One and a half billion …. and counting

My students often ask whether British English is ‘better’ than American English. This is probably not a very wise question to ask a native speaker of American English, but overlooking that, what about the assumption behind their question? Is one variety of a language better than another or all the others? Ask a linguist and the answer will be, “Of course, not!” Ask the average citizen on the street, and maybe the answer isn’t so clear. As in most things, we are so quick to say something is better or worse instead of simply different. If we assume there is a “best” or “preferred” English, what would it be?

Would it be that found in the mother country, the Queen’s English? Should the choice be based on the number of speakers, meaning Indian English as the standard? Perhaps the standard would be chosen based on the relative prestige associated with the dialect. British English again, perhaps? Or should we select the dialect that has the greatest intelligibility worldwide? Would that mean American English? Whatever the choice, the language of millions of English-speaking people would be slighted. And believe it or not, there are more than 50 countries in which English is either an official language or a major one. This means a much greater variety of dialects and accents than one generally imagines.

Of all the linguae francae of the centuries, it is English, more than any other language, which has earned that title. There are estimated to be more than 400 million native speakers of English and according to David Crystal, author of “English as a Global Language,” non-native speakers now out-number native speakers 3 to 1. International organizations of all types, including the UN, the Council of Europe and the Organization of Islamic Countries, generally depend on English as at least one of the languages of communication. Even World Cup officials must be able to speak and write English. Global companies, too, have adopted English. One of my former students, a native of Japan, uses English to communicate with his Spanish-speaking subordinates in his company located in … Mexico. And on a personal level, English is probably the best language to know when traveling if you don’t speak that of the country you are visiting. Moreover, consider the predominance of English on the Internet and in the world of science and technology. Love it or hate it, English is the language to know.

Instead of pondering which variety of English is best, my students would be better off simply saying that the best language to learn is English, whatever the accent. English? It’s all good!