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English is spoken by the uSA by what is the biggest (still) economy in the world and is also culturally dominant through TV and film. It is also the language of computing, aviation and international commerce.


English is a common language spoken across India, a rapidly growing economic presence.


It is a real dogs breakfast of a language. It shamelessly and joyously takes and adopts new ways of communicating, new words, new syntax. It is a little bit german, a little bit french, a little scandinavian, a little bit indian, a little bit latin, ad nauseum.


Indian english is different from American english which is different from Scottish english and so on and on. People can use english in their own way and do dont feel that the adoption of english makes them a victim of linguistic imperialism.


The strength of english is that it is not English.

  • 3 weeks later...

baroldmc, I've already explained why it's Great Britain ad nauseam...


Some of the original kingdoms that historically included these islands also included large tracts of North West France - now known as Brittany.


'Great' Britain was used to differentiate what is now England/Scotland/Wales from 'Lesser' Britain in what is now France.


It has nothing to do with being powerful.

PeckhamRose Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I think it would be a great thing, mainly because

> I speak English.

I think we should only have one currency too!


America almost became a German speaking Nation. When put to the vote I believe English won by 1 vote.


English won - by a single vote, because one German-favoring guy was sitting on the toilet.


A bit of an Urban Myth.. http://www.watzmann.net/scg/german-by-one-vote.html


Bit of fun though.




A Single Currency. ??

Well they could not get it to work in Europe (23 Countries) let alone the whole World. (257 countries)


Fox.

  • 3 months later...
English is becoming the main common language but will not take over completely. Other nationalities make an effort to maintain their own language and value it more dearly, particulalry those un the UK with Engish as a second languge. For them English is merely a tool enabling them to access financial security through education and work. For socialising/family/news media/TV/movies/current affairs, its all done in their mother tongue with a few English/ameericanisms thrown in. Second generation immigrants have something few 'English' people have - access to fluency in other languages enabling them to have the best of both worlds. By building a wider skills set, they use their bilingual abilities to create internet sites, make movies, do business in other select languages - those with only one language will certainly lose out in the future. No time to be smug, learn another language, quick!

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    • While it is good that GALA have withdrawn their application for a second weekend, local people and councillors will likely have the same fight on their hands for next year's event. In reading the consultation report, I noted the Council were putting the GALA event in the same light as all the other events that use the park, like the Circus, the Fair and even the FOPR fete. ALL of those events use the common, not the park, and cause nothing like the level of noise and/or disruption of the GALA event. Even the two day Irish Festival (for those that remember that one) was never as noisy as GALA. So there is some disingenuity and hypocrisy from the Council on this, something I wll point out in my response to the report. The other point to note was that in past years branches were cut back for the fencing. Last year the council promised no trees would be cut after pushback, but they seem to now be reverting to a position of 'only in agreement with the council's arbourist'. Is this more hypocrisy from 'green' Southwark who seem to once again be ok with defacing trees for a fence that is up for just days? The people who now own GALA don't live in this area. GALA as an event began in Brockwell Park. It then lost its place there to bigger events (that pesumably could pay Lambeth Council more). One of the then company directors lived on the Rye Hill Estate next to the park and that is likely how Peckham Rye came to be the new choice for the event. That person is no longer involved. Today's GALA company is not the same as the 'We Are the Fair' company that held that first event, not the same in scope, aim or culture. And therein lies the problem. It's not a local community led enterprise, but a commercial one, underwritten by a venture capital company. The same company co-run the Rally Event each year in Southwark Park, which btw is licensed as a one day event only. That does seem to be truer to the original 'We Are the Fair' vision, but how much of that is down to GALA as opoosed to 'Bird on the Wire' (the other group organising it) is hard to say.  For local people, it's three days of not being able to open windows, As someone said above, if a resident set up a PA in their back garden and subjected the neighbours to 10 hours of hard dance music every day for three days, the Council would take action. Do not underestimate how distressing that is for many local residents, many of whom are elderly, frail, young, vulnerable. They deserve more respect than is being shown by those who think it's no big deal. And just to be clear, GALA and the council do not consider there to be a breach of db level if the level is corrected within 15 minutes of the breach. In other words, while db levels are set as part of the noise management plan, there is an acknowledgement that a breach is ok if corrected within 15 minutes. That is just not good enough. Local councillors objected to the proposed extension. 75% of those that responded to the consultation locally did not want GALA 26 to take place at all. For me personally, any goodwill that had been built up through the various consultations over recent years was erased with that application for a second weekend, and especially given that when asked if there were plans for that in post 2025 event feedback meetings (following rumours), GALA lied and said there were no plans to expand. I have come to the conclusion that all the effort to appease on some things is merely an exercise in show, to get past the council's threshold for the events licence. They couldn't give a hoot in reality for local people, and people that genuinely care about parkland, don't litter it with noisy festivals either.   
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