/2 in US and 1 year in Nederland)

[Chris M]

Originally Posted by christianb

Je parle francais en petit peu.
Ik spreek Nederlands en ik heb ook in Nederland geleefd.
I speak American English as well - not very good at British English.

They are essentially the same language - Most of what differs is just spelling

Chris

[davidw]

Originally Posted by Chris M

They are essentially the same language - Most of what differs is just spelling

Chris

Actually, that's what I thought too, until I took a course in English, while living in Europe. It took several weeks before I could bring my cijfer (grade) up from a 3-5 to at least a 7 (having the lowest grades in the class). One would think that they are the same, essentially, once you get past dialects, pronunciation, spelling, and usage. If I took English on the US grading scale, I would have flunked it.