Why is English an Universal language?

Answer 1

To me, there are a few reasons:

- The language it is very easy to learn, it is practical and based on few simple rules that are relatively easy to master.

- Britain was the World power in XIX century, and the US in XX century - both in the areas of economy, military, science and art, the use of this language gives the speaker the ability to identify with successful, prosperous and positive culture and civilization (compare to French in XVIII century).

- It uses the standard Latin alphabet without any special characters.

- There is an enormous tolerance of error - even if you speak incorrectly, no one will make a big deal of it, unless you are a BBC speaker or similar.

- It sounds pleasant to most people.

Answer 2

In 1913 the British Empire included over 412 million people, 23% of the world population at the time.

The British brought with them their language (English) and their culture.

When decolonization began in the 1950's and 60's many of the former colonies often did not reject English but rather continued to use it. In some places eg India, English was associated with economic progress and became the language of business, media and literature.

Answer 3

because it is the main language in the world and also other lanuages were made around engilsh such as french. there you go i` said it.

Actaully english is so famous because its made around so many OTHER languages

Answer 4

To me, there are a few reasons:

- The language it is very easy to learn, it is practical and based on few simple rules that are relatively easy to master.

- Britain was the World power in XIX century, and the US in XX century - both in the areas of economy, military, science and art, the use of this language gives the speaker the ability to identify with successful, prosperous and positive culture and civilization (compare to French in XVIII century).

- It uses the standard Latin alphabet without any special characters.

- There is an enormous tolerance of error - even if you speak incorrectly, no one will make a big deal of it, unless you are a BBC speaker or similar.

- It sounds pleasant to most people.

Answer 5

A "Universal Language" is spoken everywhere and at least marginally understood by everyone. English fails both of these tests so it is not a Universal Language. It is however widely used in the world as a technical and scientific language. This is due in part to:

• its atonal nature - meaning is not tied to pitch,
• it has 800 or so word in the basic English vocabulary which allows simple communication
• its liberal rules for positioning of words in a sentence without destroying the meaning.

However if you speak to "non-English as a first language" users, you may find that communication is not easy. Even English users find dialects which are not their own difficult. As an example have the next person you meet put Burn's "Ode to a Haggis" into "normal" local dialect. What is the meaning of:

Then, horn for horn they stretch an' strive,

Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,

Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve

Are bent like drums;

Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive

Bethankit hums

Answer 6

In 1600's...British traders brought the English language to India. Later they colonized India, having the British Officials set up schools for Indians tolearn English....Their knowledgeof the language and having the ability to speak it is because of the history..

Also! Being able to speak one of the most spoken languages in the world is an advantage for them because that allows them to share their knowledge (IT) with countries (such as the Untited States)...being that there will be a Comparative Advantage between the two. But India might be more likely to get a job working with Another Country because they work forless

Answer 7

English is considered the global language because most people speak it as their first or second language.

This means that if you go to any place on the planet, with few exceptions, you can communicate with the people there using English.

It would have been impossible to impose English as the global language, it just sort of happened as a result of history and a need, people themselves decided they wanted to learn English all round the world.

The language developed originally from many other languages and, as a result, while not the simplest language to learn, it is complex and rich to use, capable of expressing the range of the human condition/experiences and has the precision for scientific, business and legal communication.

As a result the language "English" actually no longer belongs to England and it will develop and change as humanity as a whole wishes (all languages evolve as people extend them to fit their cultures - if you try and prevent this the language stagnates - like French).

The last language to approach English in use was Latin (parts of which are subsumed into English as England was part of the Roman Empire). The trouble with Latin was that it was only universal/used by highly educated people, the advantage of English is that almost everyone even very poor disadvantaged seem to have learned to seek it, its use is not tied to any class, wealth or profession.

People fundamentally LOVE talking to one another and English seems to have become a means by which this can be done better on a global scale.

Answer 8

The English language is a descendant of the original language Old English. Through trade and war, mostly, English was spread quickly though out England and beyond.

Answer 9

English is often called the language of business. Many speak it to communicate with people and businesses in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Answer 10

because it is