Hi Anna
It took me a while to wade through the article and get at her meaning, but having done that I found she is talking about me! The thrust of her article is:
"English isn't managing to sweep all else before it - and it ever does become the universal language, many of who speak it won't understand one another"
This is my experience: English is not my first language (I had written that somewhere else) but my reality is a little more complex than that. It does not mean I am fluent in my native language (Marathi). My entire education has been in English. I speak English and Hindi with friends and colleagues. I speak Marathi with my family. I think in English. So English is the language I am most conversant in. (I cringe when I write that). All was fine and I slept well at night :), until I came on this board.
I found the English I spoke was so different from the English the others were speaking. I found the sentence construction I used and the way I used words was VERY different. At first it was a shock. I realised my knowing and speaking English did not necessarily make me conversant with the world. Then I had to decide whether or not to change my language style. The English I speak is perfect for within my country but inadequate outside it. Isn't that what the article says?
PS every post I make I work on the sentence construction and words so that it "fits in" better.
