In contemporary society, experts predict that citizens worldwide will use a common language in the future. While some may argue the concept of a global native tongue can foster better communication and mitigate discrimination, I contend that it also has negative consequences such as cultural loss and a large number of resources dedicated to language learning. This essay will discuss both perspectives.
To begin with, proponents of a universal language highlight its benefits in the form of enhancing mutual understanding and protecting minor communities. First and foremost, there are over 100 countries worldwide, each with at least one or even more languages, making communication and collaboration more challenging. Therefore, speaking the same language can break language barriers between nations, facilitating cooperation in areas like economy, science, and politics. Moreover, communicating in only one language can alleviate discrimination based on language proficiency, according to which those who can only speak minor languages will be marginalized and isolated by developed nations, thereby leveling the playing field in terms of linguistic capability.
However, opponents of a universal language emphasize losing one’s culture and wasting resources as its drawbacks. A nation’s language is deeply intertwined with its national identity, culture, and history. Thus, replacing it with a new language means that that nation as well as its residents will permanently abandon their historical and cultural values, which were preserved and passed on by their ancestors from one generation to another. Furthermore, to adapt to new changes regarding the universality of a new language, the government needs to divert part of its budget from essential services like healthcare and education to language training institutions and programs to teach its citizens that language. To make matters worse, those who passed their golden age range of learning a language (around 11 to 14) may have difficulties in acquiring new ones, making language learning an arduous and time-consuming task, especially for the working class considering their limited time.
In conclusion, the introduction of a common language has both advantages and disadvantages, the former being offering a mutual means of sharing ideas and reducing marginalization, and the latter being the abandonment of one’s culture and identity and unnecessary resources consumed and efforts needed to learn it.