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  • For decades, English has dominated the world's languages.

    數十年來,英語一直主宰了世界的語言。

  • Around the turn of the millennium, about a quarter of the world's population could communicate in English to some degree.

    大約在千禧年時,世界上約有四分之一的人可以用英文,在某種程度上溝通。

  • But with changing world demographics and globalization, the languages we all use are sure to change in form and popularity.

    但是隨著世界人口結構改變以及全球化,我們所使用的語言,不論是在形式或是普及率,勢必將會改變。

  • So, we wanted to know, what is the future of language?

    因此,我們想知道,未來的語言會是什麼樣子?

  • Well, there are certainly competing ideas about what will become the most widely spoken language.

    目前對於未來最為廣泛使用的語言為何,當然有幾種相互競爭的想法。

  • But one thing is agreed upon: that the total number of languages worldwide will drop considerably.

    但被肯定的是:世界上的語言總數將會大量減少。

  • Today, there are about 7,000 languages spoken around the globe.

    現在全球仍被使用中的語言大約還有7,000種。

  • But this number is thought to drop by about 90% although new hybrid languages are expected to spring up, maintaining culture and diversity.

    但是這個數字估計會減少 90%,雖然新混合語言預期將會出現,可以保存不同的文化以及多元性。

  • Even today, nearly two-thirds of the world natively speaks only one of twelve languages.

    即使是現在,幾乎世界上三分之二會說母語的人,只會說最大宗的十二種語言其中的一種。

  • Most language predictions are based on population growth, with China and India taking the lead.

    大多的語言預測都是建立在人口成長,由中國和印度占領先地位。

  • Another somewhat questionable prediction has been that French will become the most spoken language within the same time period.

    另個稍具爭議性的預測指出,法文在同個時期,會成為最多人使用的語言。

  • Although, today, French is natively spoken by roughly 220 million, that number is expected to increase to roughly 750 million.

    雖然法文目前僅作為 2 億 2 千萬人的母語,該數字預期會上升至大約 7 億 5 千萬人。

  • And the study suggests it will eclipse both Chinese and English.

    研究也指出,法文將會超越中文以及英文。

  • A major reason for this assumption is that a number of African nations speak French, and Africa's current economic growth is a strong predictor of a rapid population growth.

    該假設的主要原因,是因為有不少非洲國家使用法文,而現今非洲的經濟成長,是未來人口快速成長的重要指標。

  • Still, many have criticized this view, saying that French-speaking nations in Africa don't actually represent the total number of French speakers.

    儘管如此,不少人批評這論點。批評者認為講法文的非洲國家,不能夠代表實際講法文的總人口。

  • But while population growth is a good measure of native language rates, it may actually be English as a second language that dominates the world.

    雖然人口數量是一個用來衡量母語使用人口的好指標,但也許真正占多數的,是以英文作為第二語言的人口。

  • For example, although Chinese is spoken by more people, English is spoken in three times as many countries.

    舉例而言,雖然中文使用人數較多,但使用英文的國家卻是中文的三倍。

  • Furthermore, Chinese is considered more complicated to learn than English and is not used nearly as often in scientific communication.

    此外,中文被認為比英文更困難學習,且在科學溝通方面,也不如英文使用來的頻繁。

  • It is also important to note that English has the considerable advantage of already being the predominant language for print, education, media, and most importantly, the internet.

    還有一點很重要就是,英文有個很大的優勢,它在印刷物、教育、媒體,以及最重要的網路已經是主要的語言。

  • Many estimates also predict that Spanish and Arabic will see a huge influx of both native and secondary speakers,

    也有許多預估預測,西班牙文和阿拉伯文在母語以及第二語言使用人口上將有大量湧入。

  • with Spanish already the second most spoken language in the United States.

    西班牙文已經是美國第二大被使用的語言。

  • The future of language is easy to see: Most languages will die out, and existing languages in countries with rapid population growth will naturally see the greatest rise.

    語言的未來是顯而易見的:大部分的語言即將消失,而在人口快速成長的國家,將會自然看見現存語言有最顯著的成長。

  • But the most likely scenario is that the world will continue to globalize through the English language, largely through non-native speakers.

    但最可能的情況還是:未來世界會繼續透過英文全球化,大致上是透過非英文母語人士。

  • The world has over 7,000 languages; to learn more about the most common languages spoken, watch our video.

    世界上有超過7,000種語言,想知道更多最普遍的語言,請看我們的影片。

  • Technically, Chinese is a macro language made up of seven major groups, spread out over more than 200 different dialects.

    嚴格來說,中文是一個巨大的語言,由七種主要的類別組成,分布在兩百多種不同的方言中。

  • In particular, Mandarin represents the vast majority of Chinese speakers, some 70%.

    特別是華語,代表了大多數的中文使用者,大約占百分之七十。

  • Thanks for watching TestTube News; make sure to like and subscribe to our channel.

    感謝收看這集TestTube News,請記得按讚並訂閱我們的頻道。

  • And we'll see you next time.

    我們下回再見。

For decades, English has dominated the world's languages.

數十年來,英語一直主宰了世界的語言。

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