1. Japanese 2. English Yes OR No OR Maybe?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Aniki

It's not ridiculous, it's quite serious, and I have history to back me up. If English was made a second official language, it be more commonly used by the young generation in their groups and with each generation the Japanese language would pushed aside due to the fact that English is easier and faster to learn than Japanese.

Easier and faster to learn for who? How could you say English would be easier for young Japanese to learn than Japanese would be? What history do you have to back it up? I have never heard a Japanese person say "English is so easy to learn". It requires a completely different way of thinking than Japanese, which is why Japanese is hard for English speakers to learn. It goes both ways.

Originally Posted by Aniki

The same thing right now is happening with Japanese culture the teenagers rather spend their time on Visual Kei and cosplaying, rather than tea ceremony and flower arranging.

I guarantee you a lot more of Japanese young people participate in tea ceremony and flower arranging clubs than dress up in cosplay.

Originally Posted by Aniki

People prefer western influenced fashion and style over country's tradition, and because English is more beneficial in terms of worldwide communication, people will choose it then Japanese which is only used in Japan.

Go to any summer festival and tell me people prefer western style over traditional styles. Of day to day this is true, but kimonos are brutally expensive and not very convenient.

[Payne222]

Originally Posted by YanBrassard

Of course. The French president doesn't even speak English.

French forever

The stereotypical Frenchman's attitude...

[Aniki]

Originally Posted by MMM

Easier and faster to learn for who? How could you say English would be easier for young Japanese to learn than Japanese would be?I have never heard a Japanese person say "English is so easy to learn". It requires a completely different way of thinking than Japanese, which is why Japanese is hard for English speakers to learn. It goes both ways.

MMM, I'm not the one who should be reminding you that Japanese requires to learn 1,900 kanji + hiragana and katakana, while the English alphabet only 26 letters and that's just the writing system. You still think that to the Japanese people Japanese language would be easier to learn then English?
And just because you haven't heard a Japanese person say that "English is so easy to learn", it doesn't tell anything. Japanese is almost hard for every Westerner (only Finnish would find Japanese easy because both languages have similar sentence structure), but it depends on persons will and effort. For one person Japanese might be hard to learn, for another it might be easy. Same goes for any language, no matter who's learning it and the way of thinking doesn't play a huge part in it.

Originally Posted by MMM

What history do you have to back it up?

I’ll give you the short story. After the establishing of the USSR Russian language became an “official” language in all of the Soviet Union and was thought in schools, used in media, etc. And while it was an official language of the Soviet Union in all but formal name, all national languages were proclaimed equal.
In that period a lot of Russian loan words were acquired by other languages because of every day use, causing harm to them and after the fall of USSR when all countries got their independence the whole damage became seen. Some countries are still having problems with eliminating the damage, and the problems mostly consists in people who got used to it in time, and don’t understand what’s the problem with using Russian words with their native language.
Now, I'm NOT saying that the same thing is going to happen with Japan if English is going to be made and official language. I'm only trying to prove that if a foreign language "officially" steps into a country, in time, it will cause a lot damage to the native language.

Originally Posted by MMM

I guarantee you a lot more of Japanese young people participate in tea ceremony and flower arranging clubs than dress up in cosplay.

True, I'm not going to argue with that. Maybe I was overreacting about this, but I didn't make my assumptions from out of nowhere. Recently there was a show about the Japanese who are living here and they told that with each generation of Japanese young people show less interest to traditions and that is slowly becoming a problem in Japan. I've also read somewhere about it on the net.

[AnthraxAttack]

Why? Why should it?
English has zero relevance to japanese. The amount of english speakers in is so small, that it would be like introducing arabic as the second official language in the US.

The only reason i can see for them to do it, is to give lazy bums a free ride in to japan

[Payne222]

Originally Posted by AnthraxAttack

The only reason i can see for them to do it, is to give lazy bums a free ride in to japan

There's already things for them to get there. Like the schools where you only
need to speak English to teach at and live there.

But I agree, Japan adopting English makes no sense...

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by Aniki

MMM, I'm not the one who should be reminding you that Japanese requires to learn 1,900 kanji + hiragana and katakana, while the English alphabet only 26 letters and that's just the writing system. You still think that to the Japanese people Japanese language would be easier to learn then English?

これ、逆鱗に触れたよ・・・

Saying that English is easier to learn is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. It`s both an insult to Japanese and English. I think you do not realize the direct implications of what you are saying. Languages that are "easier" have to fall at a lower level of complexity than those that are "harder".

Are you going to tell me that English is less expressive and less able to convey ideas and concepts than Japanese? That is what considering it "easier" would be.

