Teach English in Xiangpu Zhen - Anqing Shi

english as a Global LanguageIt was once said that french was the ?International? language, and it was at one time, but things have certainly changed. english is the most widely used and spoken language in the world. It is spoken as a first language in the united states, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. english is the official language of the European Union, the United Nations, and the International Olympic Committee, many commonwealth nations as well as many other world organizations. english originated from the Anglo-Frisian and Old Saxon dialects brought to Britain by the Germanic settlers. Over the centuries, the english language was influenced by many diverse groups, including the 400 year reign of the Roman Empire which brought Latin into the language; North Germanic and the Normans who spoke the Romance language of Old Norman. Eventually english evolved from Old english to Middle english to today?s Modern english, and it continues to evolve. Its evolution continues as our population and technology grows. Modern english has become the ?common? language in many occupational fields and in some cases it is also a required language, especially in science, technology, aviation, maritime fields, medicine and diplomacy. english even replaced German as the main language of science Nobel Prize laureates as well as french, which was once the language of diplomacy during the last part of the 19th century. With today?s technology which brings so many people together- T.V. radio, computers, internet, jet planes, manned space ships, international trade, and even war, there is a need for a ?common? language. The united states? economic and cultural influence along with its status as a ?super power? country has also added to the use of english. In today?s world, people are always on the move and with today?s technology, people can move more quickly and more easily than ever before. This new technology has also created new vocabulary that didn?t even exist 30 years ago- internet, hard drives, ?mouse?, web-cam etc. International trade is also an ever growing industry; companies are expanding to other territories bringing with them their language, or in some cases, other countries bringing their trade to english speaking countries, such as China selling to the US; japanese auto makers making cars in the US and to add to the list, the huge fashion industry as well. So, in order to keep up with today?s ever changing world, many people find it either necessary or just want to learn english just for the simple fact of understanding words on the computer. America, Britain and Australia have also contributed to the entertainment business with music and films played internationally. The english language is one of the most studied languages as a foreign language. In the European Union, 89% of the school children study english and it is also spoken by adults in other non-english speaking EU countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Luxembourg, Finland, Germany, Austria and Belgium. According to the internet site ?Wikipedia? there are 375 million people who speak english as their first language and over 500 million to possibly a billion, in various levels of english, as a second language. Linguistics professor, David Crystal, estimates that non-native speakers out number native speakers 3 to 1! Because the english language originated in Britain and is a descendent of the Germanic language, it is correct and proper english, and that is why it is taught in schools outside of native english speaking countries. Of course if in America, American english is taught, but even with that, it is the proper english form. In today?s society, many dialects have emerged, a combination of english and of the people?s native tongue. Accents too are many, especially depending on what part of the country you are from. For example, in the united states, people in the Northeast, have a different accent from those living in the south or even the Midwest; in the UK, there are the British, which they too are divided depending on area; the Scottish, Welsh, and Ireland- all speaking the same language with a different accent. Some authorities think that english will over take some native languages the more people use english as their main language and their native tongue as secondary, I certainly hope this will not happen, for we still need to know our roots and keep our cultural traditions alive for generations to come. All in all, english will be and continue to be the Global Language. In an ever changing world at least we have one common denominator- english!