A Medium For The World
An essay for my Purposive Communications Class
Ideas are one of the most powerful things in the world, and even Edward Lytton claims that “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Amidst all the possible ways of self-expression; music, art, dance etc., there is one medium that our life is often centered around: language. Across the course of human history, nations rose and fell, and along with it their dialects and cultures; but despite this, one specific language still stands today as the universal tongue for the entire world: English. The English language is arguably the most important dialect to learn due to the ability to communicate with the widest range of people, its role in the professional field, and its universality when it comes to communicating interpersonally.
The English language has its roots founded in West Germanic language, with records showing its first usage in early medieval England. As a language, English was influenced by other Germanic languages like Norse, as well as Latin and French. During the British Empire rule, the language has spread throughout the world, and has developed into the familiar sounding tongue we know of today. Fast forward to 2020, and the language is now the largest in terms of speakers, and third most spoken native language in the world just after Chinese and Spanish. According to statistics by the Oxford Dictionary, the amount of native English speakers is about 500 million people, in addition to 750 million second language speakers and 700 million foreigners who also speak the language. With this universality in mind, regardless of what country you go to, there will always be people who understand English, and you will always find a way to communicate no matter what. The widespread use of the English language allows for all its speakers to benefit from being able to communicate worldwide.
Besides the ability to communicate globally, many industries and professions also rely on the English language. For instance, one cannot be an airline pilot, engineer, or doctor without having full knowledge and grasp of the language itself. The reason behind this is that most of these professions consider English to be the global standard of communication. In the aviation industry for instance, all aircraft controls, metrics and communication protocols are in English, regardless of country. The same goes for engineering, medicine and science. When taking up these fields of study, it almost always is delivered in the English medium of language; since, many resources and textbooks on them are in fact written in English. Many professions in the corporate world also require the language, especially those that revolve around technical writing, human resource management and public relations. In countries that have many different dominating languages such as the Philippines, being bi-lingual has become the industry standard. One must be able to speak and write using the native language, as well as English, in order to be deemed “competent” for many jobs.
The widespread use of English may not just be attributed to its British Empire roots, many people have voluntarily used the language for the main reason being that it is the most usable and comprehensive language in the world. Currently, there are about 273,000 words in the dictionary, with hundreds more being added this year. For reference, Spanish has 90,000 words, while Chinese only has 85,000. With this in mind, one can already conclude that English is essentially just more useful as a language. More words means more options to express and articulate oneself accurately.
Over the course of a hundred years, the English language has shown its prowess as not just an excellent medium of communication, but also a universal one. Whether you are a student or a professional in the field, English will always have its place in your life. With more words than any other language, you get to communicate exactly what you are feeling, and when things start to get technical, the English language will suffice a word for any given context you can think of. Whenever you travel around the world, you need not fear the uncertainty of not being able to communicate, since you are never far away from a person who speaks the “universal world language”. Universality, usability and functionality; this is why it is important to study English.
References
- Oxford Learner’s Dictionary 2015, Entry: English — Pronunciation.
- The Roots Of English (2006), Crystal, pp. 424–426.
- Ian Short, A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World, “Language and Literature”, Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2007. (p. 193)
Notes
Written on Jan. 10 ’21 as per submission for my Writing Pre-Test in Purposive Comm. under Ms. Linette.
