what are the reasons people prefer to learn English as foerign language? Why not Spanish or French for example?
common language in the world more than others language .
I think because it's the most preferable language among higher education, scientific research, and international transactions.
English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language of more countries and spoken by around hundreds millions people across the globe. ... Learning English is important as it enables you to communicate easily with your fellow global citizens.
Every age (generation) has its official international language, usually determined by a country's wealth and/or political dominance. The purpose/need for an international language is primarily driven by international commerce and as I said above political influence. In earlier times both French and German were considered the "international language." There are hints that the next international language once English recedes, will be Chinese (Mandarin I believe). The "hint" is based on the fact that many wealthy Americans who are involved in international commerce are having their children learn Chinese (at least this was true some years back).
as Asst Prof. Hikmat J Abdullah already pointed out, English is spoken all around the globe by many people, which means by learning English, you increase your chance to talk and to be understood by many other people. Also, English is an important language of pop culture (e.g. movies, music, but also sectors like gaming), which makes it more attractive to learn for many people.
The English language is internationalized and used greatly in different sciences, so that enables it to be widely spoken and used everywhere. English language gives you opportunities to read more and more scientific papers.
People have been made to believe that English, as a language and speaking English, gives one a "status" (whatever that means) and that it is a language of power. That is a fallacy that has been fed to people as a means of controlling them, particularly in third world countries.
In addition to the question:
It is time that people free themselves from shackles of colonialism and dominance, and embrace their language. In my own space, my students have access to technical and disciples that are believed to be of high esteem and that access is provided through their own indigenous language, the language that talks to them and the language that is not limiting in every respect. If people from 2 or more linguistic communities have to communicate around any topic that they can do through translaguaging and if some choose to speak only English then they do that out of their own free will not because it is a must.
The issue of English is the same as that of world currencies where the American dollar is still regarded as more powerful even though it is less than other currencies. Mind-games and unnecessary control/power awarded to the dollar/English.
A language is as good as its economic worth today. Formerly, this used to be based on the imperialistic influences. Very often these two coincide. But, analysing the new interest of learning Chinese in many countries indicate that China's economic influence rather than its political power has created this interest. English is a language originally spoken in a small part of the world. Its imperial growth across the globe also globalised their language. Then the rise of the economic power of the United States originally began by the English eventually carried the influence of the language to other parts of the world where the US exerted economic influence. People still learn English now, not just because of its original speakers but that other economically powerful nations originally colonised by the English use it to their advantage as an international lingua franca. The key should be the collective economic influence of these countries that use English even as. a second language.
A couple of thoughts that might help: the countries where English is spoken as a first language are significant but the number of speakers hasn't increased much over the past century - it's kept pace with population growth.
Technically it has declined in percentage but not by much. However.... English is by far the most widely learnt second language. The stats I saw a couple of years back gave a figure of over a billion second language learners for English. For context, the second language on the list had less than 100 million (Mandarin). I'm not sure these stats are correct and I think the situation for Mandarin is more complex and it seems to be growing as a first language too but... The value of any standard lies in using the same one as everyone else. It seems to even be more common for people in neighbouring countries to communicate in English rather than in each others languages - e.g. Germans and French together or Poles/Germans often hold joint conferences/meetings in English because people are learning English instead of each others languages. I don't think the choice to learn English has much to do with the characteristics of the language or that the language is in anyway growing - it's just the current standard second language. My view is that this will probably change over the next 50 years with other standards such as Mandarin and Spanish becoming more economically and culturally Significant/widespread
English is the most widely spoken language in the field of knowledge and literature and learning English opens up prospects for admission to the best universities and to learn about different cultures.
I think the answer to this question would have us consider history - what with the Allies' victory during World War II (Allies led by American forces), and consequently half of Europe being restored with American support - the world looking at the North American sub-continent with admiration and hope... for all these reasons and others, English was bound to become the number one most spoken language in the world. Also, let's not forget it is the language of technology (internet being the last adding to the list), the language of the greatest democracy and economy the world had seen, the one democracy that brought about capitalism, the one that became a model for all republics to follow.
If only for these two major reasons, and without even considering others dating further back in history, English is the language most peoples around the globe speak. (I don't mean to toot the US' horn, but that was the case mid-20th century).
I don't know if most people prefer learning English, rather they are somehow forced to because it is so widely spoken and in use in all areas of life around the world.
I believe people would rather learn other languages, too, but English just takes first place because it is so useful.
Imperialism manifested through historical colonisation has established English language as a point where knowledge and power meet. Till today English remains a means of knowledge dissemination. More over, it is a living language that is often appropriated and it accommodates other culture specific and intranslatable words and thus enriches itself every day. It's very difficult to do away with English for it remains as a major language of communication in the globe.
Kachru described three circles of English, the Inner Circle (national language is English), the Outer Circle (those countries colonised by the English), Expanding Circle (countries already bilingual/multilingual). The Expanding Circle countries do not want to take on a culture such as the colonised countries did, however, they all need to communicate to assist in economic development, particularly those in the European Community. In using the English language in the Expanding Circle, importance is give to the economic benefits while as individual country's language and traditions are still maintained.
Because English has become the number one global language. Most mainstream media is in English.
Enkeleda Kallushi
Actually English is a difficult language to learn with many irregular verbs and lack of consistent grammatical rules. However, kids start very young to either learn the language at school or are constantly exposed to it (American English usually) on TV or in the movies. Although Mandarin Chinese has more speakers, the character font is much more difficult to assimilate to those with a Roman alphabet background. English is the common business language and the many dialects (Australian English, Indian English) allow communication worldwide.
Every language has it's difficulty but for my opinion ''easy'' is everything we are familiar. English is one of languages that is familiar for a lot of us.
Adopting a global language policy is not easy, and companies invariably stumble along the way. It’s radical, and it’s almost certain to meet with staunch resistance from employees. Many may feel at a disadvantage if their English isn’t as good as others’, team dynamics and performance can suffer, and national pride can get in the way. But to survive and thrive in a global economy, companies must overcome language barriers—and English will almost always be the common ground, at least for now.
https://hbr.org/2012/05/global-business-speaks-english
Of the many languages in the world today, English probably has the largest vocabulary, and therefore, it can accommodate the needs of culturally diverse peoples and nations.
Languages that are more restricted in the number of words available for everyday use usually thrive in culturally homogeneous cities and nations.
If this theoretical supposition is correct, then it might logically follow that the reason "people prefer to learn English more than other languages as their first choice of a foreign language" is because of their desire to travel. English gives people from hundreds of different linguistic groups more options when they make their travel plans.
Simply it can say, it is widely used all over the world as common language.
Historically speaking, during the long reigns of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, the British Empire expansively spread its linguistic and cultural influence throughout the world. Entire continents, including North America (Canada and the United States of America), Australia, and the Indian Subcontinent, as well as Hong Kong, continued to use English as their official language, even after they achieved independence as sovereign nations with their own forms of government.
English provides clear technical instruction when required and in that area is preferred. It also has a clear subject/object connection, which allows information to be added to simple sentence structure, thereby carrying additional information with ease, when required. As a consequence foreign words can be added in either their original form or in an anglicised form. Clarity is everything!
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