If every country was required to learn a single universal language from birth so everyone in the world could understand one another...

[SirDuff]

Easy and I've said it for YEARS! Teach every kid from Kindergarten - SIGN LANGUAGE!

But ASL differs from BSL and others, so, again which do you choose?

 

[snowwite]

Latin

I took Latin in school and thought it was pointless. I became a nurse and use it all the time. It is also helpful when watching Jeopardy! My book was so old that my mom had used the very same one. She had scribbled inside the cover “Latin is a dead language it’s very plain to see. It killed off all the Romans and now it’s killing me”!

 

[MamaMermaid]

Easy and I've said it for YEARS! Teach every kid from Kindergarten - SIGN LANGUAGE!

This was my first thought as well.

 

[SirDuff]

This was my first thought as well.

Except, as has been pointed out, there are many different versions of sign language. So, doesn’t solve the question at all.

 

[sam_gordon]

My guess would be English, as it is already the universal language for sciences and business.

And aviation.

 

[Kitty 34]

At least we can use the universal smile.

 

[Beezle2]

Ok, I'll bite
What is the reason?

I'm going to put a $5 bet on Tower of Babel before I go and further in the thread.

 

[Beezle2]

It’s a story on the Old Testament … Tower of Babel and all that.

WHOOOO!! I owe me 5 bucks..

 

[BrianL]

I would say English as well because it really is ubiquitous around the world - though convenient fo rme. I would however like to see a somewhat tweaked and streamlined english, because it is a language with so many exceptions, etc. It's actually one of the hardest to learn fo rnon-native speakers. A lot of that nonsense could be dropped though, creating something that is mostly English, but not entirely.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

It’s a story on the Old Testament … Tower of Babel and all that.

Well I suppose that's a reasonable explanation for a Christian or Jew, but others might take issue with it.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I wasn't saying to ban any languages, only make an official one everyone should be trained to know starting at a young age. Many Spanish speaking countries offer English classes to the population but most don't see a reason to become fluent unless the directly need it for a job. This is an example where a universal language could eliminate that problem in the future. In other words, make it mandatory to become bilingual with the countries main language and whatever the universal one selected would be. This is all fictional anyway. Google translate isn't the answer to everything.

You don't have to ban a language for it to become lost. They would be lost from attrition, as gradually there would be fewer and fewer people willing to put in the effort to learn and keep languages that aren't used as often. Though I agree the idea of it being mandatory to be bilingual could help with that.

Try making it mandatory to be bilingual in some countries though, lol. I have a coworker that gets offended by automated phone messages that include "para espanol, marque numero dos" (sorry, don't have the tilde on my keyboard). Pretty sure people like that would not appreciate the government telling them they're now required to become bilingual. I can just imagine the outrage.

 

[Buzz Rules]

You don't have to ban a language for it to become lost. They would be lost from attrition, as gradually there would be fewer and fewer people willing to put in the effort to learn and keep languages that aren't used as often. Though I agree the idea of it being mandatory to be bilingual could help with that.

Try making it mandatory to be bilingual in some countries though, lol. I have a coworker that gets offended by automated phone messages that include "para espanol, marque numero dos" (sorry, don't have the tilde on my keyboard). Pretty sure people like that would not appreciate the government telling them they're now required to become bilingual. I can just imagine the outrage.

But then they could be outraged in two languages, not just one.

 

[Mysterian]

Mathematics is the universal language.

Let's see if this litany of swearing gets passed the mods:
1101010101010100101011101010101010101010101010110101110101010101010

 

[Lord Manhammer]

But then they could be outraged in two languages, not just one.

As someone who loves to study languages as a hobby, I'm not sure how I feel about this. To an extent, I think English already is the lingua franca, and maybe French. Not to mention, the differences in languages is fun to study and can make for some interesting and even entertaining interactions.

When in Germany once, I overheard someone order a "Heiss Hund" [literally hot dog] at a restaurant. The server burst out laughing and when he could finally contain himself, he explained that the person who presumably wanted a frankfurter had asked for an actual dog that was in heat. We all got a good laugh out of it (including the person who made the order).

As an aside, there are apparently more people learning Irish than there are native speakers, so I think all hope is not lost in keeping some old languages alive.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

Interesting thing I recently learned. There is a rule in one industry that mandates a single language so that communication can be consistent, given safety is of utmost importance. That industry is air travel. Pilots and control towers are all mandated to use English. Makes sense as planes can travel all over the world and must take off and land all over the world with the assistance of the air traffic controllers.

So my answer to the specific question would be English, although I don’t think we would ever have such happen.

My bigger answer to the question is that I believe we are not that far away that AI will make translation much easier.

 

[snowwite]

Mathematics is the universal language.

Let's see if this litany of swearing gets passed the mods:
1101010101010100101011101010101010101010101010110101110101010101010

Please God no. I hate math

 

[Buzz Rules]

As most people are saying English, one solution would be making English language learning free and more accessible in poorer countries.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

Ok, I'll bite
What is the reason?

Darmok and Jalad, at Tanagra.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Darmok and Jalad, at Tanagra.

The river Jalad

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

The river Jalad

563 Refrigerator.