basica wrote:Hell, I was watching a YouTube video the other day in Norwegian and I was surprised how many English words were used. I felt like I had an A2 level in Norwegian because I pretty much understood the entire video based on the English wordsThis kind of thing is only getting worse as more and more people prefer English over their own language as mentioned previously. In particular with online communication. I think in the next 10 or 20 years it's going to be hard to find forums and the like in languages outside of English because of this push; and that'll be a shame.
People adapt words from the linguae francae of their day without making their native languages disappear. German vocabulary is full of Latin and French words, but this does not make the language less German, to cite just one example (English is probably even a better one). As for (online) communication, I seriously doubt it will ever happen. Non English language social media are thriving and there is really no reason why Poles, French, Germans, Russians and so on would converse with their compatriots (or just people who speak the same language as they do) in English. I know no example of one established, official language being substituted by another, political conquest and oppression put aside.
What English does to those languages is that it adds one additional register. No one in their sound mind would call a Polish shampoo brand "Głowa i ramiona" but the brand called "Head & Shoulders" (which is an equivalent to my hypothetical Polish brand) rises no objections. What works in English, would not work if translated in Polish, but there is also this chic factor (Quidquid Anglice dictum est, altum videtur - there are exceptions of course and the use of English words deemed excessive has been often subjected to sharp criticism).