THE IMPORTANCE OF ENGLISH IN THIS MODERN HYPER-COMPETITIVE ERA —True Analysis; No Flaky Argument:

Have you ever wondered why people often accentuate the importance of English? We all are aware of the fact. There are millions of English speakers throughout the world. It’s indeed the most spoken language internationally.?

If you consider the growth in the number of speakers as a standard by which you judge the success, then English undoubtedly deserves to be celebrated. I hope you agree with me.

But have you ever reflected on what makes English so popular so dominant? And why is everyone obsessing about English today? Most significantly, is it worth putting so much time, money and effort into learning this language??

Like the above, some other thoughts also generally compound a lot of confusion among young people. A couple of doubts would be creeping in your mind too. Right?

Well, let me show you how. I am not going to sink you into any flaky argument. I’ll just try to present some scenario-based examples and analyses that will erase all your confusion and facilitate your decision-making process. So, they will help you come out of any uneasy compromise both in your personal and professional life.?

Some Facts And Figures about the Evolvement of the English Language:

?Not only today but for centuries, English has been the most widely used language on the planet. Not to speak of the countries like the UK, the USA, etc. where people’s native language is English, the vast majority of the people even outside these countries also understand and speak English well.?

There are still more convincing facts and figures. As regards the English-speaking population density, more than 1 billion people across the globe speak English as a second language.?

What’s more compelling is that 67 countries use English as their official language. 27 countries have English as their second official language.?

Moreover, there are countries where people speak English but scarcely speak their mother tongue or original language. Since the majority of the people worldwide speak the language, English has become a global language. It helps connect us globally. It greatly helps us build strong relationships locally or globally.

Eventually, this language has become vital for both your personal as well as professional successes in the truest sense.?

Apart from all the above reasons, people naturally get attracted and impressed by one who knows English. It’s self-evident that it has a bright future. That is the reason this language has become the most popular language in the world.?

“Why Should You Learn English?”—?All Compelling Reasons for EFL Learners???

There are many reasons that make English important to anybody. I would cite only those here that may be most compelling ones for you. Though, I’ll spare no effort to make this blog useful to every type of readers. Sounds good? Check them out:

English for Higher Employability:

No doubt, being efficient in your core work activities is not enough today. I mean that whatever the nature of the job, you need to be equally efficient in your English language skills if you wish to climb some good number of rungs up your career ladder. I hope you would not have any hesitation to agree with me. There is some factual data to support what I say.?

Let’s have a look at what?English at Work,?a combined survey by Cambridge and QS, says about the global importance of the English language skills. The survey is based on the views taken from more than 5300 employers in 38 nations and territories alongside the insights received from the Cambridge English experts.?

That study reveals that over two-thirds of employers acknowledge that English language skills are important for their business. The overall analysis of their responses showed:

??Throughout industries, there is a considerable gap between the English language skills that employees possess and the English language skills that are needed at work. This gap says a lot.??

??Around 50% of employers provide a better initial salary package to the applicants who have a fair level of English language skills. This is not all. It also makes them capable of earning faster progress in terms of promotions or higher salary increments. This is the case in the countries where the official language is not English.

What do the above statements and analyses indicate? They serve to accentuate the inadequacy of the available English-speaking population worldwide.?

?Now you just simply reverse the statements and try to understand what they tell the other way round. They speak volumes about the possible opportunities. So you yourself can anticipate and accordingly respond to the opportunities apparently revealed in these statements and analyses.?

English for All the Academic Purposes (Especially Higher Studies):

I am sure everybody is aware of the fact that a respected level of academic study skills is necessary for non-native English speakers who want to pursue higher studies in foreign countries like the USA, the UK, etc. You can simply call them English language skills.?

Before commencing any higher academic studies, they need to be fluent in the academic study skills like critical reading and writing, listening skills, academic vocabulary usage, oral intelligibility, fluency development, test-taking skills, note-taking skills, comprehending academic lectures and research papers, etc.?

Various testing exams named IELTS, TOEFL, PTE, etc. cover all these skills. These testing exams are collectively known as English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses. You must pass at least one of these exams if you aspire to accomplish higher studies abroad. This way, English can give you easy access to most of the world’s best universities.

English for Employment in Foreign Countries:

Many of us get to migrate from one part of the world to another in search of better career options. Right? The most popular destinations for job-seekers are the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. All of them are English speaking countries. I believe I am not being partial towards them. The reason is these are the areas where people from non-English speaking countries can benefit themselves most.

?No matter how efficient you are in your core job activities, you cannot be employable in those countries if you are not fluent in English communication skills. Conversely, if you are good at these skills, the chances are high you can get your dream job in any of those countries.

Also, the medium of operations throughout all the divisions of the United Nations is English itself.

The?Importance of English in Scientific and Technological Advancement:???????

Ever wondered why English has become the lingua franca of science? Why is English essential if you aspire to achieve some goals in the areas of science and technology? My further illustrations will substantiate the reasons. Just keep reading the blog till the end.?

Major scientific and technological advancements are documented in English. We know this is an era of science and technology. If we wish to advance our knowledge of these subjects and keep pace with other fast-moving countries (or our competitors, in particular), we’ll have to count on English as a language.

Also for producing first-rate technicians and scientists, non-English speaking people must be fluent in English. This is because most books on such subjects are available in English only. There are no translations normally.

I think it’s worth taking a look at the figure in the following chart which best expounds the scenario.

