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Why did English become the ‘global language’?

English is the international language of business, commerce, science, medicine, and many other key areas. Even in diplomacy, where French once ruled supreme, English is now dominant in most regions of the world.

According to David Graddol’s extensive survey for the British Council, the number of non-native or second language speakers of English now outnumbers those of primary or native speakers.

International tourism is growing, but the proportion of encounters involving a native English speaker is declining. There were around 763 million international travellers in 2004, but nearly 75% of visits involved visitors from a non-English-speaking country travelling to a non-English-speaking destination. This demonstrates the … growing role for global English.

Increasingly, non native speakers use English as a “practical tool” and also as a “working language”. It has emerged as a lingua franca used by millions of people to engage in a conversation with each other.

[medium.com].

Ryo1 8 Dec 31
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5 comments

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1

Most of us no longer say Oceanos Pacificus any longer or E pluribus you know.

There are no native speakers of Latin now, but Latin is still much alive in scientific and academic fields around the world.

1

To paraphrase William Shakespeare, the pen is mightier than the sword and a damn sight easier to write with.

You could say that again.

2

In the 1960s, America exported computers AND the English language.

I was out of grad school and worked for an exporting company.

Yup, it's too late; the damage has been done. Lol

On a serious note, there are many English languages that have developed in different regions and countries, and they all reflect the cultures of those regions and countries differently. For example, there are some American expressions and idioms that Brits don't understand and vice versa.

0

God loves us best. LOL

Sorry mate, you've lost me.

1

English as a business language is very useful because it is very unambitious.Words can have several different meanings and used in ways to muddy the issues.
Most other languages are more precise in their meanings and descriptions. English names in medicine are an advantage too because, latin is dead now English makes a good replacement and adaptable standard understood by most of the world

>>>Most other languages are more precise in their meanings and descriptions.
Until you learn a bit about Japanese. It is very context dependent. For example, they don't differentiate between singular and plural. You have to guess by the context given. Crazy. Lol

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