What a drag, all these languages. At school I hated every last one of 'm. Every country seemed to have its own, and I had to learn them all!
Do you know why the world is ruled by people who speak English? Because they didn't have to waste time on learning by heart which goddamn definite article belongs to which goddamn noun. Now what does this mean?
The definitive article is 'the'. Simple enough, no?
As far as the English are concerned, indeed.
As far as all other European languages, including Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and German are concerned: no, for these languages are 'enriched' with 1 or 2 extra definite articles.
Dutch, for example, has 2 of 'm, namely 'de' and 'het' instead of a single 'the'. And of course there are hardly rules. You simply have to learn 'm by heart, and believe me, there are quite a few...

How come we haven't managed to establish a good, simple & logical world language thousands years ago already? I don't bother to try to answer this question, but the least we can do is to get one now.
English? Don't get me wrong, apart from this article thing, English is as lousy as the rest. Have a look at this shit, for example:

• ring rang rung
• sing sang sung
• bring brought brought
• live lived lived
• give gave given

I'm sure you can add a few more. Down the drain with 'm! Down the drain with all European languages! Oops! There go all other languages as well... Down the drain....

The 1st constructed language was Volapuk, and it was a mess. In the second half of the 19th century Zamenhof published the well known Esperanto. It was better than Volapuk and became popular all over the world. It could be improved on various points though. Some of these were so essential that a brand new language was constructed. Its name is Ido, which is in fact improved Esperanto. 'Unfortunately' Esperanto had become popular all over the world already, and the last thing the Esperantists wanted to do, was to learn a second international language.

However, I very definitive plead for Ido. Because of the improvements. Besides, Ido is a lot more fun to learn than Esperanto with its 6 Slavic characters, which are not on any keyboard anyway.

Oh yes, these drain languages...
When are the Germans finally going to learn French? I know when: on the day that the French are going to learn German.
Don't you feel glad that all of this has gone down the drain?
Can you smell the fresh air?

Now can Ido really become the world language, spoken by everyone? Yes, it can. Here comes the proof:

1. China has officially promoted Esperanto in their own country.
2. If it is good enough for China then it is good enough for the rest of Asia.
3. If it is good enough for Asia it is good enough for Europe, since after all Esperanto is based on European languages.
4. If it is good enough for Europe than it is good enough for Australia and North and South America too, since they speak European languages there.
5. If it is good enough for English, Spanish & Portugese America, then it is also good enough for the American Indians.
6. If it is good enough for English Australia, then it is good enough for the aboriginals too.
7. If it is good enough for all other continents, it is also good enough for Africa.

I admit that this reasoning may not be in conformity with the highest democratic standards, but what the hack.

Here's a well known example of an Ido improvement: