Teach English in GAnquanlu Jiedao - Shanghai Shi

english as a global languageThe world is getting smaller; it?s a fact. Not physically, of course, although one could argue that the amount of debris the human race ejects into space does diminish the total mass left on here on Earth. That is, however, neither here nor there, as what is meant is that the world is getting smaller in a cultural sense. As advancements have been made in transportation technologies- first with roads, pack animals, horses, and finally modern marvels such as the automobile, ocean liner, and airplane- people have been able to come into closer contact with strangers in distant lands with each succeeding achievement. And as we knit most closely together on a larger, more global scale than ever before, one obvious problem looms large: language. If one cannot speak to the others, all one can take away from these new contacts are some pretty pictures and a mild to moderate case of indigestion. Therefore it is reasonable that learning the languages of others, and hoping that they?re learning yours, is the only way to make this new world work. And as France?s many dialects are slowly shrinking to a standardized form for greater ease of communication, so too does it make sense that the travellers, business people, and leaders of the world are slowly moving towards a common language. Today, that language appears to be english. Through a series of historical, economic, and militaristic events, the country of England came to play an important part in many places of the world. And even as the sun set on the British Empire, a dominance of America came to be. The combined efforts of these two countries have nearly assured the importance of the english language. Further innovations continue this trend- the rise of aviation from her birthplace in ohio created the need for a global language in the name of safety. If controllers and pilots on international routes could not speak to one another, then it is no overstatement to say that in today?s busy airspaces, crashes would occur with an unacceptable frequency. Technological wonders such as the PC assured english a place in the electronics future, much as German engineering feats permanently inserted Saxon words into the vocabulary of scientists for generations to come. english speaking travelers hoping to experience new places often create a demand for tourism in the english language. Tour guides, hotel staff, food servers, even street vendors often times all feel that they would be more successful at their job if they had some ability in english. Some of this is catering specifically to American and other english speaking tourists. But even when english is not obviously suited to a tourism situation, it can often be found to be useful. For example, a chinese person touring Spain will often find the english translations easier to understand than the spanish placards, if chinese is unavailable. It seems increasingly inevitable that the world would shift, as a whole, to adopting a single language for international transactions and travels. Largely gone are the days when a businessman might take years situating himself into the country he hopes to trade with, learning the language and culture, and slowly gaining acceptance in the local community. Now many business people are expected to be virtual globe trotters, bringing with them their knowledge or experience in a product, but reliant on having a common language in which to communicate. Many political, social, and economic factors went into the rise of english as the Global Language. And now that the focus has been created, english will almost certainly continue to gain momentum as the world?s medium for communication, and remain a vital part of the international people?s relationship.