The Importance OF English Language

The Importance OF English Language

According to research by the British council English has official* or special status in at least seventy-five countries with a total population of over two billion. English is spoken as a native* language by around 375 million and as a second language* by around 375 million speakers in the world. Speakers of English as a second language will soon outnumber those who speak it as a first language. Around 750 million people are believed to speak English as a foreign language*. One out of four of the world's population speak English to some level of competence. Demand from the other three-quarters is increasing."

"English is the main language of books, newspapers, airports and air-traffic control, international business and academic conferences, science, technology, diplomacy, sport, international competitions, pop music and advertising.

"English is an easy language. There are no accents, the tenses of verbs are simplified and the adjectives are invariable"

You need English to travel around the world - it's a language almost everybody understands - so it's easier to communicate with people from different cultures

"you must speak English if you want a good job especially if you want to work with computers

The vocabulary of English is the largest of any language.".

English is part of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. By year 1000, the English language consisted of approximately 40 000 words. Nowadays, the number has grown to more than 500 000. If we calculate the average of words created per century, this comes to 46 000. A great number of words found in the English vocabulary was borrowed from Latin, French, Low German, and the Scandinavian languages. We also know that some periods were more fertile than others: invasions, contact with other cultures, inventions, technological progress, music, fashion are some of the factors which have helped to enrich the language.

It is estimated that there are 300 million native speakers and 300 million who use English as a second language and a further 100 million use it as a foreign language. It is the language of science, aviation, computing, diplomacy, and tourism. It is listed as the official or co-official language of over 45 countries and is spoken extensively in other countries where it has no official status. English plays a part in the cultural, political or economic life of the following countries. Majority English speaking populations are shown in bold.

Languages that have contributed words to English include Latin, Greek, French, German, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Italian, Malay, Dutch, Farsi (from Iran and Afghanistan), Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Sanskrit (from ancient India), Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi (from South America) and Ewe (from Africa).

Borrowed words include names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), food (spinach, chocolate, orange), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), drinks (tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), sports (checkmate, golf, billiards), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons (pistol, trigger, rifle), political and military terms (commando, admiral,

parliament), and astronomical names (Saturn, Leo

, Uranus)

English is an official language or is predominantly spoken in the following countries:

Antigua and Barbuda

Australia

Bahamas

Barbados

Beliza

Botswana

Brunei

Cameroon

Canada

Dominica

Ethiopia

Fiji

Gambia

Ghana

Grenada

Guyana

India

Ireland

Israel

Jamaica

Kenya

Kiribati

Lesotho

Liberia

Malawi

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritius

Micronesia

Namibia

Nauru

New Zealand

Nigeria

Pakistan

Palau

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Philippines

Rwanda

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Solomon Islands

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Tonga

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

Uganda

United Kingdom

United States

Vanuatu

Zambia

Zimbabwe

The Importance of English in the World of International Business

The Importance of English in the World of International Business

‘English is now a global language that belongs to all those who speak it.’

                                                                                            (Nigel Newton, publisher)

It is the technology that allows people to travel further and faster than ever before. It is the Internet that links people regardless their nationalities and countries they live in. And technology is also the reason why lots of business people are active globally and why more and more entrepreneurs are on the move than ever before. In this world full of the state-of-the-art technology English serves as a uniting element in many situations, giving all entrepreneurs and small companies a better chance on the market and an ideal comparative advantage over those who lack the ability to communicate in this language.

There is no doubt that professional knowledge and experience is essential for entrepreneurs and managers. But reaching and staying at the top requires more than just being knowledgeable and experienced. One of the reasons why some entrepreneurs are successful and some of them are, let us stay optimistic, less successful, may lie in the ability to communicate knowledge in a foreign language. Of course, one has to agree that entrepreneurs and companies can hire interpreters who are both fluent and skilled. However, entrepreneurs cannot expect that people, who are not really involved in a company’s matters, will establish relationships in the way loyal and committed employees of the company can. The solution to this problem lies in constant learning and studying the foreign language. But first of all, it is significant that employers realize the importance of learning (Business) English at the workplace. Over the years, research and needs analyses have produced a wide range of the language-using tasks an employee should be able to tackle in order to deal with the exigencies of the situations which may arise at the workplace. These are:

·          the ability to communicate appropriately with superiors, colleagues and subordinates, and to representatives of other companies from abroad,

·          the ability to assist an English-speaking (native or non-native) person when hosting business partners from abroad,

·          to participate in the social life of the enterprise (e.g. sports and social clubs, etc.) when visiting business partners abroad.

Finally, let us realize that a quarter of the world’s population, i.e. 1.2 to 1.5 billion people, can speak English. Moreover, English has become the lingua franca of international business. These and many other factors make learning English interesting and useful for all those who might be using it when they enter the exciting world of business.