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When the United Kingdom began conquering lands all over the world and building its economy into a world powerhouse, English began to become the lingua franca of trade and business. Even though the United Kingdom was slowly replaced by the United States both economically and militarily, the United States being an English-speaking country only furthered English’s place as a global language. The dominance of English media has furthered the use of English worldwide, bringing English into many aspects of everyday life from recreation to business. The predominance of English in so many different spheres of life all over the world, it has started to be taught all over the world, but this has not been met with some resistance as people are worried that English will overtake their own languages in more than just Business and Media. As trade between countries picked up in the 1800s and the United States and Great Britain the demand for English picked up in the world of business. The predominance of American and British traders helped establish English as the lingua franca of business. With business expanding beyond just trading between merchants at port, English began to help businesses grow internationally. The increase in the use of English in businesses helped to make tourism easier as people could travel easily without needing to speak the language of the country they are visiting. This has made English a global language by increasing its use substantially. Employees of multinational corporations utilize their native languages while working in their home country and will use English to communicate between work sites in different countries. In travel, airports and transportation hubs in major cities use English to prevent foreign travelers from getting lost or confused. This also helps with business as foreign workers can make it to their destinations with ease. The pervasiveness of English in travel and business has helped spread media and popular culture from English speaking countries all over the world as well. People all over the world consume media produced in English speaking countries even when they do not realize it. Most international blockbusters tend to be made by American companies and then distributed worldwide. Radio stations all over the world play the latest hits from the US, the UK, and other English-speaking countries. Songs and Movies in English dominate the global market, so much that there is a chance you could walk into a random theater in another country and see a movie in English or walk into a random store and hear music playing in English. The predominance of English language media has allowed people from different countries to appreciate the same media instead of solely consuming different media in each country around the world. TV shows and movies from Japan or France can be subtitled in English so that those who speak English can appreciate them even if it is not their native language. Multinational events like Eurovision see many of their competitors sing in English in order to share their art with as many people as possible. English brings people together in this way as the global language of popular culture, and I believe that when people can share something like a movie, song, or book they are less likely to fight over petty differences. The English language slowly became a global language over the course of several centuries with it picking up pace after globalization became more widespread. Those leading the pack in its dissemination were the United Kingdom and the United States. The US and the UK were utilizing it at first for business, but as time passed, they realized they could use it for tourism and media as well. This increased the many different ways English could be used all over the world making it the lingua franca of our time. English being used as a global language brings people together from all over the world regardless of national origin. There may be a different language that overtakes English in the future, but for now it is the global language that unifies the people of the world through trade, tourism, popular culture, and more.
