{"id":834,"date":"2017-09-04T14:28:43","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T06:28:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mdis.edu.sg\/blog\/?p=834"},"modified":"2017-12-15T17:09:31","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T09:09:31","slug":"english-the-worlds-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mdis.edu.sg\/blog\/english-the-worlds-language\/","title":{"rendered":"English: The World’s Language"},"content":{"rendered":"

English is the world’s leading international language. It is the principal language spoken in Britain, USA, Canada, Australia and other countries such as Uganda and Botswana. Almost 400 million people in the world speak English as their first language; about the same number as Spanish, but less than Mandarin Chinese or Hindi. English is the main second language in India, South Africa and many parts of Africa and Asia. But – more and more – it is also the language of international commerce, of business, of diplomacy and of tourism.<\/p>\n

How did English reach the special position in which it finds itself today? Mostly, the rise of English to its position as the world’s main international language was a result of chance. Britain was the world’s most active colonial nation in the 19th century, and British explorers and colonists took their language with them wherever they went. English became the official language of most of Britain’s colonies.<\/p>\n

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