Prioritizing English over the Loss of Your Language
Prioritizing the English language over the possible erosion of your native language Nearly 72% of the information available on the internet is in English. How did it all start? The English language spread throughout the world because England in the late 16th century formed colonies all around the world. And until now the English language is growing and becoming more and more popular worldwide, English has official or special status in at least seventy five countries with a total population of over two billion (The Cambridge Encyclopedia).
More and more people see learning English even if they might lose their native language as positive. Personally, I believe that English should be prioritized over the possibility of erosion of a native language for a number of reasons. English breaks the language barriers between different countries especially through the internet and there are more job opportunities if one is able to speak and write English fluently. In this essay I’m going to focus mainly on these two points. [good]
The internet is a system of interconnected computer networks, to serve billions of people worldwide. The internet is a place where everyone comes on from different countries to communicate with one another and to share all sort of things like what’s really happening in their community/ country. It’s a place where the people of the world come together as one. English breaks the language barrier also, by allowing people from around the world to get to know each other, work together and communicate whether it’s face-to-face, by phone, via email and most importantly via the internet. What percent of the internet is really in English? ’ this is a question asked by many. And the last time anyone made a serious attempt to answer this, was a study conducted by Excite AtHome in 1999, which looked at 600 million webpages and concluded that 72% were in English (Zukerman, 2009). With so much information mainly in English freely available on the internet, this motivated people from different countries to learn the language so they can seize the change of getting valuable information for almost free of charge.
There is only one language for airlines taking off and landing in 157 countries around the world and that’s English. English is the universal language of air traffic control. Therefore, a pilot from an Arab country for example, where English is not spoken that often, will have a better chance of being hired by any airline around the world if they can speak proper English. English is necessary also for official business that’s why companies hire their employees based on their y capability of speaking and writing English.
Job opportunities worldwide in let’s say big international companies such as Ernst & Young or other large companies; look for such employees with top notch English. Meanwhile, if more people speak English in a country, potential business opportunities sky rocket because it’s the only way business partner, franchisers and investors can communicate, discuss, negotiate and make a deal with one another.
This enhances the profit of a country and benefits the country as a whole in the long run. To sum it all up, personally, I feel that the advantages out way the disadvantage of prioritizing the English language over the possible erosion of you native language. First off, job opportunities increase when one is capable of speaking and writing English fluently because it’s one of the criteria in most major international companies.
Secondly, The English language allows people from different backgrounds and mother tongues to communicate effectively and get to know about each other. References: Zukerman, M. Musing on Africa, International development and hacking the media, 2009. http://www. ethanzuckerman. com/blog/2009/06/01/what-percentage-of-the-internet-is-in-english-in-. chinese/ MacNeil, R. , McCrum, R. , & Cran. W. (Producers). (1986). The Story of English . [Documentary]. http://topdocumentaryfilms. com/story-of-english/
