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John McWhorter
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We live in an era when it's never been easier to teach yourself another language.
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The language I'm speaking right now is on its way to becoming the world's universal language, for better or for worse.
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It's the language of the internet, it's the language of finance, it's the language of air traffic control, of popular music, diplomacy. English is everywhere.
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Mandarin Chinese is spoken by more people, but more Chinese people are learning English than English speakers are learning Chinese. English is taking over.
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It's been predicted that at the end of the century almost all of the languages that exist now, there are about six thousand, will no longer be spoken. There will only be some hundreds left.
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It's at the point where instant translation of live speech is not only possible, but it gets better every year.
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Why should we learn foreign languages, other than if English happens to be foreign to one? Why bother to learn another one when it's getting to the point where almost everybody in the world will be able to communicate in one?
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Language can shape thought, but it tends to be in rather darling, obscure psychological flutters. It's not a matter of giving you a different pair of glasses on the world.
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It's been shown that if you speak two languages, dementia is less likely to set in, and that you are probably a better multitasker. Bilingualism is healthy.
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© 2020 MF