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I saw her at the play and in answer to her beckoning
I went over during the interval and sat down beside her.
It was long since I had last seen her. She addressed me
brightly:
“Well, it’s many years since we first met. How time
does fly! Do you remember the first time I saw you? You
asked me to luncheon.”
“Did I remember?”
It was twenty years ago and I was living in Plan’s. I
had a small apartment in the Latin Quarter overlooking a
cemetery and I was earning money to keep body and soul
137
Will English stay the global language or become a
minority tongue?
English is regarded as the global language — but will
this still be true for the 21st century? The world in which it
is used is going through such huge changes that there is a
possibility it will lose its place as the world’s most important
language.
English is the language of international trade, and
has more books, films and TV programs published than
any other language.
But as we start the twenty-first century there are
changes taking place that may affect the global dominance
of English. For example, in the twentieth century,
western countries helped the spread of English. They
were the strongest economics. Now Asian economies are
growing in strength and want to promote their own cultures
and languages.
Another threat to the English language’s position is
old age. The rich countries are getting older — or rather
their populations are made up of more old people than
young people. In the future young people with money
to spend will be found in Asia and Latin America rather
than Europe or the US. These young adults may want to
express their desires in their own languages.
The Internet is another factor. Until recently English
has been the main language of the Internet, but now there
is just as much content in non-English languages. English
itself is changing all the time. This has been true for 1500
years, and is even more evident today. In the past English
absorbed new words from other languages. Today the
worlds of telecommunication and the Internet are rich
sources of new vocabulary.
Speakers of English as a second language give it a
life of their own. Here English develops in ways that reflect
local culture or language. It becomes different from
the English spoken in Britain and the US. In France the word
‘asap’ is borrowed from English to mean ‘quickly’. There
is no such word in English, but there is an abbreviation
ASAP meaning ‘as soon as possible’.
Within the first decade of the twenty-first century,
the number of speakers of English as a second language
will outnumber native speakers. At this point, will native
speakers lose their authority over a language that is no
longer theirs? Does this matter?
There are many possibilities for the future. We can
imagine a world where English is simply an alternative
language to Chinese and Spanish. There are languages
that already have more native speakers (Chinese) or very
wide use across the world (Spanish). Or, we can imagine
a world where English has driven many of the world’s languages
to extinction.
There are many factors affecting the English language
and they all seem to be pulling in different di rections.
One thing seems sure for the future of English: it
will be important enough over the next decade for you to
invest the time learning the language!
together. She had read a book of mine and had written
to me about it. I answered thanking her and presently I
received from her another letter saying that she was passing
through Paris and would like to have a talk with me;
but her time was limited and the only free moment she
had was on the following Thursday; she was spending the
morning at the Luxemburg and would I give her a little
luncheon at Foyot’s afterwards? (Foyot’s was a restaurant
so far beyond my means that I had never even thought of
going there. But I was flattered and I was too young to
have learnt to say no to a woman.)
I answered that I would meet my friend by correspondence
at Foyot’s on Thursday at half past twelve.
She was not so young as I expected and in appearance
imposing rather than attractive. It seemed to me that she
wanted to talk about me and I was prepared to be a good
listener.