You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Europe
Italian and Spanish: Sine qua non in EU
2005-02-25
BRUSSELS, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The European Union is struggling with a dispute over languages that arose when German appeared to replace Italian and Spanish at some EU affairs. The European Commission, the EU's administrative arm, had decided efficiency demanded replacing the two Latin languages with the dominant Teutonic one, the International Herald Tribune said Friday.
Somehow, "efficiency" and "European Commission" don't really seem to belong in the same sentance
Spanish and Italian newspapers howled and Italian politicians vowed publicly to defend the nation's honor.
Pistols at dawn
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the commission and a citizen of Portugal, responded with an emergency news conference Thursday attended by some 30 Spanish and Italian reporters to soothe tempers and reassure them that their languages were being taken seriously.
"He told us he was not going to discriminate against Italian or Spanish," said a journalist at the meeting. "He said the next time he goes to the press room, he is going to speak Italian." The problem has taken on such proportions that ambassadors from all 25 EU countries were set to discuss it Friday.
Posted by:Steve

#9  Gee, the Germans tried with with how many wars, when they could have merely waited for a Commission to do it?
Posted by: Pappy   2005-02-25 7:43:27 PM  

#8  A couple years back the Swiss, a confederation made up of French, Italian, German, and Latin based fourth language, directed the second language to be taught in all schools would be English. The government recognized that it had become the common language of business, science, medicine, transportation, etc. To be effective in the future world [vice the old one], its citizens needed to be functional in English, much to the agony of the French speakers.
Posted by: Thavins Thavirt9269   2005-02-25 5:49:13 PM  

#7  What's Esperanto for Pinata Rodney?
Posted by: Shipman   2005-02-25 5:27:30 PM  

#6  you joke about 192 languages - but you aren't far off. In the San Diego City Schools District, I think I heard at one time there were over 180 languages represented. That's what finally killed the bilingual industry. The Spanish speaking saw that the other children learned English faster, better and integrated more easily.
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-25 3:45:57 PM  

#5  Esperanto
Posted by: Rodney King   2005-02-25 3:43:59 PM  

#4  This is where we'll be if businesses and government agencies increasingly pander to different linguistic groups (I understand that California's utility companies are including more and more languages on their bills lately?)

Every bill translated into 192 languages, every person in court demanding courts provide them (free of course) with translators, every road sign in every spoken language in the country, every instruction manual for appliances in every language spoken on earth...don't open that Pandora's box, Europe. Most of you are multi-lingual. Find the most common language between you and stick to it.
Posted by: Jules 187   2005-02-25 3:38:10 PM  

#3  The problem has taken on such proportions that ambassadors from all 25 EU countries were set to discuss it Friday.

The discussion will be held in English.
Posted by: 2b   2005-02-25 3:30:50 PM  

#2  No mention of that second language that many of them have in common -- English.
Posted by: Tom   2005-02-25 3:27:16 PM  

#1  Just switch to the language of Belgium. I think it's called "Belch".
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-02-25 3:24:11 PM  

00:00