Unquote0270@programming.dev 2 days ago
British colonialism shaped the wide use of English throughout the world a lot more than anything to do with the US.
i mean sure initially and the same is true of why French and Spanish are spoken in so many places on the planet.
I don’t think it explains why it’s such a common backup language in so many parts of Europe today though. I think the majority of the internet being in English is probably the reason for that and I don’t think that can be chalked up to anything other than US influence
English had that role even before the internet. Do you really belive we became fluent in English only in the 90s?
anyone under 30 I do :)
but on a serious note I would chalk that up to post-WWII US influence, do you think that British colonialism was a bigger influence? or that it predates WWII?
Seeing as the first Nazi loss was by British and Norwegian hands during the war, and the main argument for most Scandic communists before it was more anti British than anti US, the British commonwealth probably still is the major driver by it being a major western world second language, starting before major US influence started 80 years ago.
That’s hard to find out. When I was in school I was captivated by American movies and music, mostly all blockbuster movies came out of the us.
Before that - I’m from the southern part of Germany, so we had a lot of US influence after WW2, whereas other parts of Germany had French, British and Russian military here.
I suppose WW2 had a big impact in Europe, as English speaking troops came in and saved people from Nazi Germany. Interestingly that’s how it feels in some parts of Germany even (they saved us from the Nazis) - as absurd as it is, when you’re aware how much support the Nazis had in the population.
Nevertheless English was a big positive thing - and the answer probably is “both the UK and the US”. My dad was a huge Beatles fan as a teenager and fans want to understand the lyrics. All you need is love.
Also don’t forget Europe has so many languages - so when we talk to each other we use what the most of us know - English. I do believe that they “EU” with its more open borders also brings people to use more English.
Unfortunately I (unsuccessfully) was taught Latin in school, not French - so English is my only tool in Europe to communicate beyond my native language. It worked everywhere I visited.
In some countries there’s a age gap, with people below 40 or so are much more fluent in English, but AFAIK it’s mandatory as a second language across schools in a big part of Europe.
ryathal@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
In the sense that the US is a product of British colonialism then yes. Global communication wasn’t anywhere near robust until the empire was in decline.