Why stop at 12 languages?

[ironhorse]

There are about 7,000 languages in the world, so why stop at 12 warnings on this bag? Also there are no Califunny Prop 65 warnings visible, Shouldn't they also be plainly visible? Oh where will it all end?

[TXGOAT2]

Only 12 languages???
THAT'S DISCRIMINATORY!!!

[Norman Kling]

Why not have only one? If everyone were taught the same language in school eventually everyone would know that language and the others could become old just like the Latin which was the language of Rome but we don't use that language anymore.
Norm

[ironhorse]

Norm: that would require a committee to decide which language we should use, Chinese, Russian, English, Spanish or should we scrap them all and create a New Global Language? I'm sure there would be those who were upset no matter which choice was made and it might be the touchstone for WWIII

[Rich P. Bingham]

scrap them all and create a New Global Language?

Esperanto - 1887. Never caught on.

Language is deeply cultural. For all practical purposes it’s not learned in school. We begin to “absorb” it while in the womb.

[Norman Kling]

I could read the signs when I was in Germany, but I couldn't understand them speak. In French they have too many silent letters. Spanish is easier than the others. English is easier now than years ago because some of the regional dialects are fading out. I can understand the royal English but the regional dialects are difficult. Our Scottish bus driver was easier to understand than many of the other people. Canadian is not hard except for in Quebec. Russian and Arabic and Hebrew have weird alphabets and Asian language has strange symbols. So the language should be English or possibly Spanish. Almost all European countries in the E.U. speak English as well as former British colonies.
Norm

[Kaiser]

From the 16th to right up to the early 20th century French was the preferred language in international diplomacy, today its English, but another fun fact; Spanish seems to be the most spoken language worldwide, second place is for Mandarin Chinese. So what will it be....

[DLodge]

.... So what will it be....

Dutch, of course.

[Wayne Sheldon]

My wife's grandmother grew up in a home that spoke Finnish. Talk about a language that is difficult! I took German in high school, can still speak it and understand it somewhat. What I learned in German has on occasion helped me to read Dutch! On a few occasions in my life, I have met German tourists, and managed to speak with them, and even managed to help with directions. However, I asked this of my German teacher in school, and several other academics, "Why do we say speaking German when they speak Deutsch?" We say they live in Germany while they say they live in Deutschland???? Don't they know what they speak or where they live? (I am being facetious, and poking my own culture in the nose!)

I also have had many Hispanic coworkers over the years, and picked up a fair amount of Spanish. Friends with Italian and French backgrounds have allowed me learn small amounts of those languages. The only language I speak fluently is English, American style. However, I can also get by around the "King's" English. The others I find I can read better than I can speak or understand spoken. Part of the reason for that is that I can read it at the pace I can recognize the roots of many words. Sometimes, just for kicks, I will read assembly instructions in Spanish or French.

All of which brings me to my point here. Understanding non-English languages is difficult for Englishmen or Americans. You see, they speak FASTER than we do! We aren't used to sorting out spoken words as fast as they do.
There is a reason for this, and that reason is not obvious or well known. If I recall the numbers more or less correctly? The Spanish language has approximately 9,000 words in it. French and Italian about 12.000 to '14,000 words in them. German has slightly more, with much more difficult vocabulary overall. English, both American and King's, has almost 30,000 words in it! Two to three times as many words as any other Latin based language. Along with our sentence structure being almost completely backwards of all other Latin based language, the English base is from several Nordic languages including Anglic, Gaelic, Welsh, at least three different Scottish bases, as well as few totally extinct pre-English languages. The spread of the Roman Empire reached the English Isles late in the first millennium AD, and carried with it all the Latin influences and much of the vocabulary. Between the splintered early base and the Roman Latin influences, English became a huge language! Simply because of the shear numbers of words in the English language, Homonyms became a real problem. English contains so many homonyms, we have to speak more slowly to sort out the similar words. I once saw a list of nearly fifty known homonyms. The funny thing was that I immediately realized I knew of a common one not on that list, (rain, rein, and reign). All pronounced the same, three different spellings, three different meanings.

Personally, I think history and culture are very important! They should be studied, cherished, and enjoyed. People need to grow and develop greater understanding and wisdom! They should celebrate their family's past, as well as other people's cultures. They should enjoy seeing other people celebrating their family's past just as they celebrate their own. The only cultures that should be crushed are any that do not allow others to cherish theirs.
A world language could help with mutual understanding? However, mankind will need to advance a great deal in wisdom before that can happen in any sort of healthy way.

[DLodge]

... What I learned in German has on occasion helped me to read Dutch!

My wife and I spoke mostly Dutch with each other during the forty years of our marriage, and our daughter ended up speaking it very well for someone who learned it in a suburb of St. Louis. She took German in high school and sometimes when she hadn't studied that day's homework (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree), she would try substituting a somewhat "germanified" Dutch word. The teacher knew what she was doing, and her response was often "Nice try, Liz!"

[Norman Kling]

My mother's family came from Finland. They spoke Finnish at home but all spoke English very well. I have a cousin who lives in Helsinki. When she was younger she went to China to teach English to them. While there she met and married a Chinese man. China was not a good place to raise children because they, at that time limited it to one child per couple. So they moved to Helsinki. Her husband is accepted there and they have three children. When they came to visit us in San Diego the children spoke to their father in Chinese, to their mother in English and all spoke to us in English!
Norm

[Wayne Sheldon]

Mixed culture households fascinate me! How a couple from very different backgrounds navigate their home lives, deal with extended families with different languages, different religions and holidays. Very often, when I have met people with families like that, I am impressed how well they make it work. Very often the children seem to benefit by their experience, and become more understanding of other people.

[RVA23T]

We joke about taking Virginia DMV to court for discriminating against my wife since they only offer the driving test and other documents in English and Spanish but not German.

[Craig Leach]

Around some places I find myself in it's not uncommon to find yourself being the only English speaker in the building. I commonly find products
with no English on the label? Bill boards & businesses the same way. The best Mexican food is in restaurants with no English on the menu.
Ironhorse as far as a touchstone for world war III goes I afraid that ship has already sailed it just hasn't run aground yet.
World war II didn't start on Dec. 7 1941 it just became a officially called WW II.
Craig.

[Loftfield]

But maybe the real question is can you speak Model T? Buzz coil, coil, coil box, timer, commutator, etc. Let's see how many vocabulary words apply to Model T only. Then there are the highly specialised words used when no amount of hand cranking can get the thing started, or when dropping something into the transmission when changing band linings.

[Rich P. Bingham]

Fun idea ! I’ll play -
Pumpkin, hogshead, wishbone . . .

[Susanne]

Magnets, Drums and Bands, and the lowly Reverse Pedal...

Or like my dad used to say slowing down coming down a hill - "Doing the St. Vitus Dance" where you play all 3 pedals at once.

[ironhorse]

Jack Rabbit Clutch, Foot Feed, Spark Advance lever.

[Norman Kling]

Ruckstell, Warford, Muncie
Norm