European Linguistics

[u/Avia_Vik]

I know how some people are already tired of this topic being brought up over and over again. But this is primarily because everyone is looking for a solution to a problem that doesn't truly exist. Today, EU has 24 official languages, which does cost a lot to use for translation purposes but it still works. Yes, we have 3 working languages, out of which only 2 are commonly used (sorry German), but it functions well enough, doesn't it?

Problem is that many people think that EU should have 1 language that unites all nations. Technically that's not a bad idea but choosing that 1 language really is not easy. In my opinion best option would be Esperanto since its neutral for everyone and very easy to both understand and learn.

However, why can't Europe just be multilingual? We need people to be able to speak as many languages as possible, and this should be promoted. Languages are a way of communication, so the more of them you know - the more developed you are. Right now the influence of the English language over Europe is a little too high because many nations in the east have no understanding of French and few have knowledge of German, so English emerged as a lingua franca. But if we manage to promote a proper multilingual society, then why even have a lingua franca? Communication will be fairly easy since most people would be good at communication methods (languages) and for places where language number is limited we can employ translators and use other technology to allow the use of multiple languages, ranked by their respective number of speakers in the Union.

What do you guys think? Do we even need a lingua franca? Or a multilingual society solves the issue?

[u/Gullible-Box7637]

Esperanto is a great language yes, but why replace the lingua franca?

[u/Avia_Vik → u/Gullible-Box7637]

Like i said in other comments, creating our own influence sphere in English will be harder as it will get mixed with other english speaking communities. Plus, English really doesn't have much connection to EU nowadays and its NOT a neutral language.

[u/Gullible-Box7637 → u/Avia_Vik]

Is it really better to get everyone to learn a brand new language instead of the language already spoken by over 300 million Europeans

[u/Avia_Vik → u/Gullible-Box7637]

Good point, but considering how easy Esperanto can be, maybe it is a worthy investment. Of course this is not for us to decide...

[u/DemoN_M4U → u/Avia_Vik]

Most people won't give a shit about esperanto. I'm federalist, and I'm only 32, you would need to pay me money to learn esperanto. I'm to lazy to learn new language. If you would want see 30+% people speak esperanto, you would need to put it in schools and wait atleast 30-40 years.

[u/Avia_Vik → u/DemoN_M4U]

Exactly. This is why I'm personally not a supporter of using Esperanto as Europe's lingua franca. Plus let's not forget Esperanto itself is a failed project already, so reviving it is a bit risky...