Agreed. make it lingua franca no prob, but not a national language

DB, now you are getting funnier - are you drinking Vaudois, Neuchatelois ou Valaisan?

Faltrad, DB is King of satire here - his own particular genrE. Of course he knows that English is just a bit of German dialects with some French thrown in, a few handfuls of words invented by Shakespeare, with silly latin rules. He is a clever chap.

Hey watch out DB will get another Napoleon out to quash that theory !

After yesterday afternoon and evening... tea.

But you're self-aware to notice that you're currently writing in English....right? And why are we (you) talking about the UK?

I can name three, although the third was just within one nation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolutionary_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_1812

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War

Indeed, but none of the langua franca listed above and the one you forgot ever made any difference to how people see their own language. Corean did not desappear nor was less dearly loved by its speakers, Vietnamese either, even if they all had to have Chinese as some point, and even use chinese caracters to write their own language. People's definition of national identity (and thus language) has no link whatsoever to lingua franca questions nor money nor anything else.

When poeple have to speak/write the lingua franca, they just becaues bilingual. It doesn't change a squid to their feelings about their national language.

If English speakers can't understand that there is lingua franca and national linguage totally disctinctely from one another because it happens to be the same for them, then bad luck, you are just not understanding what the rest of the world understand. In your own logic, that would make us superior I guess, but I do not follow class minded hierarchical mindset because I am not English, so I don't even get to the conclusion that your are inferior just because you are lingua franca native speakers. To me, you are just yourself, I do not believe in Übermenschen (the correct understanding of this last word will show if the person answering my message is truely educated or not... take a second to google it).

__________________
Es wird nichts ausgelassen, um mich hier herauszuekeln. Ein Lehrbuch. False accusations and attacks continue. There is no stopping righteous people when they are wrong.

All of which:

• happened a very long time ago; and
• were provoked by the French.

Je parle aussi le francais (mais je n'ai pas les caracteres speciaux del clavier).

Tom

EDIT: I also speak French but I don't have the special characters on my keyboard

Ganja tea?

But there are millions of English speakers you can see, hear and touch for yourself.

How can you not believe in them?

I think DB only drinks ENGLISH tea !

The French attacked Fort Sumter?

I am astonished. Bankers usually pose as being knowing everything. So that I presume that what you experience and describe is not a linguistic problem but simply the usual arrogance of banking people. Are you possibly just a member of that crowd

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard sounds pretty French to me.

Asking the question proves that you did not read Nietzsche recently. Get back to your study, DB, instead of speading blunt irony on forums (Ich habe dich hier mal feinsinniger erlebt... how do you say that in English... I have seen you more subtle or something like that).

Don't ask too much- he's got a headache, poor thing.

The only Übermensch I believe in is this guy:

I like French fries but I am a true Anglophone...

Are these 2 oxymorons? because I am ready to give up those French fries, they taste bitter and anti-anglo anyways

What language does he speak, then?

Have some compassion with our poor DB ! He is making a living out of teaching some Central Swiss (Swiss Congolese) some basic English and at times may feel like Messrs Stanley and Livingstone ("Dr Livingstone I presume")