English

Do you think learning English is important? English is currently the most wide spread language in the world, it is second only to Mandarin Chinese in terms of the amount of people which speak it, but second to none in terms of the number of people learning it. It is currently the primary language used on the World Wide Web, in the political and business arenas. It has even become the language of today’s pop culture. So yes, I definitely think that learning English is important. While English may not have as large a quantity of speakers as Mandarin it is still more widespread and herein lays its importance. Mandarin Chinese is hardly spoken outside Chinese communities, however in many regions of the world where English is not the native language, it is still widely spoken and integrated in the curriculums of educational institutions. In many countries Malaysia, for example, where there various ethnic groups with their own unique language, English is used as a means of communications between all of them. So we see that the importance of English doesn’t lie in the quantity of people that speak it but in way we use it. Today the USA’s influence on world information is dominant, English, being their native tongue, the same is true for Britain. The music and other types of media that come out of these two countries are broadcast around the world. Most of the world’s largest pop stars record English albums, which are played and requested in all the corners of the earth. Imagine feeling baffled and confused when you hear a song on the radio, you don’t know what is being said because you didn’t bother to learn English and all around you the rest of the world is singing along. With the world steadily heading towards economic globalization it is essential that English is taught and understood around the world so that the common man can keep up with world issues. English is currently considered the universal language; this alone should convince us of its importance in our lives. It is the major language used on the internet, which has in the last decade become a major and vital tool in the way we access information, conduct business transactions and communicate in general. Imagine not being able to understand English while conducting a search on the history of the America’s for instance, your whole purpose would be defeated since most of the history would be written in English. Even computer languages are based on the English language and all of the internet’s URLs are based on the English alphabet. In today’s world not having at least a simple understanding or knowledge of the English language would leave one considerably handicapped. The English language has become crucial to the way we interact with the different people in the world; not being able to communicate in English imposes what seem to be formidable limitations on us. With English we are able to bridge cultural, economic, and even social gaps, in turn we are able to better understand and tolerate each other. Therefore it is not just important but in fact crucial that the English language be learnt by all individuals.