Although the English language is only 1500 years old, it has evolvedat an incredible rate: so much so, that, at first glance, the average person in America today would find most Shakespearean literature confusing without
the aid of an Old-English dictionary or Cliff's Notes. Yet Shakespear lived just 300 years ago! Some are seeing this is a sign of the decline of the English language, that people are becoming less and less literate. As R.Walker writes in his essay 'Why English Needs Protecting,' 'the moral and
economic decline of Great Britain in the post-war era has been mirrored by
a decline in the English language and literature.' I, however, disagree. It
seems to me that the point of language is to communicate -- to express some idea or exchange some form of information with someone else. In this sense, the English language seems, not necessarily to be improving or decaying, but optimizing -- becoming more efficient.
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