 English is called an international language, but
there are actually quite a few varieties of English
that exist around the world. English originated
in England, but soon English spread to other
countries, and different varieties of English began
to exist. Today, the countries in which English is
spoken can be divided into three groups.
The first group is made of those countries
where English is the primary language. These
are countries like England, Canada, the United
States, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
There are more than 380 million native1
speakers of English in these countries alone.
There is a second group of countries that have their own varieties of English.
Their histories have been directly influenced by one of the early English-speaking
societies. They use English in various important ways within their own government
and everyday life. India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Kenya are examples of this
group. The total number of speakers in this group is in the hundreds of millions.
In a third group of countries, English
is widely used as a foreign language.
However, citizens use their native
language within their own government
and in everyday life. Some countries
in this group are China, Russia, Japan,
Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, and many
Western European countries. Some
people calculate the number of
speakers in this group to be as many as
one billion-and it is growing fast.
This changing situation raises many questions. Will another language replace
English as the international language? If not, will,people continue to use the English
of countries such as England or the United States as models? Will new varieties of
English develop in countries such as China or Brazil? Or, in the future, will a new
international variety of English develop that doesn't belong to any one country, but
to an entire area like Asia or Europe?
1 Your native language is the first language you learned to speak.
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