Do you anticipate English becoming the world's language?

[katara]

Although most of the people already can speak English one way or another I'm not quite sure things will remain the same in the future. I'm not convinced a universal language is such a great idea as I prefer diversity.

[sidney]

Isn't English the world's number 1 language already? Even in beauty pageants the contestants must know how to speak English or else they will be needing an interpreter. English is already the main language used for communication between foreign countries unless they speak the same languages like Spanish, and I think that it will be the world's main language for years to come.

[JohnSword]

I doubt English will ever officially become the world's language. While I agree it's much easier to converse with people around the world if there is only one language, I doubt countries such as China would agree to such an arrangement.

However, many people do learn English as a second language since it is the official language in many countries.

[astuka]

Maybe, but maybe not. Most people in different countries learn to speak English for trading and other basic things. Right now however, more people are completely fluent in Mandarin than anything else. Overall, it will take some time to see.

[CrownedClown]

I don't think English will remain the "universal" language.  I think the prevalence of the British empire started it, and America's economic power perpetuated it, but with China and India becoming larger and larger world players economically, I don't think English will remain the dominant language forever.

I agree. It was estimated that within 10 years China will be number 1 world economy and because of that a lot of businesses are focusing their business towards China. It is safe to assume that if half of the businesses on the planet depend in some way from China that at some point Chinese will replece English as the main language used for making deals and if it doesn't replace it at the very least will be just as influential as English.

[Rosa]

It would be great to have English becoming the world's language .We would be better able to communicate with each nation. However, I am not anticipating it any time soon. It would take alot of planning and resource which I know many countries couldn't afford.

[brothainarms]

I don't think so.  I think other languages are so prevalent in cultures that forcing a new language upon people will be something akin to a religious takeover.  Which we all know is not happening

[rahimbahrain]

I thought English is already an international language.  Though there are languages which are spoken among more people than English, you can safely conclude that English is the only language that connects all the continents of the world.

It is spoken in Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, Austalia and New Zealand covering almost all continents.

Therefore, English enjoys the stature that no other language can boast of.  Yes, there's no other competitor to world's  language.

[TheStoryteller1]

English is the most spoken language in the moment, so if that were to happen, it would be with English.

However, people like being unique and diverse too much, I believe, to allow being reduced to having only 1 language for whatever sake.

I agree that 1 language is more practical...but for some reason I think that would take something from a lot of cultures. There are nuances in every language that English just can not cover. Not to mention that there are words which translation from English has different meaning and implication in Bulgarian...and I'm sure it is so with other languages. To be able to substitute all languages with English, English will have to evolve a lot (probably over decades of years) or a lot of meaning will be lost.

Despite the fact that English is overwhelmingly more popular than other languages, the chances of it becoming the only language are 0 unless a lot of nations connect and start creating a global plan. And for them to do so they would have to have a big financial gain from that. Which I am not certain there will be. While there would be better communication between people, million foreign language teachers and programs will collapse, which will actually lead to huge economic loss. It's very complicated issue, and it's very unlikely it will happen, at least in our lifetime.