Lingua francas, or a common or ridge language is often cited as an example of humans being able to overcome differences and have a shared method of communication. In the modern context, European based languages such as English and French are often used in business transactions amongst individuals who otherwise would not have a common language. In essence, it is a way for people with great difference in culture and experience to share that insight with one another. However, which languages get to be elevated to shared status are often born through conflict and privilege. It is not be sheer numbers that English and French have elevated themselves to that status, if that were the case most international business would be conducted in Spanish and Chinese languages. Instead, these languages of European nations have become the most commonly spoken languages in business because they have been instructed through centuries of assimilation of indigenous peoples of other nations. There are some organizations that attempt to make lingua francas less important, such as the EU where most of the documentation and discussion happen natively in one person’s language and through translators and other technologies, every is able to understand it in their respective languages. Technology might make the need for individual translation less important as handheld devices such as smartphones may be able to directly translate in real time a conversation between one person speaking Arabic and another speaking Japanese, for example.
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