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english as a Global LanguageThe english language has gathered so much momentum in its globalisation that some argue it has become unstoppable. There are many factors that have contributed to this but the most surprising issue is how rapidly the english language has risen to prominence. In just the past fifty or so years, english has become the most widespread language and the most learned foreign language. However, while there are many advantages to english as a global language, several implications have also presented themselves. The main cause for english becoming the most widely used and published language is the increased access and exposure to it due to the Internet and opportunity to travel. In the past few decades, overseas travel has become more accessible and affordable, allowing more people to experience english-speaking countries. That combined with the massive growth in use and content of the Internet, have had a great influence on the spread of the english language. The Internet originated in the U.S. and the U.S. controls most of its content, therefore english is the principal language of the Internet. However, english is not the most common first language. chinese and its various sub-languages surpass it. Although, it is thought that a majority of the speakers of chinese live in rural areas and are isolated from exposing the language to others. On the contrary, english is the most widespread and the most learned foreign language and this maybe the key to further globalisation. This rapid globalisation has led to many questions about whether english is the most appropriate language if there is going to be a global language. Some of the benefits of the english language relative to other languages are that its alphabet is quite simple (e.g. 26 individual letters), it is easy to write (e.g. no complex squiggles) and it is very similar to alphabets of other major languages (e.g. french, spanish, italian). The language itself has the richest vocabulary, which would reduce misunderstanding arising in translation and it is not grammatically gender dependent, so sentence structure would be easier to learn. Technical benefits aside, the more general advantages of english as a global language would be that it leads to a universal intelligence. A universal intelligence would greatly increase the growth and advances in industries such as medicine, science, business and politics since it would mean that all information that is published, broadcast, vocalised or accessed by the public, can be understood. It also allows for greater opportunity for communication within these industries between professionals, businesses to consumers, governments or the media to the general public. Additionally, a universal intelligence can create a greater cultural understanding and opportunity as ideas, traditions and beliefs within cultures can be expressed and communicated. There are also many implications and disadvantages to english as a global language. While it can create more cultural opportunity, it is more prone to encouraging the loss of cultural identity. Instead of learning and using english in addition to a native language, people more commonly learn and use english instead of a native language. Learning english can make people unwilling and sometimes unable to learn another language. This leads to a decline in the use of some languages and eventually they become extinct, which many consider to be a loss of cultural identity. Another implication to english as a global language is the agreement on a universal standard. There are already various dictionaries with different words spellings depending on country. Some believe, that at the rate that english is still globalising, situations such as this may become more extreme and sub-sets of english may develop within the english language itself. Overall, english has rapidly become the most global language and is still continuing to spread worldwide. It is a suitable option as it is a relatively simple and the main benefit would be that it leads to a greater universal intelligence. However, its growth needs to be controlled to establish a universal standard and prevent the extinction of other languages.
