International Language for the 21st Century
International Language, any of several languages, natural or deliberately constructed, used to facilitate communications among peoples with different native languages.
I think that an international language must satisfy several criteria. According to the Microsoft Student 2007, the criteria are adequate of vocabulary; perfect of grammar and easy of pronunciation. The adequate of vocabulary and perfect of grammar need to carry the multiple translations with the native languages. Easy of pronunciation is also an important requirement to study an international language. In my view, an international language must satisfy several criteria above in order that language is easy to learn and can express all the concepts need for modern life.
I believe that various languages may seem suitable but none is perfect. According to the Source 11, the 6 most widely spoken languages, with approximate numbers of native speakers, are as follows: Chinese (8 main dialects), 3 billion; English, 850 million; Indonesian/Malay, 425 million; Spanish, 250 million; Arabic, 222 million; and Russian, 200 million. The Chinese language is the most widely spoken languages in world, and they extend into China and parts of South East Asia. The English language, cover much of Britain, North America, Australia, India, Africa, etc. Indonesian/Malay is spoken mainly in Indonesia and includes Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore. The main language of Spain is Spanish and also spreads into Central and South America. The Arab language is important language of Middle East, North Africa and Sudan. Most of the people in USSR speak Russian language. In my view, the distribution of the languages around the world is surprisingly uneven and the number of speakers is the important think to concern when choose a language as an international language. However, if second language speakers are included in these figures, English is the most widely spoken language and area of distribution.
An artificial language isn’t a solution to solve world’s communication problems. According to the Source 22, many attempts have been made to construct artificial universal languages. Volapük and Esperanto have been invented, were both based on Western European languages. The inventors have expectation that by providing a language which is easy to learn and can express all the concepts need for modern life. But in fact, these artificial languages are difficult to learn especially for learners whose mother tongue is not a European language. In my opinion, because it’s hasn’t primarily been used in international scientific and technological journals, also costly multiple translations. The use of artificial languages has generally, however, proved to be impracticable because of difficulties in learning them or because of nationalistic prejudices. So, an artificial language can’t solve world’s communication problems.
I’m in the opinion that English is the best choice as an international language. According to the Source 33, English language is spoken by 10% or more population of over 30 countries as a second language. At the turn of the 21st century, English prevailed as the most widely used language internationally. English has dominated as a world language, largely because of world economic, scientific and political influence and the advance of technology, especially computing and the Internet. If people learning English and then have a good capability of it. People will get great profit and the significant thing is people will get the better life.
The English language seems set to dominate world communications for some time to come. Although dominance brings with it a degree of standardization, it is not the case that English is losing its variety, either within countries or across the globe. Current research suggests that, rather than dwindling, differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation continue to allow people to express multiple identities.
Source :
1 : “Source 1”, Page 6, Writing IV, Niken Sawitri, M.A.
2 : “Source 2”, Page 6, Writing IV, Niken Sawitri, M.A.
3 : “Source 3”, Page 7, Writing IV, Niken Sawitri, M.A.
very funny