English language facts

English Matters
English today is claimed to be the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Combining native and non-native speakers it is considered to be the most commonly spoken language in the world.
54 countries have English as an official language
Countries where English is an official language, or national language, and is spoken fluently but the majority of the population.
Countries where it is an official but not primary language
Percentage of the adult population of some non-English speaking EU countries claimed to be able to converse in English
Sweden 85%
Denmark 83%
Netherlands 79%
Luxembourg 66%Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, Germany >50%
Approximately more than a billion second language speakers 1.2
Approximately 375 million English native speakers
1/6 one out of every six people in the world can speak English
English is the official language for aeronautical and maritime communications
80% of the information stored in the world’s computers is in English
More than a half of the world’s technical and scientific periodicals are in English
English is the medium for international education
English is used as the primary medium of instruction in education in particular where international students study. ENGLISH MATTERS English today is claimed to be the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Combining native and non-native speakers it is considered to be the most commonly spoken language in the world. 54 countries have English as an official language Countries where Englishris an official or de facto official language, or national language, and is spoken fluently by the majority of the population Countries where it is an official but not primary language Percentage of the adult population of some non-English-speaking EU countries claimed to be able to converse in English SWEDEN DENMARK NETHERLANDS LUXEMBOURG FINLAND, SLOVENIA, AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, GERMANY 85% 83% 79% 66% >50% Approximately more than Approximately A BILLION L2 375 MILLION second language speakers English native speakers L1 G'DAY! 1/6 ONE OUT OF EVERY SIX PEOPLE IN THE WORLD CAN SPEAKE ENGLISH LINGUA FRANCA ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE FOR AERONAUTICAL AND MARITIME COMMUNICATIONS OF THE INFORMATION 1800| STORED IN THE WORLD'S ENGLISH COMPUTERS IS IN MORE THAN A HALF OF THE WORLD'S TECHNICAL AND SCIENTIFIC PERIODICALS ARE IN ENGLISH SCIENCE TECH ENGLISH IS THE MEDIUM FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION English is used as the primary medium of instruction in education - in particular where international students study. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik/English_language#Geographical_distribution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_languagetEnglish_as_a global_language http://www.BestCustomWriting.com/blog 2012