Is Spanish expanding?

Visitor   Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:10 pm GMT
Spanish is the language of because only people with animal instinct do the bullfihting. Hispanics = Irrational, Animal instinct, salvaje.
Visitor   Sun Dec 21, 2008 10:24 pm GMT
Spanish is the language of bullfighting because only people with animal instinct do the bullfihting. Hispanics = Irrational, Animal instinct, salvaje.
Guest   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:18 am GMT
Bullfighting is very popular in southern France, so southern French are hispanics.
Hitlero   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:30 am GMT
<<Bullfighting is very popular in southern France, so southern French are hispanics. >>

Bullfighting as always been a source of inspiration for French artists, it's not a secret. The French Government planned it's prohibition but French supporters specially in south France still organize bullfightings with the implicit permission of the law .
Visitor   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:34 am GMT
Petanque is very popular in Northern Spain, so Northern Spaniards are French.
Mussolin   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:36 am GMT
<< Petanque is very popular in Northern Spain, so Northern Spaniards are French. >>

Petanque as always been a source of inspiration for Spanish artists, it's not a secret. The Spanish Government planned it's prohibition but Spanish supporters specially in Northern Spain still organize petanque with the implicit permission of the law .
Hitlero   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:39 am GMT
<<Petanque is very popular in Northern Spain, so Northern Spaniards are French.>>


Petanque is popular in East and Souther Spain, not Northern Spain:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bochas

East Spain has many ties with Occitania, nothing new.
Mussolin   Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:58 am GMT
<<Bullfighting is very popular in southern France, so southern French are hispanics>>


Bullfighting is popular in Rousillon, France not Southern |France:

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-102039008.html

Rousillon has many ties with Catalonia, nothing new.
Hitlero   Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:01 pm GMT
Not only in Roussillon but in other parts of Languedoc bullfighting is popular. For example the city of Nimes. In South Western France corridas also exist but I'm not sure. Anybody from Bourdeaux maybe to confirm it?
US First   Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:16 pm GMT
We need to talk about the original question. I read several interesting posts and I can answer.


Yes, spanish rapidly plunging into bottom most. There are 10 reasons to consider Spanish NOT important.

1. It is only spoken by 20 million as secondary and foreign tongue. So, Spanish has fewer speakers in that aspect than Swahili, Cantonese and of India or China. It is NOT in the top ten languages as secondary/foreign tongue.

2. It is spoken by 500 million, total speakers. These data are also bad. It is NOT in the top ten languages and it will never be in these group. English, French, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, and Russian has more total speakers than French.

3. Real Spanish is dominant language NOWHERE. Other languages like English in Asia, French in Africa, Russian in Eastern Europe, or Arabic in the Middle East in Eastern Europe are really important in a big area as lingua franca and secondary tongue. Real Spanish is only dominant in Castilia. It is not in top ten in Europe, fourth in Western Hemisphere (after English, French, Portuguese and Quechua) and not in the used in Africa as lingua franca in those areas.

4. The globalization affects to Spanish very bad. It is probably one of the languages that suffer more this situation. Why to study the "second with most speakers" I can study English or French? Several old Spanish colonies have added English as business, international or DE FACTO official language, like Puerto Rico, Panama, Honduras, Costa Ricae etc.

For example, Philippines, Marianas and Guam belong to Asia Pacific. This countries has English as official language. At this moment, nobody speak Spanish in these countries. All people study English.

5. The strengh of Portuguese. Portuguese is official in Brazil and Fernando Noronha. It is very studied in Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chileall these countries Spanish will dissapear.

6. Business. English is the business language. In Honduras, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and even Mexico and Colombia. English is the business one. Even in Spain it is the language to use with international tourism because Spain is frequented by the British tourists and Spaniards are rapidly adopting the language of these numerous british tourists..

7. Diplomatic field. English and French is the diplomatic language too, not Spanish.

8. The strengh of English, French and Russian. These languages has the fastest growing number of secondary and non-native speakers and as lingua franca nowadays. French is the most spoken Western language as secondary language according to George Weber and English the most foreign speakers. They attack directly Spanish, but they are more studied in the educational system of several countries instead of Spanish.

9. Economics. The hispanic countries are the poorest on Earth: El Salvador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Guatemala, etc

10. Finally, we can see that Spanish is fragmenting in Hispanic America, Andalusia and Canary Islands. It's rapidly evolving into several variants that would end up as either a MACRO-LANGUAGE like Chinese(with several mutually unintelligible dialects) or like Latin which it's now extinct and the only remaining modern remnants are French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, adn Spanish the most likey heir Latin's destiny. Hispanics are also called Latinos meaning Latin people. Chamorro, Chavacano, and Papiamento speakers commented that the speech of those areas are closer to their Spanish than to Castilian. Speakers of Spanish in one country have a hard time understanding the Spanish of another country. It's a sign that the differences between its dialects are widening despite the modern means of communication like TV, radio, and books. Spanish speakers have no discipline because they take their language for granted, mangle it and insist of using their local Spanish even though many of them are educated wherein the medium of instruction during their school days was Standard Written Spanish.
Visitor   Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:20 pm GMT
I often heard Castilians and people of Antioquia that most Hispanic Americans, Andalusians, and Canarians speak very bad Spanish.
Visitor   Thu Dec 25, 2008 8:11 am GMT
It is easy to know if Spanish remains the same.

We can use English as examples. Which languages are stronger than English in some continents or in some points?

Only three: French, Arabic, Russian.

French: It is the language that has the largest number of secondary speakers in the world. It is the most spoken language in Africa.

Russian: It is the most spoken language in Europe (including former USSR).

Arabic: It is the most spoken language in the Middle East and Northern Africa.


PS: Spanish is not in this group. Spanish is not stronger than French, English, Arabic, Russian, and Portuguese in any point or continent as with the number of secondary speakers. So, there is no expansion of this language. It is obvious, and Hispanic people can't deny it. Anyway, Spanish will remain as an international language behind English, French, Russian, and Arabic.
Visitor   Thu Dec 25, 2008 10:06 pm GMT
Spanish will lose the race against Quechua, Aymara, Guarani, Quiche, Portunhol, Lunfardo, Italian, Catalan, Galician, Basque, Asturian, Aragonese, and Leonese in in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Guatemala, Argentina, Uruguay, and Spain. The rest of Hispanic America's speech will eventually evolve so different from the Standard one and from each other that would either result in NEO-HISPANIC languages like it's mom Latin in which the only remaining remnants are the French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and the fast ffragmenting Spanish or as MACO-LANGUAGE like Chinese and Arabic. it's only a question of time that Spanish dissapears.
zorro   Thu Dec 25, 2008 10:20 pm GMT
yes, it is it's undeniable!
Visitor   Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:45 pm GMT
Guarani is now an official language of Mercosur.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercosur

It's growing rapidly.