Nonnative speakers face various challenges when they are competing in a global economy. It all depends at the level of proficiency in that global language. I recently went to visit my friend from Malaysia and his family. They all spoke English very well, they had Malaysian accents but they were completely fluent in English. In Southeast Asia knowing English is very important since those areas of the world are very competitive industrial countries. Those who don’t speak English, being one of the global languages are cut off from a large number of opportunities for that reason. Most of the industrial nations such as China and India are making the English language more important in their classrooms. They are clearly not doing it for the love of our country, they are doing it for the financial impact it will have on their country and future.
As of right now, the United States is borrowing money from China, Japan and India at an accelerated rate increasing the national debt to billions of dollars. If we keep borrowing money from them, it seems like they will own us. China once had the strongest economy and now India is passing them up. The English language seems have to become a form of money now. It is more like a certification as a means to earn more money, and become more powerful for those who are in these other countries.
As of right now, the challenges of the non native speakers seem to be pretty simple; you either learn it of you don’t. Knowing it will not guarantee success, but it will help. For some non native speakers, they may feel that they are being forced to learn the language, and they are right. They may be in a situation where they need to learn it to survive, whether that is fair or not, they feel they have no choice.
I myself have considered learning Mandarin, so that I can work with the Chinese. This would open many doors for me and I also would find it interesting to learn their language, visit and explore their culture and way of life.
Those cultures that do not seem to value money and are not as developed as China and India probably won’t make learning English a priority. If they are content with their way of life and are not interested in expanding and growing economically, then they have no incentive to learn a language that everyone else is trying to learn. Some countries may be doing just fine with their own language and do not need to learn to speak English.
As globalization increases, more and more people will speak the main languages. Because the United States is importing so many goods from China, Japan, and India, this provides a huge incentive for them to learn our language. If this continues then more and more people will learn to speak English.
There are even some people in this world that hate the United States and want to destroy it and may want to learn English to help them do so.
There are so many different outcomes this presents, positive and negative.
I agree the English language does give a person more power, more power to communicate with others, and to better qualify for a carrier.
ReplyDeleteThe English language is universal. Books, magazines, media, and the internet are using English language to send their messages out. Not only is it important for a native to know their own language but also it is important for foreigners to know it too.
The United States works and does business with other countries. People from other countries will need to know the English language so they are able to communicate. This will help them with the business aspect of it.
For example if you an American travel go to Italy and you are hungry and want to go eat. You go to restaurant A and the food smells great and it is a very clean place but unfortunately no one there speaks English, it would be frustrating to try to order food there. So you decide try the restaurant next door and the greeter approaches you and welcomes you in the English language, they even have an English menu for you to read. The point is Restaurant A lost business because their lack of the English language. This reminds me what you said “They are clearly not doing it for the love of our country, they are doing it for the financial impact it will have on their country and future.” It does make sense to me.