How the English language is taking over the planet

No language in history has dominated the world quite like English does today. Is there any point in resisting?

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/jul/27/english-language-global-dominance

 

Spanish is taking over the United States thanks to the flood of illegals.

 

Very good article. Thanks for sharing @lovethetrade

 

it has become the second most spoken language of the world. Around 1500 million people in the world know English and out of them only 375 million people are native speaker.

 

Doubt English is the "second most spoken". That "1500 million" is likely a huge underestimation.

The reason English is the most spoken language is because it's the international language of finance.

 

Another sign of globalization and loss of culture.

 

Disagree. Not a good article.

The West isn't cramming English down foreigners' throats.

The rest of the world has the choice to ignore English if they want. However, they choose to learn English... because it's the international language of finance. And as such, it's the language in which most of the rest of the world can communite with each other besides native languages.

 

Learning english gives us much more opportunities. If we all speak english - many barriers between people will disappear.

 

I remember going to Norway for a stay-over for 3 months, about 25 years ago. During my time there, I tried to learn the Norge as best I could. But every shoppe I went into and tried to speak the Norwegian, they could hear I was foreign, and heard the American.

"Ja, you are from America"? I would reply yes, and they would continue the whole rest of the engagement in American English. They LOVED trying to speak in English.

Most countries have people who really want to try to learn English because America speaks English. And America=opportunity. That basic tenet is still there, ingrained on the world-view.

While America is currently embroiled in political crap, you have to remember that the momentum started back in the early 1900s with Liberty Island, and the state of the world at that time.

 

You also have to consider interactions between non Americans. Most people I speak English to are not British or Americans but still we need a lingua franca to interact with each other. For a while that was French, then German, now is English and it's hard to see a world where this will change. The grammar also might help a lot, after the torment of German / French declinations and irregular verbs, English is almost unreally simple.