English, what is it? Just a language or something more. The simple answer is, it is a language but you already knew that. Now let’s go for a deeper answer. What makes English so special? It is understood by a very large population, I think it is the most commonly understood language of the world. Most of the Internet is in English, Even this blog is in English. 99% of all programming languages are based on English. Most of the best textbooks in all leading scientific subjects are in English.
How did this happen? Let’s look at some history, The British Empire was the largest empire the world ever saw, and with it English spread around the world. But there had been other large empires before the British. Two thousand years ago there was the Roman Empire and at that time Latin was the language of learning and Rome was the place of learning. Thousand years ago there was the Islamic Empire (Caliphate ) and Arabic was the language of learning and Baghdad was the place of learning.
During the British English was the language of learning and Oxford and Cambridge are the places of learning. It was all fine it is a common trend in history. But there is something special about English. The other two languages lost their status with the fall of its empire, but English continued to be popular even after the fall of the British Empire. How did this happen?
It is where the United States of America enters the world stage. The first and most of the popular programming languages were designed in America, a large part of the internet was invented there.
The best engineering universities like MIT, Stanford and CalTech happened to be there. With all these America also dominated world politics and economy, that help English maintain its status as the common language of the world.With all this is it still ‘just’ a language? Think about someone who knows English and who doesn’t. The person who knows has access to an ocean of resources in the Internet and in the form of textbooks. A person who knows English has a greater chance of managing in a foreign country, even non English speaking countries.
What should we do now? People who oppose the spread of English would prefer to use their native language. But how would they reach all those knowledge in English. Some would suggest translation. But who would translate and will all the books in English be translated into all the other languages in the world. I think learning English is easier than translating.Does that mean we should stop using other languages? NO, you still learn your native language and speak it in your own country. But also learn English with it. When you write something also write an English version so the rest of the world will have access to it.
How did this happen? Let’s look at some history, The British Empire was the largest empire the world ever saw, and with it English spread around the world. But there had been other large empires before the British. Two thousand years ago there was the Roman Empire and at that time Latin was the language of learning and Rome was the place of learning. Thousand years ago there was the Islamic Empire (Caliphate ) and Arabic was the language of learning and Baghdad was the place of learning.
During the British English was the language of learning and Oxford and Cambridge are the places of learning. It was all fine it is a common trend in history. But there is something special about English. The other two languages lost their status with the fall of its empire, but English continued to be popular even after the fall of the British Empire. How did this happen?
It is where the United States of America enters the world stage. The first and most of the popular programming languages were designed in America, a large part of the internet was invented there.
The best engineering universities like MIT, Stanford and CalTech happened to be there. With all these America also dominated world politics and economy, that help English maintain its status as the common language of the world.With all this is it still ‘just’ a language? Think about someone who knows English and who doesn’t. The person who knows has access to an ocean of resources in the Internet and in the form of textbooks. A person who knows English has a greater chance of managing in a foreign country, even non English speaking countries.
What should we do now? People who oppose the spread of English would prefer to use their native language. But how would they reach all those knowledge in English. Some would suggest translation. But who would translate and will all the books in English be translated into all the other languages in the world. I think learning English is easier than translating.Does that mean we should stop using other languages? NO, you still learn your native language and speak it in your own country. But also learn English with it. When you write something also write an English version so the rest of the world will have access to it.
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