One Language For The World

Fülszöveg

Without proposing a new language, Mario Pei gives a lively account of the present urgent need for a world language. He reviews the many systems proposed in the past—dating from the Tower of Bábel—and he offers a new solution which he believes to be utterly sound, simple and workable.
It is up to the governments of the world, says Professor Pei, to agree on one of 3,000 existing natural languages or one of the 600 artificially created ones, as a second language for everyone to be taught from kindergarten on. We would thus achieve a bilingual world in about 30 years.
"Contrary to popular belief," he says, "the problem is not solving itself. At the time of the Treaty of Versailles, only French was used in the diplomatic world. The League of Nations recognized two languages, and today the UN uses five official languages.
"Does it make sense," he asks, "to spend billions on better communications, only to run into a language barrier more difficult to pass than that of sound? Is it... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Without proposing a new language, Mario Pei gives a lively account of the present urgent need for a world language. He reviews the many systems proposed in the past—dating from the Tower of Bábel—and he offers a new solution which he believes to be utterly sound, simple and workable.
It is up to the governments of the world, says Professor Pei, to agree on one of 3,000 existing natural languages or one of the 600 artificially created ones, as a second language for everyone to be taught from kindergarten on. We would thus achieve a bilingual world in about 30 years.
"Contrary to popular belief," he says, "the problem is not solving itself. At the time of the Treaty of Versailles, only French was used in the diplomatic world. The League of Nations recognized two languages, and today the UN uses five official languages.
"Does it make sense," he asks, "to spend billions on better communications, only to run into a language barrier more difficult to pass than that of sound? Is it sensible, when transportation systems are ever improving, for most of us to be mute on arrival in a foreign country?"
The urgent need for a language that can be spoken the world over has never been so great and no system for actually achieving it has ever been devised which is as realistic as that proposed in this book. "A universally understood language," says Professor Pei, "is one heritage for which our children and their children will be grateful" Vissza