English is spoken by 1.3 billion people all over the world. This is an impressive number. Although English gives up the first place to Chinese and Spanish by a number of speakers, it has one unique thing. It beats all records in being the most studied foreign language.
The reason for this roots back to history of the British Colonial Empire and, later on, of the United States. The expansion of Britons in North America and India implied promoting English as a second language. The indigenous population experienced oppression for using their native languages at school and work.
The dominance of the Britons and Americans in international trade has also left a significant impact on popularizing the language. Companies and governments across the Globe needed a communication tool to agree on selling policies. And English just became one of them, as it was merely easier to learn.
This flexibility and simplicity have become a serious driver for the language to flourish. Therefore, it is not only about historical factors but about language particularities too. Let’s look at them a little closer.
Firstly, English has a direct word order. The strict structure enables learners to quickly build up sentences and create small texts. Furthermore, even if one has a little grammar knowledge, he or she can still have no problems to convey the message.
Secondly, some words simultaneously play the role of a subject and verb. The language is economical, which is certainly beneficial for its learners.
Thirdly, you don’t have to alter the form of a word to reflect the case and gender. For example, Spanish, German, and Russian languages have several variations of the same word. This implies a lot of patience and time to learn, isn’t it? In contrast, the flexibility of English enables people to attain basic fluency levels quickly.
Furthermore, vocabulary itself is very acceptive. It absorbs new words and phrases derived from other European languages.
These days, English is still in great demand. We see its domination in trade, academic papers, and other forms of international communication. Most perspective and highly paid spheres. Therefore, taking up English as your second language can considerably broaden your career opportunities. And we genuinely recommend you to not sleep on that!