Thread: Ten Things Americans Don't Know About America

Originally Posted by Полуношник

English is the international language because North America was a colony of the U.K.

But it wasn't even close to the status it has now while America was an English colony; now, there are over 300 million native English speakers worldwide, and 1.8 billion people who can speak it; the number of people who can speak it is 5.5 times higher than the number of native speakers; no else language can compete with these numbers; now, do you think it was British guys who we should thank for that? =))

Originally Posted by Eric C.

no else language can compete with these numbers; now, do you think it was British guys who we should thank for that? =))

Eric, do you know what the UK is (were)?

Originally Posted by Paul G.

Eric, do you know what the UK is (were)?

A state consisting of Britain (which in turn consists of England, Scotland and Wales) & part of Ireland (which is called "Northern Ireland); used to have colonies all over the world in the past, the largest of which were part of the modern territory of the U.S. and India; (I may seem a bit arrogant, but I'm not ignorant )

So?...

Originally Posted by Eric C.

So?...

"So", it just means that English language was an official language of the empire. The US has nothing to do with that. The US only supports this trend.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

"So", it just means that English language was an official language of the empire. The US has nothing to do with that. The US only supports this trend.

There are plenty of countries that are not colonies of any empire, and in fact have never had anything to do with the British empire, and where almost everyone speaks fluent English now; and it wasn't this way in the time of the British empire. What do you think of that? Who/what made them speak the language? =))

Originally Posted by Eric C.

There are plenty of countries that are not colonies of any empire, and in fact have never had anything to do with the British empire, and where almost everyone speaks fluent English now; and it wasn't this way in the time of the British empire. What do you think of that? Who/what made them speak the language? =))

You should call these countries. I don't know any of them. Yes, some people in the world know English very well. But if you have ever had a conversation with a citizen of those states, you could notice that they have a very poor English, sometimes even worse than I have now.

About numbers.

Eric wrote: "But it wasn't even close to the status it has now while America was an English colony; now, there are over 300 million native English speakers worldwide, and 1.8 billion people who can speak it; the number of people who can speak it is 5.5 times higher than the number of native speakers; no else language can compete with these numbers; now, do you think it was British guys who we should thank for that? =))"

The real facts: Commonwealth of Nations, a voluntary association of 54 countries founded by the UK, unites 1.8 billion people who can speak English. Look, the same number here (1.8 ) and the same is there (1.8 ).
Yes, Commonwealth corresponds to the empire in general. But who can tell that the UK have nothing to do with the expansion of English language (even today)? Especially after we found out the facts you must know, Eric, since you are trying to live among the English-speaking people.

Originally Posted by Paul G.

... since you are trying to live among the English-speaking people.

It's not right to say it. Sounds personal.