English is possibly the world’s most accessible language due to its massive presence in the media and the internet. It is also the most widely spoken language in the world given history and accessibility. English grammar is also quite easy to learn to start in comparison to most other languages. Albeit, top-tier fluency in English is still quite hard to achieve but never impossible. The accessibility of the language made it that there are more non-native speakers than native speakers currently exist in the world.
English has various functions in our daily lives. English is the dominant language on the internet. Nearly 54 percent of the content on the internet is in English. Russian, at 6 percent, is a distant second. More than 50 percent of the world’s technical and scientific periodicals are in English.
People from 118 countries speak English and 59 countries recognized it as an official language.
Since the British Empire spread its wings for centuries, many countries forced to adapt the English language. But since the colonies gained independence, many still maintain English as part of their lives. Like in Malaysia, students learn English as a second language.
In total, are 378 million native speakers in English-speaking countries and 743 million non-native speakers in the world whether it is ESL (English as a Second Language) or EIL (English as International Language.
It’s fair to say that you will probably meet people that speak better English than you, native speakers or non-native speakers. The accessibility and wide-spread of the language are definitely proof of the language capabilities of the people.
Source: St George International, Lemon Grad