English as the “ World ’ s Language ”

1. English as the “World’s Language”

2. The World’s Language • English is the global language that, many believe, has become essential even a “mania” for foreigners to learn in recent decades. English creates opportunities for people, it helps people from different countries to be able to communicate with each other and this helps with globalization. Moreover it can help resolve conflicts and minimize misunderstanding as a result of this universal language.  Although the process of learning English might take up two or three years, since there are things that the foreigners will take time to understand. For example, the word “fly” has various definitions, such as a fly, the insect fly. It could also be like a flight, like on an airplane. Last of all, it can also be the man’s zipper or the piece of cloth that covers the entrance to a tent. From one word, we can have various meanings and it makes it difficult for beginners of English to learn them, unless they were to live in an environment where everyone speaks English as their mother tongue or fluently enough to have an impact. • English has its unique features and this is why it is sure an experience for those who are learning it. It is a language to be treasured, as it is a developing language that is constantly changing. According to the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, there are 450,000 words, and the revised Oxford English Dictionary contains 615,000. This is just part of it, there are millions more technical and scientific terms. English is a richer language in terms of vocabulary to others too; it has more commonly used words than Germany, and far more than in French. This means we can use English to describe things and write things with a lot more understanding than some other languages since in English there is a large vocabulary available. This is just one aspect of English, which makes it unique and the reason why it stands out among the other languages.

3. RICH VOCABULARY • 200,000 words are used regularly in the English language • 184,000 in German • 100,000 in French • 615,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary (excluding the hundreds of thousands of technical and scientific terms)

4. EXPRESSION Linguistic determinism: limitation of language is limitation of knowledge and expression, how you communicate with others and how you are understood English has words that distinguish between other concepts which are closely linked. Some of the vocabulary found in English does not exist in other languages such as French with mind and brain, house and home. On the other hand other languages have vocabulary that we do not. This can often depend on the culture. In the Arctic region, for example, the people use 50 different words to describe various types of snow.

5. Simplicity • Pronunciation • Noun/verb i.e. dance, fire, look • Formality • Active/passive sentence structure • 26-letters in the alphabet tchst lph sthm tchphr Ma ick A abet A a Ca ase

6. Complexity • Homonyms (same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings) • Homophones: same pronunciation • Unique structure • Spelling • Accents (divergence) • Colloquialism and jargon • Intonation and connotations of words i.e. heat wave

8. Common Language • English has become the standard form of communication in many industries with different mother tongues or the “lingua franca of business, science, education, politics, pop music” internet, trade... • Airlines from 157 nations out of 168 have elected English as their official language • Free Trade Association, Volkswagen manufacturers in Shanghai, Advertisements, UN • “English is just as much big business as the export of manufacturing goods.”