Chapter 1

English - an International Language.

Text 1

Who speaks English

There are three kinds of English speakers, those who speak it as their first language, those who speak it as a second language, and those who learn it as a foreign language.

Today about 400 million people speak English as their mother tongue or first language. Millions of people all over the world learn English as their second language or as a foreign language.

Came from Britain

Until the early 1600s only a few million people spoke English. They lived on a small island in the North Sea. The English traveled all over the world and settled. The areas where the English settled were called colonies. Trade between the mother country and the colonies became important. The language used was English. Now English has for more than 150 years been called a world language.

World wide communication

International organizations use English in their communication. Scientists write their reports in English. It is used by pilots and at sea. English is the favorite language of a lot of pop-artists and lyrics writers. It is used for television productions, films and video games. In recent years computer technology has helped to give the English language even more importance.

At present there is no sign that any other language will replace English as a world language.

As a speaker of English you will have the possibility of communicating with more than 1 billion people all over the world.