It is pure and total arrogance to toss up some trait of a language you do know as a reason it is "easier". But if you want to play on that sort of field - Japanese children are generally able to learn to read at a very early age. Why? Because hiragana/katakana are ALWAYS pronounced in the same way. There is no need for worries about "spelling", silent letters, dropped consonants, blended sounds, etc etc etc that are oh so very common in English. If I follow your logic, that would make Japanese much easier to learn.

[kirakira]

Originally Posted by Aniki

True, I'm not going to argue with that. Maybe I was overreacting about this, but I didn't make my assumptions from out of nowhere. Recently there was a show about the Japanese who are living here and they told that with each generation of Japanese young people show less interest to traditions and that is slowly becoming a problem in Japan. I've also read somewhere about it on the net.

Showing less interest in traditional ceremonies does not equate to showing more interest in Western culture. I think you will find Japan is doing what it has always done for the past 2000 years, taking bits and pieces of culture from the current super power and integrated in a way that makes sense to the Japanese. I'm talking about China in the past and the US in the present.

As for the future, well Korea is having a small movement to bring back Chinese characters into its writing system so....

Also Aniki, just how much Japanese do you speak, I have a feeling you are not up to a stage when you realise just how differently you have to think just to speak Japanese.

[noodle]

Nyoronin and MMM, thank you for explaining that English isn't an "easier" language. I thought I would do it, but I felt that it would be better if it was explained by someone who actually speaks both languages.

I think the biggest problem is that westerners can't get around the idea of the number of Kanji you have to learn and the ever so famous "you should studying Japanese seriously for about 4 years to be able to read a newspaper". This sentence is ever so annoying because I never see a 9 year old native English speaker (who has been studying english for 4 years or more) read The Times for example, or any serious newspaper for that matter.

[Aniki]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Saying that English is easier to learn is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. It`s both an insult to Japanese and English. I think you do not realize the direct implications of what you are saying. Languages that are "easier" have to fall at a lower level of complexity than those that are "harder".

Are you going to tell me that English is less expressive and less able to convey ideas and concepts than Japanese? That is what considering it "easier" would be.

It is pure and total arrogance to toss up some trait of a language you do know as a reason it is "easier". But if you want to play on that sort of field - Japanese children are generally able to learn to read at a very early age. Why? Because hiragana/katakana are ALWAYS pronounced in the same way. There is no need for worries about "spelling", silent letters, dropped consonants, blended sounds, etc etc etc that are oh so very common in English. If I follow your logic, that would make Japanese much easier to learn.

Obviously speaking to you would be the same as talking to a wall, since you have NO idea what it means to have a second official language in a monocultural country. So I'll try to explain it you. I don't know how OP understands the whole "official second language" idea, because there are various situations where a country has two official languages but only one is the dominating while the second one is only used in some parts of the country. There are various degrees how the second language operates.

This is how I see the presence of English as the second official language in Japan. English will lose the status of a 'chosen' second language and starting from elementary school everyone will be taught no matter they want it or not. And being an "official" language in going to be used in courts, government meetings, food products, documents (of any kind) and other merchandise will be printed in both languages, all street signs, advertisement sign boards will have both languages in them, same goes for the media foreign movies will dubbed in Japanese with English subs and otherwise.
Now imagine a kid being born 10 years after "in such Japan", and think how hard will English be for him to learn when it's so evident in everyday life?

Now, to answer your to post. You can save your breath by explaining me something what I already know, and I'm not going to argue about it. Yes! English is a pain the ass! (Was that what you wanted me to say? I'll gladly say it again any time you want)
What I was trying explain, was that Japanese person would find English easier to learn when it's a part the everyday environment in which he was born.

[Kayci]

Originally Posted by Aniki

Obviously speaking to you would be the same as talking to a wall, since you have NO idea what it means to have a second official language in a monocultural country. So I'll try to explain it you. I don't know how OP understands the whole "official second language" idea, because there are various situations where a country has two official languages but only one is the dominating while the second one is only used in some parts of the country. There are various degrees how the second language operates.

This is how I see the presence of English as the second official language in Japan. English will lose the status of a 'chosen' second language and starting from elementary school everyone will be taught no matter they want it or not. And being an "official" language in going to be used in courts, government meetings, food products, documents (of any kind) and other merchandise will be printed in both languages, all street signs, advertisement sign boards will have both languages in them, same goes for the media foreign movies will dubbed in Japanese with English subs and otherwise.
Now imagine a kid being born 10 years after "in such Japan", and think how hard will English be for him to learn when it's so evident in everyday life?

Now, to answer your to post. You can save your breath by explaining me something what I already know, and I'm not going to argue about it. Yes! English is a pain the ass! (Was that what you wanted me to say? I'll gladly say it again any time you want)
What I was trying explain, was that Japanese person would find English easier to learn when it's a part the everyday environment in which he was born.

Um. She lives in Japan. So she understands more than you think.
She understands more of what would happen, I would fairly wager.
So you're more of the wall.