The British over the centuries spread English across the world by colonization. English is the West Germanic language of the Indo-European family of languages which is closely related to Frisian, German and Dutch languages. English is originated in England and is the dominate language of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and various island nations in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It is also an official language of India, the Philippines, Singapore and many countries in sub-Saharan Africa including South Africa. It is estimated that about a third of the world’s population, some two billion people use English.

Over the years English language has reached a status  of a global language  and    commonly is characterized  as a lingua franca. It has become  the language that is spoken  by millions of people all over the  world as the mother tongue , as the  language  used  for international  communication and as  the  language  learned  in  the  millions  of  schools. Moreover, fluency  in English  has become  important in business world because investors prefer negotiating  and  making  deals  in English  which  leads  to  unfair  treatment  to non-speaking  English  companies who  need  hiring  interpreters. Internet  communication  is mainly  in English  because  internet was born in the USA  so that is not surprising. What is surprising  is the fact that some of the most successful  companies  like MasterCard, Sony and Kodak don’t write internet pages in many languages. In that case their pages  turn into short presentation in certain  language. According to their internet pages knowing  English  means  getting more  information  on  internet  and  it  creates  walls  within  the  cultures  because  it limits  people regarding they speak, read  and write  in  English  or not.

In terms of academia English is the language most commonly spoken by academics worldwide. Of course, some important research and work occurs in all countries and in a variety of languages, but the vast majority tends to have been conducted, composed and  published with the English language as its basis.

Major Hollywood movies and many television shows popular around the world have dialogue in English. The plot is easier to follow if the person watching the movie speaks English. Subtitles in other languages can sometimes  cause the meanings of words  to be lost in the translation and they can be a distraction or even block the action taking place on the screen. Translating  print materials like books or magazines is also time consuming.

The English language is predominantly spoken throughout the world so international travelers may find that speaking English can make  their travels a little easier. Most  hotel and restaurant  employees, as well as store merchants probably speak English in some degree. Being able to conserve with people living in the area where you are vacationing adds to the richness of the cultural experience. 

Annagul BAYRAMOVA,

Student of Turkmen State University
named after Magtymguly.