Originally published by Exeunt
The ever-increasing number of businesses tending towards globalisation indicates that the advantage of speaking multiple languages is becoming less and less important. Business is still mainly conducted in English and doesn’t look to be shifting any time soon. Signs in multiple countries provide dual translation to appeal to a growing, more mobile tourist market; native languages now have to share space with an invasive, more commonly understandable alternative. But China is still a world power that conducts much of its business in its variety of native tongues – the sheer size of the country stubbornly resists what may be an inevitable global shift to a single method of communication. Chairman Mao’s simplification of the traditional Chinese characters could be perceived to open the doors to foreign commerce, but was initially implemented to increase literacy and enable The Cultural Revolution to stride forward faster.
Culture by night 