English isn't the only language in the world today

"Why can't everybody just learn to speak English???  What's wrong with the rest of the world?"


English may be the lingua-franca of most nations in the world today, but even former British colonies like Singapore and India have varying levels of English proficiency.  Singapore started the "Speak Good English" movement to force people to brush up on their English skills.  An article in The Straits Times today said that if the Prime Minister of India spoke in English or Hindi (the 2 languages of government in India), there would be a portion of people who would not understand a word of what he said.


Let's face it - there is no way the whole world is going to learn English in the near future.  The rising powers of today's world are China and India.  Most Chinese from China do not speak, much less understand, English.  Granted, many of them are trying to learn, but the vast majority much prefer if the rest of the world spoke Mandarin!


Having dealt with government officials from China in past years, I've found them to be very angry if we did not speak Mandarin to them!  They expected us to speak to them in Mandarin and not English.


Chinese people are found in every corner of the world today.  Why is the rest of the world not waking up to this reality?  I've brushed up all over again on my Mandarin, both speaking and reading.  It hasn't been easy, but it's been rewarding being able to communicate freely with a Chinese person.


Let's take the step to learning a new language today!