[RobbyS]

Didn't it used to be a four year requirement? Anyway, the utility of a common language is such that one always appears. English helps hold India together and it has become the lingua franca in Europe, especially since the Fall of the Wall. That's why bilingual developments in the Southwest should be curbed. Racialism is discouraged where one language is dominant. By race, most of the people of Alsace-Lorraine are German, but very few speak it as their first language.

[eastsider]

When Charlemagne was crowned in 800 A.D., the acculturation of his kingdom was effected by importing all things Roman, including Gregorian chant, from which all western music developed (even Rock and Roll : ) I'm not certain whether he adopted Latin as the universal language, but I suspect he did. (I value your input on this one, Goetz.)