Importance Of English As A Universal Language Essay

As Nelson Mandela, a South African Anti-Apartheid revolutionist, once said, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.” A language is a means of communication that has evolved from the simple sounds that were utilised by Neanderthals to the 6500 languages spoken today. English, a West Germanic language, is one out of the 6500 languages spoken. It was first spoken by the medieval English and today, English is often deemed the lingua franca of the new world. English has always been described as a language of opportunity, even more so in this era where its usage is ever so popular. In Malaysia, English is taught in schools as the second official language and is widely used all over the

Although English may not be the most widely spoken language in the world as it comes in third after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, it is undeniably the universal language of the 21st century with an estimated sum of over 800 million users on a regular basis worldwide, with 340 million native speakers and 510 million who speak English as a second or foreign language. 60 countries have English as their official language and it is the commonly adopted second language of many countries, including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Commonwealth nations such as Malaysia. It is the language of diplomacy and the official language of the United Nations and other international bodies. Learning English is beneficial to an individual as it helps one increase their communicative abilities. While native as well as non-native users may not be fluent in written English, speaking English can be just good enough. Thus, if one possesses a strong command of the language, he will face no problems communicating with his peers and colleagues be it at school, at work or even on social