Why doe the EU not use English?

Mojisola

If Britain had joined at the start, we may have had a case for using English as one of the community languages.

System

atush wrote: »

It may be these days, but it used to be French (which is why the UN uses French) as it was the international language of diplomacy.

I learned recently that the last time old-fashioned diplomatic French was used in an international communique was in 1914, with the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia.

lvader

EU as an organisation is still in the dark ages, we should have all been speaking french by now. Luckily pretty much all EU countries now teach English as their 2nd language.

N1AK

ILW wrote: »

In international circles, English tends to be a common language of business and finance. Is the EU being rather inward looking in not embracing this?

I'd say it probably is, but then the English resistance to learning foreign languages is almost certainly as bad. It's not like learning French or German is that difficult.

Also all the 'English is the language of business' statements are nice in theory but I've worked in international businesses. When we sent staff to work in Spanish offices they get Spanish lessons, Dutch lessons for the Netherlands and German lessons to move to Germany. People who are based in China are assigned translators.

It's one thing for someone to have a knowledge of English and another to be able to hold detailed business conversations in English. Politics is an even more technically complex, and pedantic, area.

zagubov

Why Doe the EU not Use English


Why "Doe" the thread title not Use English;)

N1AK wrote: »

I'd say it probably is, but then the English resistance to learning foreign languages is almost certainly as bad. It's not like learning French or German is that difficult.

Also all the 'English is the language of business' statements are nice in theory but I've worked in international businesses. When we sent staff to work in Spanish offices they get Spanish lessons, Dutch lessons for the Netherlands and German lessons to move to Germany. People who are based in China are assigned translators.

It's one thing for someone to have a knowledge of English and another to be able to hold detailed business conversations in English. Politics is an even more technically complex, and pedantic, area.

I've heard it said that people sell in your language and buy in their own.

atush wrote: »

I should have probably though, learned Spanish instead as more of the world speak it incl many in the USA now.

Mr Gove stuff your reforms but bring back the double GCSE in Business Studies in Spanish - the language where you're most likely to meet a businessperson who doesn't speak English.

System

Europe used to have a common second language until comparatively recently - Latin. All educated people learned Latin. It was still an entry requirement when I went to university.

atush

bryanb wrote: »

Numerically we should all learn Mandarin.

Even the English have trouble using English these days.

Well, today that is what I would be learning for sure.

atush

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

I learned recently that the last time old-fashioned diplomatic French was used in an international communique was in 1914, with the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia.

But it has and is still used in Strasburg, Brussels, the UN and even the IOC.

Niv

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

Europe used to have a common second language until comparatively recently - Latin. All educated people learned Latin. It was still an entry requirement when I went to university.

Out of interest what do you call comparatively recently? I went to Uni ~15years ago and no-one spoke Latin nor was there any mention of needing to use it for anything. It definately was not an entry requirement.

System

Cambridge 1969. Latin O-level was an entry requirement.