?Look at this data. This will best elucidate what I am trying to convey. Of all the 925,000 articles indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) in the year 1997, 95 % were published only in English. The?Science Citation Index? now covers over 50 years of post-war scientific literature.?

And even more fascinating fact is half of those articles were from the countries where English is not their mother tongue. Articles published in other major languages like French, German, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Chinese aggregate to only 5%. Even non-US scientists release more articles in English than in any other languages. This trend is still continuing. And it shows how popular English has become.

If you want any further evidence in the current scenario, the recent publication of articles on Medline Coverage was 87% in 1994, but it’s 89% now.??

Particularly in medical science, India is 3-4 years ahead of some other countries like China and Japan. The very reason behind this is India gives fair importance to the English language. Later are giving comparatively low importance to English.

Now, it’s self-evident that the importance of English is much too high in this era of science and technology. It rests with us how exactly we stand to benefit from this.???????

The International Business Community Sees English as a Lingua Franca:

When it comes down to the global means of business communication, I need hardly say that English has become the communicative medium of choice today. And at times the only language option left for businessmen is English itself.?

This becomes more significant in written communications. And it becomes even more significant when it comes to computer-mediated communications. This is because English is the only language that has spread throughout the world resulting from colonization as well as the widespread teaching and practices of English as a foreign language.?

I hope every one of us would agree to this point here.

Apart from major technological advances, international trades, especially in the 21st century, felt a need for instant global communication that could break the barriers of time, space and distance.?

You know the world has now turned into an interlinked global trade system. Thus, we require a standard means of communication today. Only this can make it possible for every one of us to effectively communicate our opinion or ideas with each other. English fulfils this need for a universal lingua franca.?

Now that it’s quite explicit from the above facts and figure, I understand I need hardly remind you of the importance of English. Also, I need hardly say what a significant advantage it is to have a good command of English these days. It’s becoming increasingly apparent day by day for many other reasons too.

English is the Language of the Internet:

The “English Facts and Figures” page of the website EnglidhEnglish.com affirms that “80% of home pages on the Web are in English. The next greatest, German, has only 4.5% and Japanese 3.1%.” Yes, the sources remain unverified for the time being. But undoubtedly this assertion is consistent with early researches.?

An independent study released by Geoffrey Nunberg and Hinrich Schütze in 1997 also supports this assertion. It also says 80 per cent of the online content was published in English only.?

Another study on linguistic diversity in 2003 by the Online Computer Library Centre suggests that 72 per cent of the internet pages were published in English. There are too many studies which confirm the same figure. I don’t understand I need to put more studies here.??

English As the Most Used Language in Computer Science:

All right! This might be the most common point I need only little effort to shed light upon. I’ll tell you the reason. It sounds awfully common.

It’s all known that there are hardly other languages in which computers are programmed. Exceptions apart, you can efficiently handle computers or perform any tasks on computers only when you have a decent level of English language skills.?

English is increasingly becoming the medium of instruction these days. However most software products are now localized in various regional languages, but almost every major software product is still limited to using English.

The Importance of English from the Indian Perspective:

How interesting it is! English is not the mother tongue of India. But the Indian constitution which is the supreme law of India and is also known as the steering wheel of the Indian administration is also written in English.

India is a country where people living in different parts speak different regional languages. Every regional language is entirely different from the other. There is a change in languages every few kilometres. Without a common language, it’s not possible for public, leaders, businessmen or administrators to communicate or remain in contact with each other.?

This is because it’s impossible for everyone to learn so many languages. And presently we have only one common language. That is English. In this scenario, English plays a vital role to connect us with each other.?

Above all, job aspirants in India need to be proficient in English while being in the job-seeking process. The medium of the whole employment process, from the announcement of the vacancies to the submission of the job application forms, from running the interviews to the appointment of the selected candidates, is English. No matter what streams you pursue, you need to arm yourself with good English skills to secure a higher chance of getting your most favourite job.

To Sum It Up:

English is a wonderful intellectual challenge. Everybody must take this challenge of learning English as an essential foreign language. Whether you are a developer, coder, hardware or software engineer, or a professional who performs their professional tasks through computers, you are expected to have an excellent command of English. Some other professions where fluency in English is essential are online businesses, marketing and communications, customer services, tourism and hospitality, diplomacy, finance, management consultancy, teaching and training industries, translation services, legal services, etc. The list would be too long to put here.

If you are a travel lover, travelling becomes a lot easier if you attain a good command of English communication skills. Plus English gives you the freedom to grab more from well-liked cultures.

Even in non-English speaking countries, English has become the language of sophisticated families no matter which caste, clan or region they belong to. These days, even sages, ayurvedacharyas, yogacharyas or mullahs who are loyal to and ardent followers of Sanskrit or Urdu languages are, at times, seen using sentences, phrases or at least words of the English language. It’s a common practice that has survived into the present era.

Apart from all the facts and figures I have presented in this blog,?you yourself can guesstimate the usefulness and popularity of the English language from some small but quite frequent things happening around.?

So, up for the challenge? If you feel motivated to learn English for the level you dream of, consider enrolling on an EFL course available online or at your nearby place and develop your all-round English skills in association with talented and competent faculties as well as a homogeneous group of students.

I believe I’ve thrown some bright light on every considerable point that can make you able to evaluate the real importance of the English language. In return, I hope, this can help you make an informed decision in case you are wondering whether to invest your time and money in learning English for a great career.

However, if you think I have skipped something or if you have any personal experience you wish to share, please do put that in the comment section. That may help other readers to benefit to the greatest extent possible.?

Thanks for your time and patience.