The Unsuitability of English

…as a topic for blog about learning English, this may seem a change of pace but is still appropriate.

Utrecht, Holland—My mission in this pleasant central Holland town: giving a keynote address at the 25th anniversary conference of Sense, the Society of English-language Native Speaking Editors, in the palatial surroundings of the beautifully restored 16th-century Paushuize (pictured). Knowing that the editors and translators who belong to Sense are much concerned with the international character of English, I chose to speak about the global role that the English language has taken on. And I stressed that English doesn’t deserve its role, linguistically: In many ways it is a terrible choice for a world language.

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