Criteria for a language to be important internationally

Language Critic   Mon Dec 28, 2009 10:26 am GMT
1. Total number of speakers.
2. Number of countries where it is spoken as native or official language.
3. Huge geographical areas.
4. Spoken in many international organizations.
5. Prominent in fields like science, technology, arts, literature, medicine, business, etc.
6. Number of countries where it is studied as a foreign language.
7. Number of people who study it as a foreign language.

English: 1 to 7
French: 1 to 7
Russian: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
Arabic: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
Spanish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7
German: 1, 5, 6, 7
Italian: 5, 6, 7
Chinese: 1, 3
Portuguese: 1, 2, 3, 5
Japanese: 1, 5, 7
miop   Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:23 pm GMT
Fuck you!
meup   Tue Dec 29, 2009 2:49 am GMT
<< Fuck you! >>

Same to you! Don't get furious if your language is not really one of the opt international languages because it cannot fit in one of the criteria above.
Inquiring mind   Tue Dec 29, 2009 11:23 am GMT
Are Japanese and Russian really studied as a foreign language by a significant number of people?
Answering mind   Thu Dec 31, 2009 5:23 am GMT
<< Are Japanese and Russian really studied as a foreign language by a significant number of people? >>

Russian is popular and studied as a foreign language in Baltic States, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, China, Gibraltar, Turkey, and Cuba.

Japanese in Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, The Philippines, Hawaii, Guam, and Marianas.
Harman   Thu Dec 31, 2009 12:53 pm GMT
what about....

1) economical power?
2) military power?
.
.
.
the rest....
For example brazilian before Lula and after Lula... its value has changed.
Induciomaro   Thu Dec 31, 2009 7:52 pm GMT
<<4. Spoken in many international organizations.>>
This one is redundant
K. T.   Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:52 pm GMT
I feel sorry for people who are forced to learn a language that they don't want to learn (whether or not it is important), but that's the way it is. If you want access to information, often you have to learn English. In some countries, French is the obligatory language (think of Canada, certain countries in Africa). In the US, more people are starting to think that they should learn Spanish and some are wondering if they should learn Chinese or Arabic.

I am learning Chinese (Mandarin). It's not too bad so far. The word order is a lot like English and that's a plus. I get tired of people telling me that I should learn Arabic, or hinting that I should learn a southeast asian language. Let them pay me to learn it. Important or not, it's easier to learn a language if you have an incentive.

Your views...
Objective Criteria   Sat Jan 02, 2010 1:34 pm GMT
My opinion is different. Language Critics is very generous with some languages and not too much with another ones. That's fishy.



My criteria is OBJECTIVE and the first one is very subjective.


First point: official in United Nations

English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.....2 points

Official in other continental organizations

Portuguese, Italian and German....1 point



Second point: spoken by at least 50 million people in each continent

English: 4 continents....4 points
Spanish: 3 continents...3 points
French: 2 continents....2 points
All other languages.......1 point


Economic power: according to the Steinke Index

English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and German: 2 points
French, Italian, Russian, Portuguese and Korean: 1 point



1. English 8 points
2. Spanish 7 points
3. Chinese 5 points
4. French 5 points
5. Russian 4 points
6. German 4 points
7. Arabic 3 points
8. Portuguese 3 points
9. Japanese 3 points
10. Italian 3 points

If a language has the same number of points, we should use the number of speakers to consider the order.
Practical Criteria   Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:04 pm GMT
<< 1. Total number of speakers.
2. Number of countries where it is spoken as native or official language.
3. Huge geographical areas.
4. Spoken in many international organizations.
5. Prominent in fields like science, technology, arts, literature, medicine, business, etc.
6. Number of countries where it is studied as a foreign language.
7. Number of people who study it as a foreign language.

English: 1 to 7
French: 1 to 7
Russian: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7
Arabic: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
Spanish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7
German: 1, 5, 6, 7
Italian: 5, 6, 7
Chinese: 1, 3
Portuguese: 1, 2, 3, 5
Japanese: 1, 5, 7 >>

I agree with you for your pointing system,Language Critic.

English 7
French 7
Russian 6
Arabic 5
Spanish 5
German 4
Portuguese 4
Italian 3
Japanese 3

Nice pointing system considering that a language is not just measured by the its huge number of speakers but also its usefulness in science, literature, arts, medicine, etc and number of non-native speakers to serve as lingua franca.
Guest   Sat Jan 02, 2010 2:56 pm GMT
"Nice pointing system considering that a language is not just measured by the its huge number of speakers but also its usefulness in science, literature, arts, medicine, etc and number of non-native speakers to serve as lingua franca."

