Would it develop much differently?
What would US be like if it spoke German or French instead?
Probably not.
There a the theory, often espoused here at Antimoon, that speaking a morphologically complex language like German improves the thought processes of the native speaker. Perhaps the US would be more advanced scientifically, artistically, philosophically, and diplomaticaly if it did speak German?
Imagine what the US would be like is we spoke Sanskrit, or Navajo.
There a the theory, often espoused here at Antimoon, that speaking a morphologically complex language like German improves the thought processes of the native speaker. Perhaps the US would be more advanced scientifically, artistically, philosophically, and diplomaticaly if it did speak German?
Imagine what the US would be like is we spoke Sanskrit, or Navajo.
Yes, because it wouldn't exist in the first place because it would never have been a British colony and would never have been populated by Brits or if it was then that would imply Britain wasn't English speaking which would imply English didn't exist which would imply English spoke French which would imply France controlled England which would imply Napoleon would conquer Europe which would imply France-Russia cold war and this time it would end in nuclear holocaust and every one would be dead, including you which would make it all worth it.
OMG, what a wonderful world it would have been, had Napoleon had conquered all Europe, and then the world!
A French World ... A dream
A French World ... A dream
If German were spoken in US, then there wouldn't be so many Jews in US, and US's economy wouldn't be so strong and it would never have become a superpower. US would probably be no different from any one of the Latin American countries.
The potential of Germany isn't to be underestimated. Today, Germany is the biggest exporter in the whole world and that for a country with a population of only 80 million people.
Still, there are hardly any Jews to be found today in Germany (only 200,000+),...
Still, there are hardly any Jews to be found today in Germany (only 200,000+),...
That a country speak a language is not a process that comes alone, without any reason. If the USA speak English, it is not due to an arbitrary decision: "well, what language are we going to schoose for our new country... Spanish, English, German, French?"... If the choice would have been made on rational reasons it would have been french that should have been shoosen because it was far ahead the dominant language at that time.
But the reality, that many Americans prefer to ignore, is that the reason of the US beaing English-speaking is that it starter from the former British colonies: it is the fact that those colonies were British that have make cultirally and economically the USA what they are today. If at the origin those colonies where Spanish the USA might have being today a country more like Argentina (which, like USA has been aslo a country with heavy European immigration: but in each case the immigrant had assimilated themselves in two very different cultures), etc. That is to say a very different country to what it is.
But the reality, that many Americans prefer to ignore, is that the reason of the US beaing English-speaking is that it starter from the former British colonies: it is the fact that those colonies were British that have make cultirally and economically the USA what they are today. If at the origin those colonies where Spanish the USA might have being today a country more like Argentina (which, like USA has been aslo a country with heavy European immigration: but in each case the immigrant had assimilated themselves in two very different cultures), etc. That is to say a very different country to what it is.
<<German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are Americans of German descent. They form the largest self-reported ancestry group in the United States, outnumbering the Irish and English.[11][12] They account for 50 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population.>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_American
"If German were spoken in US, then there wouldn't be so many Jews in US, and US's economy wouldn't be so strong."
There would be less Madoffs, a healther economy, a wealthy manufacturing sector and a strong export.
Just the opposite of what USA is today.
There would be less Madoffs, a healther economy, a wealthy manufacturing sector and a strong export.
Just the opposite of what USA is today.
Still, there are hardly any Jews to be found today in Germany
.
but too many Turks and Muslim population,
Germany is to become a Neue Turkei
.
but too many Turks and Muslim population,
Germany is to become a Neue Turkei
<<OMG, what a wonderful world it would have been, had Napoleon had conquered all Europe, and then the world!
A French World ... A dream >>
Yeah, we'd all be walking around listening to Jason Mraz.
Ooops, I just wet myself
A French World ... A dream >>
Yeah, we'd all be walking around listening to Jason Mraz.
Ooops, I just wet myself
But we probably would be monoglots too, (just like the majority of anglophones btw)...
I don't think the US would be as successful a country as it is today if it were a French or German colony, because the French and Germans didn't care as much about their colonies as the British did. Their focus was on European dominance. The French, in particular, were only concerned about resource extraction abroad. Quebec and Louisiana were France's only real "settled" colonies, but France gave up Quebec in favour of the sugar plantations of Guadeloupe, and sold Louisiana to the Americans for a song because it didn't appear to have any economic value.
Basically, I don't think that the French or Germans would have conceived the "American Dream", and the colony would have languished as an exploited backwater for generations. It'd be similar to its Latin American neighbours in terms of development today.
Basically, I don't think that the French or Germans would have conceived the "American Dream", and the colony would have languished as an exploited backwater for generations. It'd be similar to its Latin American neighbours in terms of development today.