The English Language

Tiananmen Square in Beijing may seem a strange illustration for the English Language but the explosion of interest in learning English within China as it opens up its economy to the West is just one illustration of how the English language is now the global lingua franca. English is expected to retain this position even when China's economy overtakes that of the United States. early in the next century.

• It is estimated that by the year 2000 over 1 billion people will be learning
  English in every part of the world;

• One out of five of the world's population already speaks English to some
  level of competence;

• English is an official language in over 70 countries;

• Most English speakers use it as a second language.

See our commercial page.

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