英語は国際語です。多くの国で英語の教育が行われています。一方英語圏の国では第2外国語を学ぶ人が少なくなっています。世界中で英語が使えるからです。この記事ではそれが良いのか、悪いのかを説明しています。確認しましょう。
- script -
The dominance of English as the world's top language -- until recently an advantage to both Britain and the United States -- is now beginning to be a problem for those two countries. A massive number of people all over the world are learning English. It is estimated around 2 billion will have English-speaking skills within the next ten years. More than half of all primary school children in China now learn English, and the number of English speakers in India and China -- 500 million -- now exceeds the total number of native-English speakers elsewhere in the world. These people, with the ability to speak two or more languages, and the companies that employ them, have significant competitive advantages over their British and American rivals. They also have an understanding of different cultures, in a world faced with rapid globalization. Once everyone speaks English, advantage can only be maintained by having something else -- other skills, such as speaking several languages.