Thanks to Jeffrey Waggoner (@WagLegalEnglish) for the heads-up about this thought-provoking video on Euro-English at the European Parliament, from the Open University’s OpenLearn program (see this post).

Here are a few of the points the video covers:

• The ‘hegemony’ of English as lingua franca
• People choosing to speak a ‘primary’ language for more impact
• Language conveys values – choice of language is not neutral
• The added difficulty for interpreters of non-native speakers not saying what they mean but what they are able to say
• Is Euro-English a jargon or a new language?
• Maybe even native English speakers will have to learn Euro-English in order not to alienate listeners.