The Far-Reaching Influence of the English Language

As globalization takes hold of our collectivehere)
society, the English language is quickly becoming- India
the universal language for many reasons. For one,- Nepal
business across borders as well as over the- Middle East and North Africa
internet, whether it is conducted by small- United Arab Emirates
companies or multi-national corporations is largely- Kuwait
conducted in English. Global politics and diplomacy- Oman
are largely conducted in English as well. In fact,- Egypt (English is mandatory from the 4th grade
English is the world's second largest nativeon)
language, the official language in 70 countries, and- European Union
English-speaking nations are responsible for about- Austria
40 percent of the world's total Gross National- Belgium
Product. Part of this can be attributed to the- Bulgaria
USA's status as a major world power in- Cyprus
economic, political and military aspects and by the- Czech republic
huge influence of American movies.- Denmark
The Internet- Estonia
The internet was developed chiefly in America,- Finland
and whether that is an influential factor or not,- France
the majority of Web sites and Web pages are in- Germany
English. People from all over the world access- Greece
these English-language sites on a daily basis. This- Hungary
indicates that there are a many people all over- Ireland
the world who can at least read minimal amounts- Italy
of English enough to browse the Web.- Latvia
Popular Culture- Lithuania
English can be at least understood on at least- Luxembourg
some level almost everywhere in the world- Malta
among scholars and educated people. The English- The Netherlands
language is also widely recognized as the world's- Poland
media language, and the chief language of cinema,- Portugal
TV, pop music and as aforementioned, the- Romania
computer world. All over the planet, even people- Slovakia
who don't necessarily speak the language know- Slovenia
many English words, their pronunciation and- Spain
meaning.- Sweden
Countries Where English is Taught in School- United Kingdom
Because of the English language's far-reaching- Latin America
popularity and use all over the world, many- Argentina
non-English speaking countries are now introducing- Chile
English lessons in their public and/or private school- Columbia
systems. Some of the countries that include the- Costa Rica
English language in their school curriculum do so- Guatemala
for one or more of the reasons mentioned- Honduras
above. Other countries are simply forward-thinking- Mexico
in that they can see a degree of universality to- Panama
the language that will offer its students greater- Venzuela
opportunity. Other countries have their own,Conclusion
unrelated reasons for teaching English in theirAs you can see, English is increasingly being taught
schools. No matter what the motivation, below isto elementary, middle school and high school
a list of countries that currently offer English as astudents all over the world. In many of the
second language in their schools:schools in the countries listed above English is
- Asiaeither mandatory, or offered as a foreign
- People's Republic of Chinalanguage study much like Spanish and French are
- Japantaught in the U.S. In other countries, English is
- South Koreaoffered as an option to those elite members of
- Taiwansociety who are in the position to pay for private
- Singapore (English is taught as a first languageschool or tutoring.