正文翻譯

Do Europeans only speak English because of the USA? Would they speak it or not if the USA didn’t?

歐洲人只是因為美國才說英語嗎?如果美國不說，他們會說嗎?

評論翻譯

Geoffrey Thorndyke
Out of curiosity when the US invented it’s language and sent it to Europe, why did they call it “English” ?

我很好奇。如果是美國發(fā)明了這種語言并把它傳到歐洲，為什么他們叫它“英語”?

Profile photo for Jeff Dray
You have to wonder at the intellect of some OPs. Europeans speak a wide range of languages, their own and very often English as a second language, because having a second language is quite common in countries outside the USA.
Mostly they speak English because the United Kingdom is quite an important factor in world affairs. That's one of the reasons why the USA decided to adopt English, rather than the more logical Spanish.

你不得不對某些題主的智慧感到驚訝。歐洲人說各種各樣的語言，他們有自己的語言，英語通常作為第二語言，因為在美國以外的國家有第二語言是很普遍的。他們大多說英語，因為英國在世界事務中是一個非常重要的因素。這就是為什么美國決定采用英語，而不是更合乎邏輯的西班牙語的原因之一。

Bert Van Loo
When the US was founded, Spanish was not a major language spoken in the original states (most Spanish-speaking settlers were in areas that at the time belonged to Spain and later Mexico. The occurrence of Spanish as the most common primary language for US residents besides English is a much later development. The UK’s influence on English becoming widely spoken comes from their colonial history, and the 20th century shift of world-power from the British Empire to the US cemented English as important for international affairs. So yes the dominance of English is a combination of interwoven history between the UK and the US, but there was never a competition between Spanish and English in the US at the point of making the decision, Spanish was not even a viable option as the ‘local’ language within the US at the time

美國建立之初，西班牙語并不是各州的主要語言（大多數說西班牙語的定居者居住在當時屬于西班牙后來屬于墨西哥的地區(qū))。除了英語，西班牙語成為美國居民最常見的主要語言是很晚的一個發(fā)展。英國對英語廣泛使用的影響來自于其殖民歷史，20世紀世界力量從大英帝國向美國的轉移又鞏固了英語在國際事務中的重要性。所以，是的，英語的主導地位是英國和美國歷史交織影響的結果，但美國在做決定的時候，西班牙語和英語從來沒有競爭過，當時，西班牙語在美國甚至還不是一種可行的“當地”語言。

Donald McLeod
It is my experience, especially in Europe, but while English may be widespread, the most common second language is French. I have also seen this in other parts of the world with possible exclusion of China. I speak both English and German, but frequently, especially in smaller towns and villages in Europe, neither of those languages is used to any great extent; this goes for rural areas in just about every continental country. However, frequently I am asked if I speak French as opposed to the local language, such as Flemish, Dutch, Spanish, etc.

以我的經驗，尤其是在歐洲，雖然英語可能很普遍，但最常見的第二語言是法語。我在世界其他地方也看到了這種情況，可能不包括中國。我會說英語和德語，但通常情況下，尤其是在歐洲的小城鎮(zhèn)和鄉(xiāng)村，人們很少使用這兩種語言;這條規(guī)律適用于幾乎所有大陸國家的農村地區(qū)。然而，經常有人問我說的是法語還是當地語言，比如佛蘭芒語、荷蘭語、西班牙語等等。

Bruce Buirkke
English would just be another language in Europe if it were not for the USA. it has become the common second language all over the world by the USA's ‘economic, military, and especially cultural power. I worked at an English language school in China. Generally, parents would come over to “ check out” the English teacher. They vastly preferred an English teacher that spoke “American English” I asked them why and they generally answered along the lines of,” We want to speak like the super power, not some less significant country.”

如果沒有美國，英語在歐洲只算是另一種語言。由于美國的經濟、軍事，尤其是文化實力，英語已經成為全世界通用的第二語言。我在中國的一所英語學校工作過。一般來說，家長會過來“檢查”英語老師。我問他們?yōu)槭裁?，他們更喜歡說“美式英語”的英語老師，他們的回答大致是這樣的----“我們想要像超級大國一樣說話，而不是一些不那么重要的國家。”

Colin Birks
It’s easy for other nationals to choose a second language, because English is the most common. Lots criticize the English for not speaking a second language…… but which language would we choose? You could speak six languages, and still not have the right one when you need it.

對于其他國家的人來說，選擇英語作為第二語言很容易，因為英語是最常見的。很多人批評英國人不會說第二語言，但我們要選擇哪種語言呢?你會說六種語言，但在你需要的時候仍然沒有掌握正確的語言。

Sophie McKenzie
The Scandinavian countries teach English as a second language, along side their native one from a really young age.
Although I should point out that for hundreds of years the upper classes of Europe spoke in Latin. English Kings from William the Conqueror to Edward III only spoke French as a first language, English was a very basic second language. Richard I only spoke French. Richard II spoke English very well, but again only spoke it as a second language, French being his first. Henry IV was the first English King to fully communicate with his court and with the people in English. It was from him when English became the first language of English Kings, while French, Latin, Greek etc were second languages.

斯堪的納維亞國家在他們很小的時候就把英語作為第二語言來教授。不過我要指出的是幾百年來歐洲的上層階級都說拉丁語。從征服者威廉到愛德華三世，英國國王只把法語作為第一語言，英語是非?；A的第二語言。理查五世只會說法語。理查二世英語說得很好，但還是把英語作為第二語言，法語是他的第一語言。亨利四世是第一位完全用英語與朝廷和人民交流的英國國王。正是自他開始，英語成了英國國王的第一語言，而法語、拉丁語、希臘語等成了第二語言。

Profile photo for Maria C.
The English language existed before America was invented and established. Meditate on that notion.

英語在美國被發(fā)現(xiàn)和建立之前就存在了。想想這個概念吧。
Bruce Buirkke（回復樓上）

Like many things in life present circumstances generally count more than past circumstances.

（然而）就像生活中的許多事情一樣，現(xiàn)在的情況通常比過去的情況更重要。

Maria C.
That doesn’t change the fact that English was spoken in Europe for centuries before the US, and that the Pilgrims on the Mayflower were from the UK, where the english language was formed and developed, don’t you think? Past circumstances shape the future…

這并不能改變英語在歐洲比美國早幾個世紀使用的事實，還有，五月花號上的清教徒來自英國，英語是在那里形成和發(fā)展的，你不這么認為嗎?過去的情況決定未來……

Profile photo for Bruce Buirkke
Of course they do,but the CURRENT popularity of English is largely because it is the language of the mightiest superpower in history. The USA dominates culturally, scientifically, militarily on and on. The British had their day, and certainly got the ball rolling, but currently we are in an age of giants, USA, China, and Russia. Look at French it was once a must have for the elites, but has become less popular, except in Africa, but some of them are changing to English. So languages wax and wane who started it is not the determining factor, or at least not the main factor.

對，但英語現(xiàn)在如此流行，很大程度上是因為它是歷史上最強大的超級大國的語言。美國在文化、科學、軍事等方面占據主導地位。英國人有他們的時代，但風水輪流轉，現(xiàn)在我們處在一個巨頭的時代，美國，中國和俄羅斯?？纯捶ㄕZ，它曾經是精英階層的必備品，但現(xiàn)在已經不那么受歡迎了，除了在非洲，非洲一些人也正在改用英語。所以由誰開始并不是語言興衰的決定因素，或者至少不是主要因素。