Today, English is known as the main
language of our planet. Indeed, out of the 195
countries in the world, 67 nations have English as their first
language and 27 nations have it as their official second language.
Furthermore, there are over 1.5 billion English speakers in total,
which means 1 out of 5 people can speak (or at least understand)
English!
English
is also the most used language for websites, the media industry,
sciences... So it helps a lot to at least understand English if you
want to look up something.
Knowing
English can help you get a better job in a multinational company or
study abroad. There are English universities in almost every country
in the world!
When
meeting new people, English is very useful. If two people (for
example, a Frenchman and a Hungarian) meet, they most likely won’t
have any language in common other than English. And I don’t think
anyone would have enough time to learn thousands of languages in
order to understand everyone.
Not
only will you have a lot of advantages, you will also learn about the
culture, values and habits of a country, which will make you a more
open-minded person.
Knowing
English makes it easier to travel. In airports, train stations and
every place from which you can travel, English is used for notice
boards, news and basic information (which gate you’re supposed to
go to for example).
There are
so many good reasons to keep learning and improve! Learning can only
help, It’s worth it!
Kris
https://www.universitylanguageschool.com/student-blog-why-is-it-important-to-speak-english/
Nice article, Kris!
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with the idea that English has become, and keeps becoming more and more every day an essential litteral tool, although not everyone in the world masters it at the same level, to communicate with people round the world. It's also why we call it "The international language". It is obviously not a reason why I think other languages should be neglected, quite the opposite actually, but I do agree that the English language has imposed itself as a passport in the world and can perhaps permit an easier access for people to meet other people of different countries, cultures, and customs, thus making communication and so exchanges more generally easier.
-Emma P.
*grabs popcorn and waits for Spanish to take over English as a lingua franca*
ReplyDeleteHahaha yeah ikr Mrs Linguist! x)
DeleteWell, it could happen! Lingua francas come and go, and English won't stay the most popular language forever. And Spanish is a pretty good candidate to become the next lingua franca if you think about it: it's not hard at all to learn, even if you don't speak any Indo-European language (or rather any Romance language, because I don't know whether Hindi can really help you to learn Spanish or not, but whatever); it's the third most spoken language in the world, and contrary to Mandarin Chinese which is technically spoken in five countries "only", Spanish is the official language in twenty countries (Mexico being the country with the most Spanish speakers in the world), so we can say that Spanish is pretty widespread, since you can find it in two continents (Europe, the Americas, and even in Asia in the Philippines). Also we can't deny that latin american music is starting to gain in popularity (DEEEESPAAAACIIITOOOOOO //SHPAFF//), and so is their culture...
DeleteReally, if I had to place a bet on the next world lingua franca, I'd place it on Spanish, and so should you. But in the meantime, let's enjoy English while it's still there! :D