Language expert says English global dominance could be threatened by technology

Knowing exactly how many people can speak which languages is almost impossible — but one thing is clear, English holds a special status among the world’s thousands of dialects. 

With roughly 1.5 billion speakers to Mandarin’s 1.3 billion, it’s now estimated that around one in four people on the planet can speak English to a basic standard.

In the late 1400s, only about three million people spoke English, but now it has become the default language of global communication and culture from cinema, pop music and science, to the internet, civil aviation and Antarctic exploration.

But this special status could soon be under threat — and not from our Mandarin-speaking neighbours.

That’s according to language extraordinaire and critically-acclaimed best-selling author Gaston Dorren, who has delved into why certain languages have taken over the world in his fascinating new book, Babel.

LANGUAGE OF TECHNOLOGY COULD OVERTAKE ENGLISH

Speaking to news.com.au, the Dutchman said there are around 6000 languages in the world but it’s unlikely that any of them will have the clout to knock English off its perch — unless there’s a major political change of global power.

However, he said the language of technology could be English’s undoing.

“We will at some point have devices that translate our speech into any major language,” he said. “We’re not quite there yet and it may take longer than the boffins think, for language is more complex than they give it credit for.”

He calls this major language breakthrough the “Babel Chip” — which means we will be able to speak to almost anyone in the world without having to learn foreign languages,

“It (learning languages) will still be valuable for all sorts of cultural and psychological reasons, but the majority won’t bother,” he said. “So it’s not Mandarin or any other language that is likely to become the undoing of English — it’s technology.”

THE RISE OF GLOBISH

He said English is now the closest thing we have to a global tongue and people are unlikely to discard it. However, he reckons it could “evolve” — meaning “English of international communication will gradually simplify, creating some sort of ‘Globish’ in the process”.

Globish is defined as a simplified version of Anglo-American English used as a worldwide lingua franca — a common language between speakers whose native languages are different.

“It’s also possible that native spoken English will diverge into separate regional languages, such as American, British and Strine, alongside Globish,” said Mr Dorren. “But I don’t expect the world to embrace a whole new language — and certainly not Mandarin.”

LANGUAGE AUSSIES SHOULD LEARN

In his new book, Mr Dorren writes that if we learnt Mandarin, Spanish and Hindi-Urdu (on top of our native English) we would be able to travel the world without needing an interpreter, but since the “Babel Chip” is on its way, should Aussies bother learning languages at all?

Mr Dorren says Asian languages are “obviously crucial to Australia’s future” — particularly Mandarin given the rising political and economic clout of China.

However, he said Aussies might be better off trying to learn another language as Mandarin is notoriously hard to learn for English speakers.

“Unfortunately, Mandarin is every bit as difficult as it’s said to be, especially for speakers of English and other European languages,” he said.

“Therefore, the language of Australia’s northern neighbour, Indonesian, suggests itself. It’s far easier to learn and will in a few decades be the fifth or sixth largest language in the world, while also giving you access to Malaysia.”

HOW DID ENGLISH CONQUER THE WORLD?

Mr Dorren said English has been successful not because it’s easy, but because English-speakers have dominated the world both economically and culturally for the past 70 years or so.

“English is certainly somewhat easier to learn than other languages, but it’s not nearly as easy as native speakers tend to think, nor does this characteristic account for its current dominance,” he said.

He said this dominance can be explained with just four letters: UK, US.

“The British Empire was the largest the world ever saw, and it spread its language those areas that were (initially) settled by British people — Australia, New Zealand, Canada and, crucially, the United States,” he said.

“Then in recent decades, when American economic, cultural, political and military predominance coincided with globalisation, English became the default language in practically all domains of global communication, from cinema, pop music and science, to the internet, civil aviation and Antarctic exploration.”