Germans fear language is being ruined by English

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3797665/Germans-fear-language-is-being-ruined-by-English.html

Fear is mounting among Germans that their language is being eroded by waves of English and other foreign jargon.

By David Wroe in Berlin Last Updated: 12:50AM GMT 17 Dec 2008
After years of post-war Anglicisation and Americanisation, seven out of 10 Germans speak some English. But experts say there is a growing backlash against the widespread use of foreign terms in the age of globalisation, technology and immigration. Business leaders are growing tired of English "management speak".
A fortnight ago, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party voted to enshrine the German language in the nation's constitution -- seen as a pointed gesture toward the large Turkish, Arab and African communities. And German companies are starting to shy away from relying on English in their marketing slogans, after years of using the foreign language so often that sometimes their own customers didn't know what they were talking about.
A slogan for the perfume maker Douglas, ''Come in and find out'', became famous because most people thought it was challenging customers to come into the stores then try to find their way out again. A Jaguar car slogan, ''Life by gorgeous'' -- which didn't made sense in English -- was interpreted by many Germans as referring to living in Georgia. A satchel, in German, is often referred to by the English term ''Bodybag''.
''Many people have decided that enough is enough,'' said Roland Kaehlbrandt, author of a book called German for Elites. ''They are not taking companies that only use English seriously any more. We are very open-minded and positive about everything that comes from outside, but there is a fear now that we may forget our own language and our own culture.''
After the war and during the Cold War in West Germany, English -- particularly through the influence of the US -- was simply cooler than German, he said.
At least 60 per cent of new words being used in Germany today are English.
''That's too much," Mr Kaehlbrandt said. "It's not because of funcationality. German is a very functional language. But there's a side to Germany that -- unconsciously, I think -- is trying to get rid of our heritage to get rid of our past, which is conceived as being linked to the crimes of the Nazis. But we have changed profoundly since then. And German language is much older than the Nazis.''
Walter Kraemer, from the German Language Association, which claims 32,000 members and campaigns to protect German, said the country's science and industry were being damaged as Germans fell back on English jargon and technical terms, even when talking to other Germans.
''There is no way around English,'' said Mr Kraemer, an economist and statistician. ''It's the international langauge. But before you communicate, you have to be innovative, imaginative, creative, and you can't do that properly in a language that's not your own. People think better in their own language. German science is suffering because of this.''
He said that when DaimlerChrysler was manufacturing cars in Stuttgart using English in the factories, it had the highest product recall rate in the country, whereas Porsche, which uses only German language, has negligible recalls. A scientist colleague of his did not even know the German word for cancer, ''Krebs'', he said.
Annette Trabold, a linguist at the Institute for German Language in Mannheim, which studies dialects and trends in German, said that all languages were fluid and therefore it was no surprise that Germany had absorbed so much English. But like other commentators, she noted that the long-held German instinct to flinch at the thought of appearing nationalistic, was changing. This was being reflected in language just as it was every sphere of life, she said.
''In 2006, when Germany hosted the (football) World Cup, that was the first time it was really okay again to fly the German flag, to paint it on your face. It was such a change.''

Conversation Club

Yesterday,
It has held in Obama's inaguration.
I never heard of the word 'inaguration', but I can naturally know about the word.

Accordingly, our topic is 'Obama'.
Many people questioning Why british media concerning America's president a lot.
I also qurious about that. And they focus on the fact that black person becoming to president.
And we watched 'Will smith' and other stars talk about 'Obama's inaguration.
They support because of basic idea "equal" in right of constitution.
And They Cheer because of the highest class from slave class.

But I think that he is clever politician.
He never mentioned about 'GAZA' problem. Also, he don't want to say about iraq before candidature.

Anyway, Following the general trend is 'Obama'
He is the one, most powerful person in the world.
Please, god bless him.

Conversation Club

Today, we are talking about royal family of UK.

My conversation friend is from Tailand, so I can conpare between UK and Tailand.

She told me what is trobled in her royal family, like prince harry references "Paki".

It is really interesting discussion.
Because, we don't have any royal family in Korea.
How was the life being in prince, princess, or king?
They are always concerning people, and media without their agree.
Hmmm, It would be quite nervous...
Nomal life is the best.

[Listening a Lecture] Lunch talk in National gallery

I went to the National gallery this weekend.
Because I suddenly feel in the mood to see the monet's pictures.

I love monet.
Last year, I went to the Musée d'Orsay in paris
And saw his pictures, which is Rouen Cathedral at first.
It was really impressive moment for me.
The pictures gives a lot of complexion feeling at once shown to time flow in each of the picture.
I can't forget the feeling of the time.
In the National gallery, there are several pictures of monet.
The most favourite pictures is waterly pond and it is concering of age of impressive.

I saw the pictures a while, after I finish to see, I came up with the memory about lecture which is named by "Lunch talk" in held.
I never have taken part in the gallery talk before.
So, I went to join in.

The subject of the talk is the picture "Ariadne & Bacus"
I don't like man in Greek mythology,
(Because they are really easy to fall in love and easy to leave)
But lot of pleasure to hear that kind of story.
The Lecture told me what is the theme and stories concerning the picture.
And also he explain the color expression of sky which means heaven,
and brown color means earth.
That means join of heaven in Bacus, and earth in Ariadne.
It was intersting expecially, hidden story about the pictures.
Next time, I have to join another pictures lecture, later.
Happy time in London!!!

