大家堵在学英语

since i spend most of my time in shanghai and various other cities in mainland china, it often feels like the world is made up largely of mandarin speakers. considering the sheer magnitude of the chinese population, the 1.3 billion people that have lured mobile phone manufacturers and automobile makers and consumer goods conglomerates to this part of the world, my inclination seems to make perfect sense.

however, some observers estimate that the number of english language speakers, both native and non-native, currently exceeds the roughly 1.37 billion mandarin speakers concentrated in china, taiwan, and singapore. and, interestingly enough, it’s the number of non-native english speakers that helps push the number to the top.

if you count native speakers based largely on the populations of countries that predominantly use english ╟ the united states, the united kingdom, canada, australia, south africa, new zealand, ireland, and the rest ╟ some experts say you’ll come up with a total of around 375 million people. but you’ve got over 300 million people studying english in china, nearly five times the population of the united kingdom. and an estimated two billion people around the world are learning english.

certainly not everyone studying english qualifies as an english speaker. but those that do (not only on the mainland but in india, indonesia, and other countries) propel the total number of english speakers into the same stratosphere as the number of people who speak mandarin, and perhaps even beyond.

so what does it mean when non-native speakers of a language outnumber native speakers?

well, already, english is the predominant language in airports and academic conferences, the language used among air traffic controllers and diplomats. it’s the language most available on the internet, as well as at international sports competitions. so, certainly, the usage of english has not been limited to english-speaking countries.

and when i visit one of our ef english first schools in china, the energy and enthusiasm i consistently witness are indicative that the desire to learn english continues unabated. while a language is usually a symbol of national identity, i think it’s fair to say that our students are sincerely embracing the essence of english itself. they infuse the language not so much with a sense that it belongs to another country, but with an internationally-oriented optimism about what a future successfully speaking english might bring.

of course, in the west and elsewhere, the study of mandarin has certainly grown in tandem with the explosive mainland economy. after the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, asia is largely regarded as the engine powering global economic growth, so the spotlight on china will undoubtedly remain fixed. interest in offering mandarin to young, school-age children in the united states has even resulted in a shortage of native chinese speakers in some academically-focused american communities.

so where will we all be, language-wise, ten years from now? will mandarin speakers come roaring back into the lead? or will english reign as the global lingua franca? and we can’t forget the hefty numbers of spanish and hindi speakers. all i can say is, interest in learning another language only means better communication for everyone, and a deeper understanding of other cultures. that can only be a good thing. and on that note, as they say in sweden, vi far se. we shall see…

bill fisher，现任英孚教育中国区ceo。fisher先生于1996年创办了英孚教育网上教学系统englishtown，并担任该网站的总裁和首席执行官长达10年之久。2006年，他担任英孚中国区ceo一职，全面负责英孚在中国的运营与管理。除了供职于英孚的执行委员会和 englishtown.com网站的董事会，fisher先生还活跃于一些创业组织，比如digital divide data、gamefederation ab等等，担任他们的理事会成员和顾问。fisher先生毕业于常春藤盟校之一的布朗大学，获得了计算机科学的学士学位；其后，在斯德哥尔摩经济学院攻读经济学硕士学位。

ef 英孚教育创立于1965年，是全球最大的私人英语教育机构，主要提供海外英语培训、出国留学、海外游学、大学预科、海外实习、英美高中等课程项目。英孚的语言培训学校遍布在全球50 多个国家。英孚ef是2008北京奥运会语言培训服务供应商。ef英孚与2009年与剑桥esol建立国际合作，共同计划研究如何改善学生学习英语的方法。