What is the biggest threat to English?

Shuimo   Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:13 am GMT
What is the biggest threat to English as an international language?
The downfall of US? The Rise of Chinese? The spread of the Internet or sth else?
human   Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:15 am GMT
A big meteor hitting the earth, a nuclear war, a global epidemic, or some other catastrophic apocalyptic situation.
Shuimo   Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:19 am GMT
human Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:15 am GMT
A big meteor hitting the earth, a nuclear war, a global epidemic, or some other catastrophic apocalyptic situation.
====
pig flu?
Dalai Lama   Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:47 am GMT
Robin Michael?
Xie A.   Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:50 pm GMT
Sure.
Xie A.   Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:54 pm GMT
Welcome back by the way. :)
Dalai Lama   Mon Nov 02, 2009 4:19 pm GMT
Greetings to my devotees.
Here I am, once again, fighting the dark forces of evil.
Somebody has to, but it's a tough job let me tell you.
In my next incarnation I'm going as Courtney Love...
clever guy   Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:03 pm GMT
There are only 2 languages that can threat English partially, in Asia and the Americas.

Chinese can be the lingua franca of Eastern Asia in the near future.

Spanish can be the lingua franca of the Americas yet.


In a lesser degree, all other languages too, like Swahili in Eastern Africa or Afrikaans in South Africa.


ALL languages can threat English in Internet. The percentage of pages and users in English is less important and it will be dicreasing more.
Guest (also clever)   Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:14 pm GMT
Maybe ALL languages could threaten English, but Hungarian could never threaten ANY language!
Barbara Johnson   Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:24 pm GMT
Well i could not say that if their is any threat to English because what could be threat, but yes i could agree with one of them that if world is going to end than no human no English.


Regards,
Barbara Johnson
<a href="http://www.englishbox.co.uk">English School London</a>
Truth   Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:31 pm GMT
Answer: Niggers.

/thread
Payaso   Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:14 am GMT
Younger US people are the biggest threat to the language. They can't articulate a sentence without the word "like". Honesty, English is my second language, but if I could, I'd rather learn how speak it and write it British style. English in the US is boring and bland and too nasal.
POL   Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:24 am GMT
<<Younger US people are the biggest threat to the language. They can't articulate a sentence without the word "like". Honesty, English is my second language, but if I could, I'd rather learn how speak it and write it British style. English in the US is boring and bland and too nasal.>>


Don't tell native speakers how to speak their language. Non-natives have no say in the matter!
Damian in Edinburgh   Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:15 am GMT
X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent.....and while we're about it......Eastenders.....most certainly Eastenders...."oh my gawd cor blimey, woch cha on abaht, mite?"..... and maybe Coronation Street as well..."ah yer all raht, chook?...eee bah goom.... coom an' 'ave a coop o' tea, luv!".........one being a threat from the South and the other a threat from the North (from an England English perspective, that is....for us Scots both are a threat from the South anyway).
SIMBOL   Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:19 am GMT
I think the greatest threat to English is the "gay accent" (no offence to gays). That flamboyant girly accent with rising intonation at the end of every sentence. This accent is spreading from flamboyant gays into the rest of the community and is rather atrocious.