English: The Global Language?

Is English the global language? There´s no question about it!

English dominates the internet, professional, scientific, artistic and academic activities. Non-native speakers, for example a Brazilian and a German, speaking to each other normally use English as their means of communication. Similarly, chat rooms in your home computer, pop music on your radio and reading material at university is frequently in English.

However, English is not a substitute for Portuguese in Brazil or Spanish in Mexico and Argentina. We need our mother tongue to belong to a nation. Therefore, English is as necessary for international communication as our first language id for our cultural identity.

Things were different in 1800. Before the industrial revolution and World Wars I and II, English was only one more European language. British colonialism and the subsequent American technological, cultural, political and military empowerment have estabilished it as the world´s lingua franca.

What can we expect for the future? If we consider Latin after the decadence of the Roman empire, and French after France lost most of its colonies, there is no guarantee that English will keep its position forever. However, the economies of English-speaking countries such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are in excellent shape.

Consequently, the global language is probably not going to change in the next few years.

Notepad:

Língua franca: língua utilizada para comunicação entre pessoas que vivem em áreas onde diferentes línguas são faladas.

Por hoje é só, amanhã tem mais, see you.

Guilherme.