The Case for English

You might be wondering . . . Why am I sending English books from my bookshelf to the believers of the world? After all, don’t they speak a myriad of languages with cultures that are very different from our own?

These are very good questions and we wanted to take the time to introduce you to the great need for English materials around the world. Take a minute to hear the Case for English:

English is sometimes described as the first world language or first global lingua franca. Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. While English today is probably the second largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world.

While English is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a second language around the world. It is, by international treaty, the official language for aerial and maritime communications. English is also one of six official languages of the United Nations.

The following is a list of sovereign states and territories where English is an official language. Most of these countries, such as Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the Philippines, use English as an official language but not the sole official language (and usually not the main official language.)

This list does not include countries where English is the dominant language, but does not have official status: