Is multilingualism required in a globalised world?
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As an expat, and interacting much with the expat community, I have personally found that most of us prefer speaking English over our native language, and even fluency in our native languages is decreasing as we grow more uncomfortable communicating in a language other than English. In many countries, such as mine, most people cannot easily fluently articulate their thoughts in more than 2 languages, hence most people are bilingual, but very few are multilingual. 1
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But you say it's "dying" That would entail that multilingualism has been better than it is now. Are there any facts supporting that statement? Multilingualism is not that common worldwide. If you look at certain countries like the Nordic states, it is very common, but in Germany, France, UK... multilingualism has never been common, so therefore I doubt it is something that is dying on a global level. People are so connected nowadays that its really easy for people from all over the world to talk to each other. Different languages evolved because of separation. If the world is reconnecting, one language will become dominant and will probably be influenced by local languages. I think we will have one language, with many other languages being pushed to the side, which is already happening. |
