There are numerous languages in the world. They are the symbol of diversity and unity. A language is a country’s identity. It is what creates a bond between its citizens just like a shared history and traditions. Nevertheless, the impact of languages on society is too often underestimated. They are mostly seen as a way to communicate and exchange information, but rarely as a real tool for a country’s soft power across the globe. In this article, I will explain why languages have more influence than it seems and how they can be a real advantage for a country.
First of all, let’s have a look at the different ways a language can gain importance and spread.
The first way would be through a high number of native speakers. Mandarin Chinese will be our example. It is well known that Mandarin is spoken by almost a billion people. It is important to keep in mind that not the whole population of China speaks Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is one of the many Chinese dialects spoken in China and Asia. Since it is widely spoken by almost one billion people globally, Mandarin is a useful language to study. Mandarin gained even more importance in the last decade thanks to China becoming an economic superpower. One tends to pick Mandarin as one’s target language to do business with China. Therefore having a high number of native speakers makes the language more attractive.
Then it is interesting to keep going with conquests and colonialism. Indeed conquering another territory or country can be an easy way to impose a language. History one of the best examples of this is the Roman Empire. The Romans conquered many territories around the mediterranean sea as well as in western Europe. From today’s Syria to England, they had a great influence and so did their language. The Romans, when they conquered a territory, did not try to destroy the culture and traditions of the territory, instead, they would do business and exchanges with the inhabitants to slowly make them adopt Latin. As Latin was the language in which the exchanges were made, the conquered people had no choice but to learn it and use it. Therefore without erasing other people’s culture to impose their own, the Romans used what we call today soft power. Nowadays it is still possible to find Latin in Romance languages such as Italian or French. It is also possible to study Latin itself as a language even after almost 2000 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. This shows that language is a legacy. The Romans and their culture can be remembered through their language, a language that was used in many countries as an administrative language after the disappearance of the Romans. Latin acts as a perfect example of a language that played an essential role in its country’s influence and prosperity.
Now it is crucial to mention colonialism. The United Kingdom, France, and Spain successfully built large and prosperous empires in History and therefore widely spread their language across the world. (Disclaimer: those Empires may be criticized for their ways of ruling and colonizing but this topic is not treated here). Those three countries are not the only ones that took part in colonialism but they are the most successful. By occupying territories for long periods they assured the adoption of their language in the future, which is today. Spain spread Spanish through South America and is now the second most spoken language when it comes to native speakers. France has set its influence in Africa and as of today, several African countries have French as their official language. Finally, the UK created the largest Empire in History covering almost a quarter of Earth’s land area therefore also setting its power in several territories.
The key to durably imposing a language is a long occupation of the territory. The colonists had to keep the territory under control long enough for people to adopt their language and pass it down to the next generations so as for the language to survive through time.
Nowadays what advantages can the whole process bring to the UK, France, and Spain? Well, first of all, it makes exchanges between countries speaking the same language easier. Then sharing some History can strengthen the relationships. The United Kingdom is known to have a very good relationship with the United States. They both spoke English because of the colonization of America by the British even though the US later gained independence. Also what if in the end the language we speak carries what we think, our ideas, and our conception of the world? What if through imposing their language, the colonists also imposed their ideas? That is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity. In this hypothesis, he explains that the language we speak shapes our vision of the world and our ideas.
This leads me to the second part of this article. Spreading a language is spreading ideas and lifestyle. English is the perfect example, especially in the USA. The USA has the highest GDP and has for a while now exported its products and lifestyle across the globe. If you speak English you have direct access to American culture and lifestyle and it is way easier to discover its culture and visions of life. You also have access to sources of information in English. Speaking English makes being influenced by ideas like liberalism way simpler. On the contrary, during the cold war speaking Russian would make communist ideas accessible. I do know how cliché it sounds but it is a simple example that explains clearly how languages can influence us. English has now become the world’s “lingua franca” thanks to the British Empire, the USA’s massive economy, and the Commonwealth to say the least.
Language also takes on the role of a door to another culture. Indeed if you want to discover another country’s culture you need to understand its language. Japanese or Korean for instance allow the speaker to be extremely formal and polite depending on the person one talks to. That helps to understand the deeply respectful culture those two countries have especially towards the elderly. On the other hand, Chinese is a very descriptive language contrary to French which is a very precise language. In the end, a language is a metaphor for the culture itself as well as its country’s ideology. That is why spreading a language deeply helps with influence and power. Languages seduce and bring people to adhere to another culture and way of thinking. Also, in the last few years, Korea through its music has made its language quite popular just like Japan through anime. That is the other way around when a country’s culture influences one to learn its language.
Several countries have now created international institutes to make learning their language in another country more accessible and easier. China created the Confucius institute while the UK has the British Council and they are not the only ones. Moreover, seducing foreign people with language and culture brings tourism and therefore money and more influence. It can also push people to move out of their home country to go to another country.
To summarise languages are discreet weapons that countries use to gain more influence but they are also amazing doorways to new cultures and ways of thinking. That’s what makes them great soft power tools. Learning languages is, according to me, a way to create a bond with diversity and the world in general.
Learn more at:
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/100-most-spoken-languages/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/sapir-whorf-hypothesis
https://www.translateday.com/impact-english-language-in-our-society/
— French writer Joshua Roulin can be reached at joshua.roulin@gmail com. Follow him on Instagram @josh.rln.