That's a subjective bullshit.

It is only a useful language in Science, Technology and medicine: English

When an Italian study to be a doctor, he/she study in Italian. He/she only needs some books in English to complete the study, almost always American books. So, English and the national language (Italian in the example) are enough. It doesn't matter which is the second or third language in the medicine field.

On the other hand, in World literature ALL languages are important.
Visitor   Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:19 pm GMT
<< It is only a useful language in Science, Technology and medicine: English >>

That's a illogical bullshit.

When a scientific work is done in a certain it is written on the language of that country and translated it to other languages including English. Now if your language entity ha few outputs in a certain field then your language is unimportant in that field which affect its standing or status a an international language.
Homer   Sat Jan 02, 2010 5:54 pm GMT
Visitor, Japanese and German are probably the second and third scientific and technologic languages. And?

an Italian doctor, a French scientist or a Spaniard expert in software, and all of them teachers at the same time, NEVER need to study German or Japanese.

THEY ONLY NEED TO STUDY ENGLISH and their national language.
2012   Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:27 am GMT
I agree with Homer
Visitor   Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:57 am GMT
Homer the sucker and bootlicker, French and German are certainly the third and fourth languages of science and technology with Russian as second. And?

an Italian doctor, a Japanese scientist or a Spaniard expert in software, and all of them teachers at the same time, MAY need to study French or German.

Japan is way ahead in electronics technology but in other fields of technology it's copycat. They still import sophisticated machines from Germany and Helicopters from France. Japan is laggard in biological, chemistry, physics, and geology.


ENGLISH
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958)
50.5

64 (1966)
52.9

71 (1969)
55.9

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
44.5

No. 11 (1969)
61.6

Animal Sciences
63.1

Plant Sciences
58.2

Total Biological
61.0

Sciences 3
58.5

Math Vols. 1–13(up to 1962)
60.3

1970
71.7

RUSSIAN
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958)

64 (1966)
16.8

71 (1969)

No. 11 (1959)
21.2

No. 11 (1969)
24.2

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
28.3
No. 11 (1969)
26.2

Animal Sciences
14.8

Plant Sciences
10.8

Total Biological Sciences
15.3

Math
16.8

Vols. 1–13(up to 1962)
10.6

1970
14.4

GERMAN
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958)
9.7

64 (1966)
8.9

71 (1969)
6.1

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
9.1

No. 11 (1969)
4.4

Animal Sciences
6.5

Plant Sciences
8.5

Total Biological Sciences
6.8

Math
6.2

Vols. 1–13(up to 1962)
13.8

1970
5.0

FRENCH
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958)
5.5

64 (1966)
3.8

71 (1969)
4.4

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
8.6

No. 11 (1969)
5.0

Animal Sciences
4.1

Plant Sciences
9.0

Total Biological Sciences
5.3

Math
12.5

Vols. 1–13(up to 1962)
6.4

1970
2.9

JAPANESE
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958) 1
6.1

64 (1966)
3.2

71 (1969)
4.3

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
3.5

No. 11 (1969)
0.8

Animal Sciences
2.1

Plant Sciences
2.8

Total Biological Sciences
2.2

Math Vols. 1–13(up to 1962)
— 2.2

1970
1.0

SPANISH
Chemical Abstracts(Chemistry)
58 (1958)
1.0

64 (1966)
0.6

71 (1969)
0.3

Referativnyi Zhurnal(Physics)
No. 11 (1959)
0.2

No. 11 (1969)
0.02

Animal Sciences
2.0

Plant Sciences
3.4

Total Biological Sciences
2.3

Math
1.0

Vols. 1–13 (up to 1962)
1.3

1970
0.4

http://web2.adfl.org/adfl/bulletin/v05n1/051048.htm

OBVIOUSLY, BASED ON THEW DATA ABOVE, SPANISH IS THE REAL LAGGARD IN SCIENCE BECAUSE ASIDE FROM BEING JUST RELYING ON INPUTS(TRANSLATION FROM OTHER LANGUAGES) WITH NO OUTPUTS(SCIENTIFIC WORKS IN THAT LANGUAGE BY ITS SCIENTISTS), THE PERCENTAGE OF PRINTED MATERIALS ON THAT LANGUAGE KEEP ON DWINDLING AS TIME PASSES BY.

THE ONLY LANGUAGE THAT AN ENGLISH SPEAKING SCIENTIST NEED TO STUDY IS STUDY IS RUSSIAN BECAUSE 30% OF SCIENTIFIC WORK ARE IN THAT LANGUAGE AND UNTRANSLATED.