Just Finished Reading: English as a Global Language by David Crystal (FP: 1997)

It’s a standing joke as well as a truism that the English expect everyone else to speak their language when they go ‘abroad’. I’ve actually heard it myself in Paris when an English tourist complained that all of the road signs were in French! Fortunately for people like that it does appear that English is indeed becoming a truly Global Language and might have already reached the point of no return. That’s the author’s opinion anyway which he manages to back up pretty well in this slim volume.

Whilst a little academic at times – complete with tables, graphs and maps – this is a very readable text full of interesting observations, studies and stats. Although on a global scale the number of people speaking English as a first language is, and will remain, in decline (through simple demographics) the number of people who speak English as a second or foreign language has been increasing for decades and is expected to do so for the foreseeable future. Only something truly major can, again according to the author, stop this rise to dominance.

What the author makes very clear is that English isn’t dominant for reasons people sometimes bring up – the languages flexibility, its ability to take in words from other languages and incorporate them, the lack of ‘gendered’ nouns and so on. No, the authors says it’s due purely to historical reasons around power – in the past the British Empire (and it’s Dominions) and presently with the economic and cultural power of America on the world stage. Between them they make the ever expanding number of people across the globe learning English unstoppable.

The author most certainly makes a good case for his idea. With the level of my knowledge on the subject (low) I certainly couldn’t fault it. This is a book that can be read by the non-specialist (like me) with the expectation that you’ll get something out of it. The English language is, I think, a fascinating beast and not just because it’s the only language I’m reasonably fluent in. A well-constructed sentence is, I think, a thing of beauty. Get enough of them together and you produce a work of art. It’s one very good reason why I try to read as many good books as possible and why I keep returning to the classics such as Jane Austen who I think is one of the greatest proponents of the English language still in print. Whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this is a ‘must read’ it might be worth you picking up a library copy if you have more than a passing interest in the subject.