Languages of the European Union

[really]

I have an unrelated question, though. Do you speak Irish (or Gaelic, or whatever its proper name is)?

I speak Irish the odd time, watch Irish language TV for an hour or two each week and occasionally socialise in Irish.

My Irish speaking friends have moved away from Galway and my Irish speaking colleagues have moved on so I have less opportunity to speak it than I used to.

 

[GinandTonic]

I think there needs to be more of a formalisation of the de facto situation where there are three tiers of languages - the big three, the main language of each state and the minority languages. Translating every single document into micro-minority languages where every single speaker of that language speaks one of the major languages is nuts. Many of them must never get read. It's not just a question of someone quickly translating either, the lawyers have to pick over it to make sure it correctly expresses the law.

Where there are delicate regional issues such as with the Basques or whatever then sure translate all the documents, but translating, say, the olive-oil grading regulations into Cornish seems utterly pointless.

 

[really]

Where there are delicate regional issues such as with the Basques or whatever then sure translate all the documents, but translating, say, the olive-oil grading regulations into Cornish seems utterly pointless.

But I am very interested in that.

Even for the limited amount of documents that need to be translated into Irish the EU is struggling to find enough suitably qualified translators with legal knowledge.

 

[RedRalph]

You are rasist against the Hungarians, Estonians, Basques, and Fins!

I have an unrelated question, though. Do you speak Irish (or Gaelic, or whatever its proper name is)?

Dont forget the Albanians, Greeks, Lithuanianas, Latvians etc.

and barely. Can say the very basics, thats al. Its a lot more prevelant in Galway, Donegal and Kerry.

 

[Edelbroy]

The current official languages are fine, but his officers should be extended to written bureaucracy and officials ... Written bureaucracy currently maintains the use of French, English, and German, but keep their officers in the institutions the following languages:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_European_Union

All official languages and co-official languages in the 27 European states should be used in the European parliament through simultaneous translation, as proposed by the party of the Europe of Peoples (many hope that peoples can access quickly to Europe and bypass the states, as he wants to Scotland, Catalonia or Flanders among many).

The system of using the official and co-official languages in the 27 states and is used in election campaigns and in political speeches, no reason not to be used in parliament. It is important to remember the motto of Europe: united in diversity.

Of course, it is wrong for major languages in their respective division Adminitrative can not be used by citizens to interact with Europe or with parliamentarians and curators to interact with each other. Although not yet official all languages will eventually probably be those with no state or exist only in small states, because it is the tendency for that to avoid euro-skeptic (who has brought many problems over the years of economic growth ... but ironically has disappeared during the economic crisis).

Apparently, the Union maintains separate policies for each language or language group, according to the resolutions which have been proposed and have been approved on the specific language. I found information about one of the languages of the union, Catalan:

"The status of Catalan in the European Union has had a particular discussion. At the request of the Parliaments of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, the European Parliament delivered on 11 December 1990, Resolution A3-169/90 about "the languages of the Community and the situation of Catalan". In accordance with this resolution specifically included in Catalan:

* The publication of basic texts of treaties and the Communities
* Dissemination of public information of European institutions for all media
* Programs for learning and upgrading of European languages,
* Oral and written relationships with the public at the offices of the Commission of the European Communities in the autonomous regions in question.

In 1987, following an initiative of the European Commission, Mercator network was established for research and documentation of minority languages. One of the three is their in Barcelona.

In 1992, Euromosaic study commissioned by the European Commission concludes that the situation of Catalan is ignored and misunderstood national and European level. Recommend a greater cultural exchange and greater domestic institutional support.

Parallel to the discussions and negotiations of the Treaty on the European Constitution, the Spanish government has been negotiating the recognition of a limited official use of Catalan in the EU institutions. After the recognition by the Council of the Union, have signed agreements with the Administrative Committee of the Regions and the European Commission, and is negotiating an agreement with the European Parliament."


Here you can find the resolution (but is in Catalan): http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/UE20-CT.htm

I vote for Status Quo + minority languages (eg. Catalan, Romani, Basque, Welsh, etc.)

 

[Huayna Capac357]

For historicity:

English
French
German

For Slavic users, there should be a Slavic language to learn

I say Polish

Spanish should be an option for Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Finally Greek

So:
English
French
German
Polish
Spanish
Greek

 

[Ansar]

Latin.

 

[Lillefix]

I disagree with Spanish. It is too similar to French. The French should do something about their spelling though.

 

[Elta]

Um what you say

That was going to be my exact response.

 

[Newbunkle]

English of course. It'll help them get used to being the new British Empire a lot faster.

 

[Truronian]

Anything that promotes everyone to speak the same language = good in my book. What that language is, I don't really care. English is the most obvious choice.

 

[Shekwan]

The current set up is fine.

