Will Trump order a strike on NK?

[Dr. Arch]

Linguistically-speaking, it is impossible for Chinese--as it is--to spread as an international lingua franca. Sorry, but Beet is right here. Even with the nearly worldwide imperial dominance of English for centuries, it has still not been fully assimilated.

We don't have to worry about Chinese. Even if your foreign country scaremongering is true, Mecla, it will be generations before such a worldwide consensus language shift occurs, barring extremely exceptional circumstances.

[Dr. Arch]

it will be generations before such a worldwide consensus language shift occurs, barring extremely exceptional circumstances.

Yes, you are probably right. A lot of people have a similar opinion:

http://www.chinasimplified.com/2015/04/03/will-speaking-chinese-future/

The main issue will be whether the Chinese are learning English in their own country.

But economic domination (extreme case) means the Chinese upper class moving to the USA and buying up the place, so they are likely to just keeping speaking Chinese whilst owning half of New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.

We saw a similar thing happen in 1066 when the Anglo-Normans conquered England. French was practically the sole institutional language for about a century, but the laypeople still spoke English as their native and main cultural language. Eventually, due a combination of events and just by the effect of time, English gained prestige again and became the language of government once more. Top-down language imposition rarely works unless you exterminate the speakers (think colonization of the Caribbean, etc.)

[Dr. Arch]

it will be generations before such a worldwide consensus language shift occurs, barring extremely exceptional circumstances.

Yes, you are probably right. A lot of people have a similar opinion:

http://www.chinasimplified.com/2015/04/03/will-speaking-chinese-future/

The main issue will be whether the Chinese are learning English in their own country.

But economic domination (extreme case) means the Chinese upper class moving to the USA and buying up the place, so they are likely to just keeping speaking Chinese whilst owning half of New York, Los Angeles and Seattle.

We saw a similar thing happen in 1066 when the Anglo-Normans conquered England. French was practically the sole institutional language for about a century, but the laypeople still spoke English as their native and main cultural language. Eventually, due a combination of events and just by the effect of time, English gained prestige again and became the language of government once more. Top-down language imposition rarely works unless you exterminate the speakers (think colonization of the Caribbean, etc.)

What about the Celtic languages?  Welsh is the only one that isn't endangered.

If you are referring to language shifts after the Celtic Fringe, yes. That would be one of those rare cases because there was a lot of intermarrying taking place between the Normans, the Scots, etc. There was a lot of cultural assimilation by the point the languages were lost, but we're still talking about a scope of centuries, and Welsh, as you noted, still survives.

[Dr. Arch]

If anyone believes this to be a dominant language of our world's future ..... you are crazy.
The world has been simplifying how everything is done, not complicating it.
Though I absolutely love the 2002 TV show Firefly, Chinese will not spread beyond its own borders.

It already has (Singapore).

Anyway, it isn't nearly as difficult as people make it out to be.  Chinese is actually a very logical language that feels more natural than other languages.  In English we have "be," while we also have "am," "is," and "are."  In Chinese there is just "是."  Makes more sense.

That table (image) referenced above, does not "make more sense."

That's what I used to think.  But then I learned about strokes.  Just like words in English are combinations of letters, Chinese words are combinations of strokes.  Here are some Chinese words that can be written more quickly than their English translation:

一one
二two
三three
人person
女woman
中middle
小small

If you think I'm going to start speaking that, Ive got a bridge in Alaska with your name on it.

lmao