Interesting topic. I agree with you it is not the material, it is the architects. I have been in favor of a law that would force the architects to live or work at least for one year in each building they build. My guess is they would improve pretty fast.
Some did it ! But hey are now of a past generation (circa 80 years old)! "What can I do, What can I write, Against the fall of Night". A.E. Housman
It's the same challenge for all of us who are not of English mother tongue. So, this makes this diary a even greater work.
And it's even a challenge for some who ARE of English mother tongue. :)
From the Eurobarometer on Europeans and Languages, English is the most common foreign language at 34%, followed by German at 12% and French at 11%, and finally Spanish and Russian at 5%. On page 10 there is a table of "languages most commonly used". They are, in order:
For good or ill the imperial language of this age is English. As the sun, having already sat on the British empire, declines in the west of the American, I can't help but wonder what family of English-based (or, more accurately, Germanic-based) languages scholars will study a millenium or two from now. And I can't help but wonder what the lingua franca of that age will be. I would not be at all surprised if it were some dialect of Chinese. Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.
It might only make sense for German and French given the number of first- and second-language speakers (see my Eurobarometer summary elsewhere on this thread).
Then again, ET is too small to fragment in that way. On the other hand, does deference to the < 13% English monolinguals justify leaving out the 53% of EU residents who don't feel they can hold a conversation in English? Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
Some years ago I worked as an electrician. A common grumble among those I worked with was that architects should be required to build their first design with their own hands. Somewhere in cyberspace, the ghost of de Chardin is smiling.
