English in Europe
Many Europeans worry about the rising dominance of English language. One of the reports indicates that 94 percent of the children attending secondary schools across European Union learn English as a foreign language (Doughty, 2013). English overshadows any other European language at that. Some countries like Denmark can boast of having 94 per cent people speaking English. Italy scores low with only 60 per cent proficiency (Doughty, 2013).
In “Across cultures, English is the word,” Seth Mydans quotes David Crystal, the author of the “English as a Global Language,” who said that “This is the first time we actually have a language spoken genuinely globally by every country in the world.” In the same article, David Graddol, a linguist, emphasized the role of the Internet in establishing English language domination, as 80 percent of the data is in English. Some scholars go as far as saying that English is a Globish, a language spoken in most parts of the world, and it will continue to grow. Seth Mydans also states that English “no longer ‘belongs’ to its native speakers but to the world” (Mydans, 2007). |
English and Music With American and British pop stars occupying the top of the European charts, there is some improvement in France and Germany, where the governments are desperately trying to revive the popularity of their native languages (Pfanner, 2005; Cutler, 2000). An article in the New York Times, which was published in 2005, presents some evidence of the attempt by German and French governments to boost performance of local musicians by either imposing quotas on the radio stations or advising them to play more local artists (Pfanner). This proved to be effective. The German music sales rose by 10 percent in 2005 from 40 percent in 2001 (Pfanner, 2005). Although there are some victories in German and French music industries, their local artists, even popular in these countries, remain unknown in America and Britain. In contrast with Germany and France, the United States plays mostly local music; this accounts for 90 percent of the sales, with the remaining 10 percent of the music coming from the United Kingdom (Pfanner, 2005).
“Rap around the globe” tells of the success of rap music, which appeared as “proudly insular music of the American black underclass,” and spread to other parts of the world. Attracted by the rhythm and the image that surrounds American rappers, France, Brazil, Japan, and Russia welcomed this new genre in the 90s. Mc Solaar, a distinguished rapper, even called French rap a “U.S. branch office” (Cocks, McCluskey, 1992). |
European Music
The recent article in the Guardian revealed that European acts have difficulty succeeding in the music arena, even if they adopt English in their songs (Lindvall, 2012). From 2010 to 2011, American artists were at the top of the most European charts. According to the article, the music genre also plays its role. For example, Europeans do better when they use dance music, like Mr. Saxobeat by Alexandra Stan or Stereo Love by Edward Maya (Lindvall, 2012). Another genre that does well is house or club music; Afrojack, Tiesto, and Swedish House Mafia are all in these category. Rock music in Europe suffers stagnation as “the genre is almost non-existent in the European listings” (Lindvall, 2012).
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