Do you speak Chinese?

Jerry Hammond

Last night Charlie Rose had 3 "internet experts" on his show to discuss the future of the internet and the web. At one point during the discussion one of the guests--an investment banker--predicted that within 5 years the primary language of the net will no longer be english but will become Chinese. Welcome to the middle kingdom folks--it is sooner than you think.

"Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art of all."--Andy Warhol Toasty0.com

Jeff Bogan

$10 US Dollars says 20 years. Are we starting a pool?

Daniel Turini

Toasty0 wrote: "internet experts" This says all. Yes, even I am blogging now!

Colin Angus Mackay

Jeff Bogan wrote: $10 US Dollars says 20 years. Are we starting a pool? 100 Yuan says it is 10 years.

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Chris Meech

Big Deal. Just as one quarter of the earth's inhabitants speak Chinese, doesn't mean I need to speak Chinese in order to inhabit the earth. I think the same rule is going to apply to the Web in 5 years as well. Just cause more and more Chinese pages will appear on the Web, doesn't mean that all of the English ones are going to disappear. This again is just lousy reporting of a statment made, without any of the context. :) Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] Gently arching his fishing rod back he moves the tip forward in a gentle arch releasing the line.... kersplunk [Doug Goulden]

Bassam Abdul Baki

Kent: Mr. Simpson, how do you respond to the charges that petty vandalism such as graffiti is down eighty percent, while heavy sack-beatings are up a shocking nine hundred percent? Homer: Aw, people can come up with statistics to prove anything, Kent. Forty percent of all people know that. Here's the rest. Kent: I see. Well, what do you say to the accusation that your group has been causing more crimes than it's been preventing? Homer: [amused] Oh, Kent, I'd be lying if I said my men weren't committing crimes...! Kent: ...Touché. "For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you would never have considered. That is the exploration that awaits you. Not mapping stars and studying nebula, but charting the unknown possibilities of existence." - Q (Star Trek: The Next Generation) ^ Blog

Steve McLenithan

:laugh:

This demographic will quite happily click on shiny things however:laugh:

Found on Bash.org [erno] hm. I've lost a machine.. literally _lost_. it responds to ping, it works completely, I just can't figure out where in my apartment it is.

Paul Watson

This will be useful, then. regards, Paul Watson South Africa Michael Dunn wrote: "except the sod who voted this a 1, NO SOUP FOR YOU" Crikey! ain't life grand?

El Corazon

I don't even speak English well and it's my mother tongue. However.... whenever predicting the future, please refer to my sig. :laugh: _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

ColinDavies

:-) Regardz Colin J Davies Attention: It's finally arrived, The worlds first DSP.

Colin Angus Mackay

Out of curiosity, why does the chinese text in that picture contain a € (Euro Currency) symbol?

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ColinDavies

I'm unsure at the time frame. (5 yrs) But anyone can see it certainly is a significant trend that's occuring. I think most Westerners forget just how big South East Asia is in terms of people and resources. Also the concept of the Web is more akin to that culture than western culture. What probably has slowed down the Chinese internet growth, is the uptake of English as a second language. Regardz Colin J Davies Attention: It's finally arrived, The worlds first DSP.

Rocky Moore

That is strange. I heared an expert (hmm..) on CSPAN yesterday talking about blogs and the oganization of data mention something about China teaching 1/3 of the population to speak english. Thought that out to confuse them for a decade or so :) Rocky <>< www.HintsAndTips.com - Now with RSS Feed www.JokesTricksAndStuff.com www.MyQuickPoll.com - Now with RSS Feed and Prizes www.GotTheAnswerToSpam.com - Again :)

Henry miller

Perhaps, but I'm not sure. I am sure that it won't matter. English is common in India, a country that could easially overtake China in population. (There are more than 15 offical languages in India, English is one of the more commonly spoken ones, and since it is a recognized force in the world they will continue to use it) Combine that with much of Europe and North America speaking English, and there are a lot of english speakers in the world. Then add in little populations elsewhere. (Japan for instance can add several million English speakers) Thus I'm not sure about this. The argument for it not mattering has many more points: The Chinese government cencors heavially. So most other people won't be very interested in their content. Those who know some other language else will want to avoid the Chinese content because it is less trustworthy, even on the internet where anyone can say anything. English has critical mass. There will be enough of those people to keep english around for many years. There are many languages on the internet. Primary language isn't a useful concept, particularlly when primary still means less than 50% of all sites. "Only" a few million people speak finish, (many of whom know english as well), yet there are plenty of Finish web sites. Nobody (in my lifetime) will attempt to make major inroads in America or Europe in chinese. They will translate to the local language(s) (You could add Africa, but right now that contintent has bigger problems that don't seem to be going away) There just isn't enough population. Even in my state (MN) small companies are adding spanish web sites, and nearly everyone speaks english up here. Rest assured that English will be useful for many years, even if Chinese dominates.

John M Drescher

Speak or read? I ask this because the spoken language is different from different parts of the country even though most use the same written language. There have been times when a few of my Chinese coworkers have had to speak english to understand each other... John

Paul Watson

:laugh: Well spotted mate, I didn't even see that. I don't read Chinese so I can't say. Maybe the Europeans stole it from Chinese? Ah, or they knew Chinese would become dominant so they used a well known symbol that will be widely available ;) regards, Paul Watson South Africa Michael Dunn wrote: "except the sod who voted this a 1, NO SOUP FOR YOU" Crikey! ain't life grand?

peterchen

"Chinese" isn't even a language :rolleyes:

we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is Vonnegut jr.
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Radoslav Bielik

I've noticed that too. :) Anyway, I always wanted to ask how do you pronounce "Euro" correctly in English? The same way as in the word "Europe"? Thanks in advance. :) Rado

Radoslav Bielik http://www.neomyz.com/poll [^] - Get your own web poll

Colin Angus Mackay

Radoslav Bielik wrote: I always wanted to ask how do you pronounce "Euro" correctly in English? The same way as in the word "Europe"? Generally yes. It can depend on accent. In my accent I would say "yOOrip" (actually the "i" here is pronounced half way between an "o" and and "i" - If I had a stronger accent it would tend more towards the "i" as in "ink") and "EEooro" (capitalised letters denote stress)

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Michael Dunn

I think the Chinese is random gibberish - neither the words "us" or "your" (nor "me" or "you") are in the text. --Mike-- LINKS~! Ericahist | 1ClickPicGrabber | CP SearchBar v2.0.2 | C++ Forum FAQ | You Are Dumb