By Martin Rost

In a list of the languages with more native speaker, English is in the fourth place. Currently Mandarin is first, Hindi is second and Spanish is third. Although English is far from being the language with the largest amount of native speakers, it is the language with more speakers in the world and on the internet. This is not a coincidence. This is sometimes attributed to the to the great economies of countries such as the USA, England, and others. I consider this an important element but not the only one. Through this assignment I will try to explain other reasons to justify why English is the most spoken language in the world, and what is its importance in countries like mine (Argentina), and others.

English is currently the bridge language for the world. A bridge language or lingua franca is a language implicitly chosen to connect people who do not share the same native tongue. Until the 14th century, Latin was the bridge language for a big part of Europe. Later in history, French took this place, and after the second world war English has taken over this function. The main characteristic of these languages was the prestige that included speaking them, not necessarily the amount of people who could speak it. The importance in the economy of the USA, the UK and other English-speaking nations is part of the reason why this language is the current bridge between cultures, but there are others too. Unlike Mandarin, the second most spoken language in the world, English is relatively easy to learn. And mostly importantly, modern means of communications (the phone and internet) were invented and developed by native English speakers. 

In Argentina, my country of origin, people are widely aware that speaking English is very important to obtain a good job. We are very influenced by American and European music, and people are constantly adding English words into our normal conversations. I consider that this has been made through economical, scientific and cultural strategies. People not only get better jobs if they speak English, they can understand better international music, films and TV series. This benefits people, and that is why English is a very functional bridge language for the world. If Mandarin, Spanish, or any other language could offer the same advantages, I am sure that they would replace English. I am afraid that this is not possible.

Coming to a conclusion, I will say that in order to connect with the world we have to adapt to the world. Economical, scientific, military and cultural power has forged English’s way to becoming the bridge language for the world. Today we are influenced and dominated in this manner, but this is the only way to connect with everyone. 

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Writer Martin Rost is Spanish and English Language and Translation Intern at Modlingua, India's No1. certified translation and Language service providers based in New Delhi