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From: elna@netcom.com (Esperanto League N America)
Subject: Re: Common European Language (was: Eurolang mailing list)
Message-ID: <elnaDJssrC.EMu@netcom.com>
Organization: Esperanto League for North America, Inc.
References: <818291995snz@storcomp.demon.co.uk> <1995Dec8.151644.7145@pat.uwe.ac.uk> <4arte2$fdb@ys.ifremer.fr>
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 19:57:11 GMT
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Sender: elna@netcom13.netcom.com

pmurphy@ifremer.fr (Pamela MURPHY, Ifremer Brest PDG-DRO-GM-GEOCHIMIE, +33-9822-4711) writes in a recent posting (reference <4arte2$fdb@ys.ifremer.fr>):

>	English is already the major second language, all around the 
>world. If Europe goes for some 'artificial' language, people will still
>need English to deal with the States, the Far East, etc. So then 
>everyone has to learn 2 extra languages. What's the point?
>
This is simplistic, and therefore inaccurate.  Many parts of the world
still use other languages as "second" or "bridge" language. Think of
French in Western Africa, Russian throughout the ex-Soviet lands, German
in East Europe.  People already "need" more languaages than only English.
English-speakers routinely overestimate the number of persons who are
actually ccompetent in that language.....



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