English 2.

English is to international communication what Google is to search engines, Microsoft

to software and Intel to the microchip. It is, for better or worse, the 'industry
standard'. And those who don't speak at least a little risk losing business to the
increasing number who do. Around a quarter of the Planet currently speaks some
English. That's more than one and a half billion people.

In a recent survey by Euro barometer, 69% of Europeans said they thought everyone
should speak English. More than half of Citizens already do. For most, it's not a
question of choice but of necessity, as English has rapidly become the first language
of business, science and popular culture. As Professor David Crystal, Author of The
Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, puts it, wave dollar bills in front of someone,
and they will learn complicated spellings and grammar.'

Not everyone, however, is so tempted by the dollar bills. A few years ago, the French
Ministry of Finance decided to ban English terms like e-mail, Internet and start-up,
replacing them with French equivalents. And, even in Germany, where phrases such
as Joint venture and Power partner are considered cool and modern, politicians have
expressed concern about the growing threat of English ta their national culture.

But whose English are they talking about? UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, has
said: 'By 2050 the number of English-speaking Chinese is likely to exceed the
number of native English speakers'. But already non-native speakers of English
outnumber native speakers 4 to 1. The English they speak is certainly not the English
of Shakespeare and the Queen or even of Robbie Williams and David Beckham! It's
Global English, International English, what we might even call English 2.0. The
grammar is a little more restricted and the vocabulary rather more basic. But it does
the job. And culture has nothing to do with it.

Some say English 2.0 can be even more effective than the original, citing the case of
the South Korean airline that bought its flight simulators from a French supplier
rather than a British one because they understood their English better! Indeed,
English needs to evolve in this way if it is to remain the world's number one
language. Spanish is growing almost as fast as it gains popularity in Asia and Africa.
And, where in 1996 85% of the Internet was in English, that figure is now down to
60% and falling.

So, with increasing competition, is it still worth making the investment in learning
English? The answer, for the time being at least, is emphatically yes According to one
commentator, a global market value can even be given to speaking English.
Currently, it's worth $5.4 trillion, which amounts to a tenth of the world economy! *

* In Company 2009