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Development of English
English is spoken by over a billion people around the world, in other words, by more than a quarter of the world’s population. It is spoken as a mother tongue in the UK, in former colonies such as Australia and New Zealand, and of course, by the vast majority of the North American population. It is the second or official language in most of the former empires, and of course, it is studied as a foreign language all over the world, but particularly in Europe now. This has made it a truly international language. It is the language of shipping and aviation, of science and technology and of commerce. Really, the language spoken by the population of small island in the Northern Hemisphere reached a widespread use. Its introduction to the New World in the 17th century resulted in this hybrid language becoming the second oldest version of English, and the most widely spoken American English. Then English and American English went east and south. The colonization of South America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa were in different ways and linguistically as well. In India English now shares the status of the official language. With Hindi it is spoken by over 70 million people – more than entire population of the British Isles. So English may be really considered to be an international language!
1. What language is studied as a foreign language all over the world?
2. Why do people begin to learn English in many countries?
3. Does English now share the status of official language in some countries?
4. Why is English considered to be an international language?