Booklady,

I was going to suggest English. Though I believe Spanish to be a more beautiful language. From what I've seen of the world, English is quite prevalent. Especially in countries that are either economically properous or have great economic potential.

I have great sympathy for anyone having to learn our horribly inconsistant language, but it seems to be the way things are.

Don't all europeans already have to learn english? At least I haven't heard of any country where it's not mandatory even though many spaniards, french and even german people aren't too successful in learning it ( ), but that I think is much due to dubbed TV. If the question was if we think there'll be a language that's dominant within the different member countries, I definitely don't think so.

I would not suggest one language over another. It is my personal observation that unless it is adopted naturally over time in the marketplace, it would be best to continue with many languages.
Just look at Spain's esperience with their many languages.

But, Bricamb, said something to make us ponder. He said that the facility to travel without papers has allowed people from all over Europe to go to England to learn English, practical english that you can only really learn as a member of that community, as a worker. I am sure the same is happening in other countries.

Which leads me to believe that instead of following a monolingual model, the people of the EU may seem to be more comfortable in mastering many languages. I believe that whatever makes the marketplace more adaptable and flexible will be what will eventually occur over time.

Booklady, I think in most EU countries people speak really good english, also without ever having been there, and in most countries you have to study at least 2 foreign languages at school. When I was studying spanish last summer I definitely noticed that it was much harder for americans (and maybe brits) to learn the language: probably because they had never studied a foreign language before and didn't always understand that you can express things very differently than in english but also because they aren't exposed to so many other languages. I've heard english daily since I was a kid through TV, music etc. and that's where I've learned the most. I study at a monolingual university and my studies are not at all language-oriented but still I've had to read books in 5 languages so far, and for every exam the books are at least in finnish, swedish and english. Just as an example.

The concept of a monolinguitic society was proposed by US presidential candidate Pat Buchanan. You see where that idea got him. Most of you in Europe have never heard of him, count your blessings. No doubt when the issue is brought about, Jerk Chirac will insist on French. You read it here first.

I don't believe that will happen, Desert Dweller!
From listening to Bricamb, Fernando, and Pia, modern Europeans are able to handle a multi-lingual Europe.

Whatever happened to that man, anyway?

I have a purely pedagogical sub-question: how early do European children begin learning other European languages? Fernando in Spain? In Britain? In Finland, Pia?

When I went to school english started when I was 10 years old, German/French when I was 14 and Swedish when I was 15. I don't know if the school my little brother went to was special in this sense but I think he started to learn easier English already when he was 7-8 and German when he was 13, and then Swedish at 15.

Hi Booklady. It's been some time since I was at school but we didn't start studying other languages until our first year of secondary school, when I was 12. However, many schools are now introducing foreign languages, albeit informally, at an earlier age. The bad news is that it is no longer compulsory to study a foreign language after the age of 14 in English schools at least.

Thank you Pia and Bricamb,

It is my suspision, from personal observation, not from scientific inquiry, that the younger the child is introduced to a foreing language the more likely the child becomes fluent in that language. I believe that anyone with language abilities and inclination can learn a language at fairly much any age. But fluency is another matter. Fluency defined as the ability to speak and understand the nuances of a language as a native of the language.

I often wonder why, if children develop their language skills generally before 8 years of age, as Gagne, Vygotsky, and others have researched, do educators wait to introduce other languages to children when the child is in secondary school.