1. 1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language
2
https://hbr.org/2013/11/countries-with-better-english-have-better-economies/
The Power of Speaking English
Englishisthe official language of more than60 countries. There are 1.2 billion Chinese
speakers,butaccordingto some criterionover2billionpeople,includingbothnativeandnon-native
speakers,cancommunicate in English.1
How didthislanguage achieve suchglobal success? Where did
thislanguage come from? Why isit importanttolearnthislanguage?
The answerto our firstquestionisactuallyquite simple. Ithasnothingtodo withhow Englishis
structured, andeverythingtodowithpolitics. GreatBritainhasbeenknownasan empire onwhichthe
sunneversets. At one time,itsinfluence spanned fromthe Americasall the waytoHongKong. England
had sailors,missionaries,traders,andcolonists whotraveledthe world,disseminatingtheirmother
tongue. The EnglishLanguage wasable to spreadlike wildfire throughoutthe entire world,and
currentlyholdsanevenmore powerful gripdue tocommunicationstechnology.
Englishisa mashupof manydifferentlanguages. Itisan Indo-Europeanlanguage,belonging
specificallytothe Germanicbranch. However, itscontactwithotherlanguages hasaffectedit
dramatically. Latinderivedwordsform29% of the Englishvocabulary. Suchexamplesare:narrator
(narrare – to tell), agriculture (agricola–farmer),andmutation(mutare – to change). Thisisinteresting
because althoughEnglishisaGermanicLanguage,only26% of itsvocabularycomesfrom Germanic
basedlanguages. EvenGreekhaspermeatedEnglishwitha numerousamountof words:photography,
cacophony,phone,andpneumonia.
Apart frombeingarguablythe mostwidelyspokenlanguageonearth,itisalsothe world’s
businesslanguage. Anycompanythatwantsto have an international presence needs Englishtosurvive.
Englishisalsothe official language of the UnitedNations. Furthermore, TheHarvard BusinessReview
came outwitha studythat showedthe correlationbetweenacountry’sknowledgeof Englishandits
economy.2
Summarizingthisstudy’sfindings, the more Englishacountryknows,the betterthe
economy. These are a fewreasonswhylearningEnglishisimportant.
The word inspirationcomesfromthe Latinwordinspirare whichmeansdivineguidance.
Althoughthisshortexposé isnotdivinelyinspired,itcertainly offersguidanceandanswerstocommonly
askedquestionswithregardstoEnglishanditspredominance. Knowingthiswonderfullanguage
empowersindividualsfromeverycornerof the globe tocommunicate,share ideas,andsucceedin
endeavorsonce thoughtimpossible. Englishisakeythat can unlockmanydoors.