Conversation Club

Today's topic is talking about the monument in London.
The 'sightseeing' I have been before,
and tell the story to other friends.
And teacher gave me some article about small museum.
It was medical museum look like very boring and too expensive for me.
If I had that much money, I would buy some kebab which I favourite.
And the other friends got different kind of museum.
Some kind of museum looks interesting, like the dickens museum.
After finished the class, I will visit once.

links for globalisation

Here is my links for my essay

definition1 warwick thesis
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/research/workingpapers/2002/wp10902.pdf

globalisation definition
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/globalization/

oxford journal
http://eltj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/60/2/204

file of world English
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/mufwene/GLOBALIZATION%20-%20GLOBAL%20ENGLISH.pdf

david crystal
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/mufwene/goodies.html
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=d6jPAKxTHRYC&dq=globalization+english&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=13&ct=result

english globalization
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w7kiqXKANGwC&dq=globalization+english&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=12&ct=result

language clips
http://www.wordquests.info/language-clips.html

http://www.globalization101.org/index.php?file=news1&id=119

The Globalization of English

The Globalization of English

By Neville Hobson - Mon, 03/07/2005 - 12:19pm.

Newsweek has an excellent feature article in the 7 March issue (this week) of its international edition on how the English language is evolving and changing the way we communicate.

The article says "non-native English-speakers" worldwide now outnumber native ones 3 to 1. In Asia alone, Newsweek says, the number of English users has topped 350 million - roughly the combined populations of the United States, the UK and Canada. There are more Chinese children studying English - about 100 million - than there are Britons (that's nearly twice as many).

What's especially interesting about Newsweek's article is that it analyses the different ways in which English as a means of communication is evolving, developing into literally separate languages, yet which are still understandable by those who speak any version of English.

Choice excerpt:

The new English-speakers aren't just passively absorbing the language-they're shaping it. New Englishes are mushrooming the globe over, ranging from "Englog," the Tagalog-infused English spoken in the Philippines, to "Japlish," the cryptic English poetry beloved of Japanese copywriters ("Your health and loveliness is our best wish," reads a candy wrapper. "Give us a chance to realize it"), to "Hinglish," the mix of Hindi and English that now crops up everywhere from fast-food ads to South Asian college campuses. "Hungry kya?" ("Are you hungry?"), queried a recent Indian ad for Domino's pizza.

[...] All languages are works in progress. But English's globalization, unprecedented in the history of languages, will revolutionize it in ways we can only begin to imagine. In the future, suggests [English-language expert David Crystal], there could be a tri-English world, one in which you could speak a local English-based dialect at home, a national variety at work or school, and international Standard English to talk to foreigners.

With native speakers a shrinking minority of the world's Anglophones, there's a growing sense that students should stop trying to emulate Brighton or Boston English, and embrace their own local versions. Researchers are starting to study non-native speakers' "mistakes" - "She look very sad," for example - as structured grammars. In a generation's time, teachers might no longer be correcting students for saying "a book who" or "a person which."

Linguist Jennifer Jenkins, an expert in world Englishes at King's College London, asks why some Asians, who have trouble pronouncing the "th" sound, should spend hours trying to say "thing" instead of "sing" or "ting." International pilots, she points out, already pronounce the word "three" as "tree" in radio dispatches, since "tree" is more widely comprehensible.

[...] English has become the common linguistic denominator. Whether you're a Korean executive on business in Shanghai, a German Eurocrat hammering out laws in Brussels or a Brazilian biochemist at a conference in Sweden, you're probably speaking English. And as the world adopts an international brand of English, it's native speakers who have the most to lose. Cambridge dons who insist on speaking the Queen's English could be met with giggles - or blank stares. British or American business execs who jabber on in their own idiomatic patois, without understanding how English is used by non-natives, might lose out on deals.

[...] Technology also plays a huge role in English's global triumph. Eighty percent of the electronically stored information in the world is in English; 66 percent of the world's scientists read in it, according to the British Council. "It's very important to learn English because [computer] books are only in English," says Umberto Duirte, an Uruguayan IT student learning English in London. New technologies are helping people pick up the language, too: Chinese and Japanese students can get English-usage tips on their mobile phones. English-language teachers point to the rise of Microsoft English, where computer users are drafting letters advised by the Windows spell check and pop-up style guides.

(Clarity point: I added all the links in the italicised text above; none are in the original Newsweek text.)

This lengthy article is well worth reading for a keen insight into how much the English language is still evolving and how much you have to lose by not recognizing this reality.

It's also a great reminder to communicators - especially those who work in organizations doing business internationally - that when communicating in English, it's becoming more likely, if not probable, that a significant and increasing proportion of your audience will speak a different English than you do. People who no longer can patronizingly be described as "non-native English speakers" - they are creating their own versions of English.

Newsweek | Not the Queen's English

Neville Hobson is the author of the popular NevilleHobson.com blog which focuses on business communication and technology. Neville is currentlly the VP of New Marketing at Crayon. Visit Neville Hobson's blog: NevilleHobson.com.