Lea & Perrins Cook's Helper Garlic Saucce
Jun 4th 2019, 5:22 pm
#31
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Re: Lea & Perrins Cook's Helper Garlic Saucce
Just as Brits often think that foreigners learn English purely for the benefit of the British - failing to recognise the use of English as an international means of communication.
Jun 4th 2019, 5:45 pm
#32
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Re: Lea & Perrins Cook's Helper Garlic Saucce
Looked ok to me!
Anyway, picking up on one part -
Reminds me of the old ATC joke -
Lufthansa **** calls Munich final director - in German.
Munich ATCO responds by admonishing pilot for failing to use English.
Pilot responds with "I am a German pilot, in a German aircraft, approaching a German airfield, why can't I speak in German?"
Before Munich can reply, a little voice comes out of the ether
"Because we won the war!"
Anyway, picking up on one part -
the use of protocols in English in areas such as international trade documentation, in air traffic control,
Lufthansa **** calls Munich final director - in German.
Munich ATCO responds by admonishing pilot for failing to use English.
Pilot responds with "I am a German pilot, in a German aircraft, approaching a German airfield, why can't I speak in German?"
Before Munich can reply, a little voice comes out of the ether
"Because we won the war!"
Jun 4th 2019, 8:17 pm
#33
Stand-up Philosopher
Joined: Apr 2009
Location: Regina Saskatchewan
Posts: 16,344
Jun 4th 2019, 8:30 pm
#34
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,448
Re: Lea & Perrins Cook's Helper Garlic Saucce
[Recreation of the post previously between pots #31 & #32, with many thanks to Expatrick who captured a copy of the post in the short time it had been posted. I have further added to the original post, but deleted nothing, other than perhaps minor typos.]
Which were widely spoken around the Mediterranean and NW Europe, and in China respectively, but neither come even close to the geographic spread of English around the world!
Agreed, but if you read my post more careful before replying, you would see that I named the US myself. 
Beyond mere nationalism that you deride, you could attribute the globalization of English to many facts, all of which are significant, but none of which were probably sufficient on their own to create the globalization of English - and at the top of my version of that list I would put IBM and Microsoft, which made English the language of computing. And since then Apple, Google, and YouTube, etc., have built on that foundation.
Other factors, in no particular order I would add include, but aren't confined to:
* the use of English by organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and IMF, NATO, and even the EU
* that in many parts of the world, English is the most common shared language, especially in India where it is closest India has to a national language, and parts of Africa
* the global reach of the British empire gave English many local centers, which led to it being used for local trade/ commerce in many trading hubs around the world.
* Hollywood and US/UK TV, and CNN & BBC news reporting,
* the use of protocols in English in areas such as international trade documentation, in air traffic control, NSYE & LSE rules and US/UK accounting standards, banking, etc.
* that the vast majority of peer-reviewed scientific papers are written in English - 96% the last time I saw a statistic, with the motivation to publish your paper in English being that if you publish it in your mother tongue, whether it be Cantonese, Spanish, French, German, or Hindi, it will not be widely read.
And yes, many of the above are driven by the US, and it's huge economy and global reach.
Which were widely spoken around the Mediterranean and NW Europe, and in China respectively, but neither come even close to the geographic spread of English around the world!
.... But again you miss a point, the Brits think it's their doing that English is international, but it's really your adopted country's doing. ….
Beyond mere nationalism that you deride, you could attribute the globalization of English to many facts, all of which are significant, but none of which were probably sufficient on their own to create the globalization of English - and at the top of my version of that list I would put IBM and Microsoft, which made English the language of computing. And since then Apple, Google, and YouTube, etc., have built on that foundation.
Other factors, in no particular order I would add include, but aren't confined to:
* the use of English by organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank and IMF, NATO, and even the EU
* that in many parts of the world, English is the most common shared language, especially in India where it is closest India has to a national language, and parts of Africa
* the global reach of the British empire gave English many local centers, which led to it being used for local trade/ commerce in many trading hubs around the world.
* Hollywood and US/UK TV, and CNN & BBC news reporting,
* the use of protocols in English in areas such as international trade documentation, in air traffic control, NSYE & LSE rules and US/UK accounting standards, banking, etc.
* that the vast majority of peer-reviewed scientific papers are written in English - 96% the last time I saw a statistic, with the motivation to publish your paper in English being that if you publish it in your mother tongue, whether it be Cantonese, Spanish, French, German, or Hindi, it will not be widely read.
And yes, many of the above are driven by the US, and it's huge economy and global reach.
Last edited by Pulaski; Jun 4th 2019 at 9:00 pm.
