I'll start with a story about Ye Olde Englishe.
| English
| Japanese
|
From what I can tell, the only thing that Japanese has that English doesn't have is a polite form and a casual form, but even though English doesn't have an official conjugation for it, there are still plenty of rules that the non-native speaker has to memorize. You wouldn't say "What's up?" to your boss, for example, and you probably wouldn't say "Shall I close the window for you?" to your friend, unless you're trying to be a jerk.
So what's the problem? It's just extra grammar. No big deal, right? Wrong. This is a huge hurdle for my students. Here's a little scenario to explain why.
You hand your paper to the teacher and she says "Great! But the plural of 'child' is actually 'children'. It has to do with the etymology. And the plural of 'goose' is actually 'geese'--who the heck knows why."
So, I suppose this brings me to The Point. At the most basic level, there are two reasons for the existence of language--communication and expression. You need to be able to communicate with other people, and you need to be able to express your thoughts and feelings, independent of your audience. I don't think anyone would argue that Japanese isn't a functional language on both accounts. Japanese can do everything that English can do. I can ask directions to the grocery store, and I can tell someone I love them. Boom. Done.
I can't help but see a future where there is only one language--a standard language, spoken everywhere. And, if whoever creates this language has any sense, it will look a lot more like Japanese than English.