Can Chinese be the lingua franca of Asia?
Can Chinese be the lingua franca of Asia?
Asia is very big. There are 4 areas in Asia:
India-Pakistan-Bangladesh, where the lingua franca is Hindi and English
Middle East, Arabic
Former USSR (Asian territory), Russian
Far East (From China to Singapore, including Korea and Japan), where Chinese can be the lingua franca. There will be an interesting fight between English and Chinese. It depends on several factors. I bet for Chinese.
India-Pakistan-Bangladesh, where the lingua franca is Hindi and English
Middle East, Arabic
Former USSR (Asian territory), Russian
Far East (From China to Singapore, including Korea and Japan), where Chinese can be the lingua franca. There will be an interesting fight between English and Chinese. It depends on several factors. I bet for Chinese.
The Guest above is really geography familiar!
I agree with your reasons.
<<There will be an interesting fight between English and Chinese. It depends on several factors.>>
That is an interesting remark indeed.
Hope you can say more about the several factors!
I agree with your reasons.
<<There will be an interesting fight between English and Chinese. It depends on several factors.>>
That is an interesting remark indeed.
Hope you can say more about the several factors!
It is easy. One of them is the next:
When China will be the most powerful country on Earth, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, for instance, shoud choose between English or Chinese for business.
When China will be the most powerful country on Earth, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, for instance, shoud choose between English or Chinese for business.
It is easy. One of them is the next:
When China will be the most powerful country on Earth, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, for instance, shoud choose between English or Chinese for business.
When China will be the most powerful country on Earth, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, for instance, shoud choose between English or Chinese for business.
Chinese as a lingua franca of Asia? Yeah, right. And is there a lingua franca of Europe or even North America? Besides, even though there are billions of Chinese people (which is pretty annoying), there are still other ethnicities in Asia such as the Japanese, Vietnamese, various Indian ones, etc.
>> And is there a lingua franca of Europe or even North America? <<
Yes, English and English
Yes, English and English
Never.
English, English, and only English.
Forget all other languages - nobody will speak them.
English, English, and only English.
Forget all other languages - nobody will speak them.
Even in Far-East, I think Chinese hardly would become lingua franca. Japan and Korea, as well as Vietnam, have too strong national feelings and would always prefer English. The Phillipines, Singapore and Malaysia have English deeply rooted, by historical reasons. Indonesia is putting too much effort in order to make Bahasa the national unifying language, and would hardly accept anything that would give too much significance to the local chinese minority.
Besides, Chinese is too much complicated and difficult in comparison with English. So I guess Chinese will never have much significance outside China and the chinese worldwide diaspora.
(By Chinese we're all refering to Mandarin I assume)
Besides, Chinese is too much complicated and difficult in comparison with English. So I guess Chinese will never have much significance outside China and the chinese worldwide diaspora.
(By Chinese we're all refering to Mandarin I assume)
The 'big three' of Asia are bound to be Chinese, Japanese and Korean. However all of them will be much less important than English. In the next 30 years North and South Korea will surely be reunified, and thus Korean will mushroom in importance. Also, I cannot see northern Asians learning southern Asian languages like Indonesian, it's simply impossible due to geographic separation and biases.
English is perfect for Asia.
1. It is neutral. There is a lot of historical animosity amongst Asian countries which will prevent any local languages from catching on. Even anti-Americanism is moot, since English has moved beyond mere associations with only America and most of Asia was never colonised by Britain apart from India, but India has adopted English quite well.
2. It is well-established already. Record learners in China, Korea and official in India.
3. Gateway to beyond Asia. Why have an Asian lingua franca when you can kill two birds with one stone? The world is not really isolated into regions any more anyway, so globalisation renders regional languages moot.
4. Relatively easy.
1. It is neutral. There is a lot of historical animosity amongst Asian countries which will prevent any local languages from catching on. Even anti-Americanism is moot, since English has moved beyond mere associations with only America and most of Asia was never colonised by Britain apart from India, but India has adopted English quite well.
2. It is well-established already. Record learners in China, Korea and official in India.
3. Gateway to beyond Asia. Why have an Asian lingua franca when you can kill two birds with one stone? The world is not really isolated into regions any more anyway, so globalisation renders regional languages moot.
4. Relatively easy.
Yeshua, I agree that English would be good but only in theory. Asia is just too diverse for English to work...officially that is. It seems to already be an informal lingua franca of Asia.
Chinese would not be a good lingua franca. While the speaking wouldn't be too difficult to learn (the Mandarin variety that is; Cantonese is tougher), the writing system is excessively difficult to learn even though the Mainland uses simplified characters.
Point being, I don't see why Asia needs an "official" lingua franca. I think that by having all the languages remain the way they are, one could have a bit of fun and learn the language of the country they plan to visit. Or try speaking English...
Chinese would not be a good lingua franca. While the speaking wouldn't be too difficult to learn (the Mandarin variety that is; Cantonese is tougher), the writing system is excessively difficult to learn even though the Mainland uses simplified characters.
Point being, I don't see why Asia needs an "official" lingua franca. I think that by having all the languages remain the way they are, one could have a bit of fun and learn the language of the country they plan to visit. Or try speaking English...