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Yuki Matsuda
English 12: Period 5
Mr. Augustine
August 29, 2010
English Has Become a Universal Language
The book called Mother Tongue is written by Bill Bryson and the book is about the
history and origins of English language, the dialects, spelling, grammar of English and the most
important thing is how English has develop into a universal language. There are some
advantages and disadvantages of the possibility of English becoming the universal global
language.
There are some advantages of English language to show how English has develops into a
universal language. The first advantage is English is used in many places such as Asia, Africa,
Europe and many other countries, so it is convenient when people can use English because
people can communicate with others and it is possible to make new friends from foreign people.
Also, in the current world, many people try to learn and master English as soon as possible
because they are more opportunity to do many things. For example, Japanese students want to
learn English because some students hope to go university in the United States and some hope to
work outside of Japan. Furthermore, some companies start to communicate or meet by using
English. If people can speak or use English, people can go abroad to study or work and it shows
there is a big difference whether a person can speak or cannot speak English.
On the other hand, English also has some disadvantages such as it is quite hard to master
English. The first disadvantage is some people dislike English because English has many
vocabularies and if people want to speak fluently, people should improve their reading skills,

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writing skills, listening skills and speaking skills so some people quit learn English. According to
Mother Tongue, English is used by many people in many places so, for example, when Japanese
go abroad to work, they may use English and do not speak Japanese. Also, if people stay abroad
for a long time, a person may forget native country’s culture, tradition, customs and food.
English makes people more worried because English is the common and universal language, so
if people cannot speak English, they feel anxious because many people uses or speaks English all
over the world so these are the main disadvantages in English language.
Finally, according to Mother Tongue, English has some advantages and disadvantages to
become a universal language. The advantages of English languages are it is spoken by many
people in many other countries and it is also use in business too. On the other hand, English has
disadvantages such as some people feel uncomfortable to learn English because some people
think it is quite hard to learn English.