Most sources would agree that the top five languages in
2013, judging by the number of speakers, are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish,
English, Arabic and Hindi. Does this mean that these languages are “better”
than others? Does it mean they are more in demand? The answers are not
straightforward. Linguists tend to concur that no language is superior to any
other. Chomsky, for example, is famous for his theory of Universal Grammar:
that all languages are very similar, without exact point to point
correspondence, and that all people are born with a capacity for a “universal
grammar” which manifests itself through concrete languages. He theorized that
UG was in people’s genes not only metaphorically but also literally. What about the importance given to the English language worldwide? The Telegraph’s study advice section recently warned that assuming that everyone is happy with English is not valid in international business: “It’s no longer permissible to simply assume that clients will be comfortable speaking English, particularly if you’re looking to set-up lucrative ongoing business links” (“What’s the Best Language to Learn to Further Your International Business Career?”). Rather, the advice is to learn Mandarin Chinese, as many companies are moving to China, or Russian as Russia is important in oil and gas production. On the other hand, one is advised not to forget the continuing global importance of European languages such as German, French and Spanish.
For UK-based native speakers of English, Arabic and Polish are almost equally important these days – the former partly because of Qatari investment and the latter because of the huge influx of Polish immigrants over the years. Still, these languages are outranked in importance by Mandarin as well as Spanish, French and German. Germany is one of the UK’s largest export markets while Spanish-speaking Latin America includes important, fast-developing markets (“Graduate Jobs: Best Languages to Study”).
Corinne McKay, a US-based certified translator who recently
blogged on the question of “Which
Language Is ‘the Best’?” thinks that Middle Eastern and Asian languages
score highest in terms of “critical need”. She admits, however, that
translating from these languages into English is difficult because of
significant cultural differences, unlike translating from other European
languages into English. Translators brought up in the US, who have not lived in
China or the Arab world, for example, may find it more challenging to translate
from the relevant languages than translating from French or German – and culture
is not the only hurdle.
Arabic is a good example
of a “difficult” language: it is a Semitic language, like Hebrew, unlike
French, which is Indo-European and has more word and word structure similarities
with English; some vocabulary items in French are almost the same as their
English equivalents, and both languages use an s at the end of words for the
plural. Arabic vocabulary, in contrast, is very different, and hence more
difficult to learn, and plural formation is different, not to mention that
Arabic has “dual” pronouns besides singular and plural. Furthermore, because
Arabic script goes from right to left and is cursive, as in English
handwriting, it appears tougher to decipher. While there is a better
correspondence between spelling and sound in Arabic, some sounds are not easy for
native speakers of English; certain “phonemes” do not exist in their language.
Then there is the issue of diglossia, the difference between colloquial Arabic
and standard Arabic, and complications with different dialects depending on the
region. In some cases, the dialects are so different that native speakers of
the language have trouble decoding each other’s utterances. Besides, dialects
are only spoken; unlike standard Arabic, they are not meant to be written. They
are still important to learn though, complicating matters for the language
learner.
Whether English is really in decline would be an interesting
question to answer. While the percentage of native speakers of English appears
to be decreasing as other populations multiply more quickly, English remains
important as a second or foreign language, if not in business, then definitely
in science. For native speakers of Arabic, one may assume, English is till
crucial as the language of science whereas Chinese may be increasingly the
language of future business.
