I have always find it one of the most ironic things related to language and particularly English that It is the official language of the Government and business in many countries including Pakistan besides International bodies like Olympics.
In the days of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and John Milton (1608-1674) there were hardly 60, 000 words in English vocabulary. That has grown to over a million today.
Now more than 750 million people use the English language. Only one third of them have English as mother tongue.
An extensive vocabulary becomes an important asset, because words are the building blocks of thought. They are the means by which we understand the ideas of others and express our own opinions in an effective and clear manner.
About 80% of the information stored in the world’s computers (such as this text) are also in English. English is also transmitted to more than 100 million people everyday by 5 of the largest broadcasting companies (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC, CBC).
Some people argue that Technological progress has played a greater role in English’s global triumph. Might I also add that its the Cultural Paradigms too which indirectly help English the “global language”.
