Unit 2
We all own English.
Who owns English?
English is spoken by about 400 million people in Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. In Ghana, India, Nigeria and Singapore, English is used for government, education and trade, although there are many other languages for everyday use. In China and most other countries, it’s the most important foreign language that children will learn at school, because it’s essential for tourism, international business, entertainment, radio, television, newspapers, and the Internet. So English is now used by about 1.5 billion people-or a quarter of the world’s population, and wherever you go in the world, there is a good chance that someone will speak English.
for everyday use.
everyday 与 every day
be essential for/to
a quarter of
How did this happen? English has not always been the most common language. Until English became important in the 20th century, people who had any education spoke French. What’s more, English spelling doesn’t give much help with pronunciation, and its grammar is difficult, especially the word order.
What’s more
help sb. with sth.
give help with sth.
The reason is that in the 18th century, the UK was a country whose industrial products were sold all over the world. In the 20th century, the USA spread English all over the world through newspaper, television, films and advertising. It’s now the common language for international travel, science, industry and in recent years, information technology and the Internet.
The reason is that
But it’s also important to remember that English has borrowed many words from other languages, either exactly the same word or very similar. It uses restaurant from French, zero from Arabic, piano from Italian, and typhoon, china and many other words from Chinese.
borrow…from…
lend… to…
either…or/ both…and/ neither…nor
Will the importance of English last? Many people think that, if China continues to grow in importance, Chinese will become as common as English by the middle of the 21st century. More and more schools in Europe are teaching Chinese as a foreign language, in place of other European languages. And tourism puts China into the top 10 countries for visitors. But at least for the next 20 or 30 years, English will be the language used most widely.
in importance
in place of
take place
take sb.’s place
take the place of..
put…into= change…into
So who owns English? The answer is every one who speaks it- the English, the Indians and the Chinese all help make it a rich language. It changes every year with new words and expressions. Even though there are differences in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling, we all belong to the international English speaking world. We all own English.
belong to
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