For historicity:

English
French
German

For Slavic users, there should be a Slavic language to learn

I say Polish

Spanish should be an option for Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

Finally Greek

So:
English
French
German
Polish
Spanish
Greek

Why Polish and Spanish when not Italian?

Why Spanish as the ''option'' for Iberia and Spain? Theres far more Italians than Spanish in the EU. Portuguese doesn't seem to share much similarities Spanish too.

Why Greek and not Hungarian, Dutch, Romanian, Swedish?

 

[Nylan]

I disagree with Spanish. It is too similar to French. The French should do something about their spelling though.

Like use a writing system that actually can suit the needs of the language properly.

 

[otago]

Okay, I will try to be fair to all those cheese, sausage, etc etc eating Europeans.
Make the official language Maori, that way they will all be equally disadvantaged.
I would be available to be a translator at say 300K Euroes

 

[Traitorfish]

English and French both have traditional roles as diplomatic languages- although the former has eclipsed the latter in the last century- and both neatly represent the Romance and Germanic spheres of European linguistics (although English is hardly perfect on that count). A third language would be handy to even things out a bit, if not a functional necessity. German would be an obvious choice, being the third of the three major Western European powers, and has some history as an international language of science, if not diplomacy or commerce. Of course, that may discourage the inregration of Eastern Europe, in which case a Slavic language may be preferable. Of course, given that the only Slavic language with any historical breadth of use outside of it's own borders is certainly not the one you'd want if you're trying to encourage Eastern integration, at least not quite yet, that may be a dead end.
English, French and German, then, if only because it's the most obvious choice, and leaves you with a trio representing "Commerce, Diplomacy and Science", which is handy for ideological purposes.

 

[jessiecat]

I think there needs to be more of a formalisation of the de facto situation where there are three tiers of languages - the big three, the main language of each state and the minority languages. Translating every single document into micro-minority languages where every single speaker of that language speaks one of the major languages is nuts. Many of them must never get read. It's not just a question of someone quickly translating either, the lawyers have to pick over it to make sure it correctly expresses the law.

Where there are delicate regional issues such as with the Basques or whatever then sure translate all the documents, but translating, say, the olive-oil grading regulations into Cornish seems utterly pointless.

Hey! That's unfair! I've got a mate down here who'd probably want to read that.

 

[Huayna Capac357]

The current set up is fine.



Why Polish and Spanish when not Italian?

Why Spanish as the ''option'' for Iberia and Spain? Theres far more Italians than Spanish in the EU. Portuguese doesn't seem to share much similarities Spanish too.

Why Greek and not Hungarian, Dutch, Romanian, Swedish?

I totally messed that one up

I forgot Italian has more speakers. As to Greek, I was looking at a map and Greece was pretty far away from the other countries so I randomly chose Greek.

 

[Elta]

The current set up is fine.



Why Polish and Spanish when not Italian?

Why Spanish as the ''option'' for Iberia and Spain? Theres far more Italians than Spanish in the EU. Portuguese doesn't seem to share much similarities Spanish too.

Why Greek and not Hungarian, Dutch, Romanian, Swedish?

Did you just say what I thought you said?

Spanish and Portuguese are very very similar.


It takes at most 250 hours of practice for a Spanish speaker to learn Portuguese well enough to fit in in a Portuguese speaking country.

And vis versa as well.


The only (large) languages more similar to each other in Europe are the Scandinavian ones.


You are from Ireland, so this may make sense to you as some people in northern Ireland speak Scots. Portuguese and Spanish are much more similar than even Scots and English.

 

[Verbose]

Status quo.

Possibly base recognition on what languages are recognised as national languages in the sovereign member states, which might probably add a couple.

One of those, or I could live with Latin, due to historical precedent and since it won't specifically advantage any one country much.

 

[Pangur Bán]

Spanish and Portuguese are very very similar.


It takes at most 250 hours of practice for a Spanish speaker to learn Portuguese well enough to fit in in a Portuguese speaking country.

And vis versa as well.


The only (large) languages more similar to each other in Europe are the Scandinavian ones.

Well, the rabidly nationalistic speakers of Croatian-Serbian (-Bosnian-Montenegran ) call these different languages, but they are identical. Portuguese and Castilian are very similar, but not identical.

Czech and Slovak are essentially two different dialects of the same language, likewise Low German and Dutch, Bulgarian and Macedonian, and so on. All the Romance, Slavic and to some extent Germanic languages are comprehensible with the languages of the same family geographically adjacent. National languages are mostly modern inventions, and the imposition of the national language system over the older and more natural dialect continua is still far from complete. Portuguese and Castilian in that respect aren't particularly close, as such long periods of national monarchy combined with vernacular literacy has made them more distinct than they would be otherwise.