International Language - Sample
Some believe that we should invent a new language for international communication. Do the advantages of this outweigh the disadvantages?
As globalization accelerates, many perceive the need for a true "lingua franca" to facilitate global communication and trade. However, this essay will argue that a universal language is unlikely to ever be invented due to the numerous disadvantages.
On the surface, a common language shared by all seems like a good idea. A truly universal language will allow for much greater cultural exchange and homogenization, as well as better understanding in international communication. If we all speak the same tongue, there would be nothing lost in translation, reducing miscommunication and misunderstandings, thereby decreasing conflicts. Migration will be made easier and more accessible, allowing individuals to seek better lives anywhere they wish. Trade and tourism would flourish as the main barrier to intercultural exchanges is demolished. Proponents, therefore, argue that the invention of a common tongue is beneficial to each and every one of us. However, it can be argued that they fail to consider the individual and cultural consequences.
Our languages are at the very core of our ethnic and cultural identity, and are a large part of our heritage. Necessitating the learning of a universal language would inevitably lead to losses in linguistic diversity, and cultural diversity would soon follow. Homogenization may ostensibly seem like a great outcome in the sense that it equalizes us all linguistically, but it also means the erosion of individuals' uniqueness, ingenuity, and sense of self. Indeed, attempts have been made to create a language for the global community, but they were all failures - not because they were hard to learn, or because they were languages insufficient to carry out communication, but because people simply did not see the need or the desire to forgo their native language in favor of a foreign one. Thus, the creation of a new universal lingua franca is ill-advised at best, and actively harmful at worst.
In conclusion, although having a shared language for everyone seems like a good idea, in reality it would deprive us of our self-identity. English, as the current lingua franca, serves us well enough that we do not need a new invented language.
(348 words, band ~7.5)