English in numbers
25.11.2011 13:10
English is currently one of the most widely spoken and written languages worldwide, with some 380 million native speakers. Through the global influence of native English speakers in cinema, music, broadcasting, science, and the Internet in recent decades, English is now the most widely learned second language in the world.
- English is the most widespread language in the world and is more widely spoken and written than any other language.
- Over 400 million people use the English vocabulary as a mother tongue, only surpassed in numbers, but not in distribution by speakers of the many varieties of Chinese.
- Over 700 million people, speak English, as a foreign language.
- Did you know that of all the world's languages (over 2,700) English is arguably the richest in vocabulary; and that the Oxford English Dictionary lists about 500,000 words, and there are a half-million technical and scientific terms still uncatalogued?
- Three-quarters of the world's mail, telexes and cables are in English.
- More than half of the world's technical and scientific periodicals are in English
- English is the medium for 80% of the information stored in the world's computers
- English is the language of navigation, aviation and of Christianity; it is the ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches
- Five of the largest broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, BBC and CBC) transmit in English, reaching millions and millions of people all over the world.
zdroj: https://www.englishlanguageguide.com/