![]() Indeed, English's orthography was dubbed “ The Chaos” in an infamous work of poetry. You have no idea how many times I’ve heard “ why does it have to be so hard?” from my students. (A notable exception is the Netherlands and Dutch-speaking Belgian province of Flanders, where they also hold a similar contest.)Īs an English tutor, I can tell you that learning how to write and spell words takes up a significant portion of the initial stages of learning English. Naturally, this tendency eliminates the point of such contests. English aside, most languages have decided it’s reasonable that words should be spelled like they sound - or at least somewhat similarly. You might be surprised to know that in many other countries, spelling bees are only held for English learners, and not for other languages. So much so that spelling bee contests are held across almost the entire English-speaking world for young native speakers to demonstrate they can spell words properly. To put it bluntly, English’s orthography is a mess, and everybody knows that. (That is to say, the spelling.) Photo by Torsten Dederichs / Unsplash There is, however, one thing about English that is universally believed to be quite difficult by both native speakers and learners: the orthography. It manages just fine without many things crucial for the functioning of other languages, such as grammatical case, gender systems, or extended verb conjugation patterns. A simpler alternative will be found, and if one doesn’t exist, somebody might just make one.Įnglish, considered to be one of the easier languages to learn, does not have that problem. No matter what might have happened over the span of a particular few decades, if a language is too hard to learn and master, no one would think of using it internationally. However, taking a position is one thing, and holding it is another. The answer to the question of why English took its current position as a main means of international communication can be found in history and politics. ![]() More than that, English is used as a working language by most international organizations, including the United Nations, World Trade Organization, and the European Union. ![]() ![]() English is recognized as a state language in over 67 countries, as well as in 27 non-sovereign entities. It is learned in nearly every country in the world, starting from the first grade, and it is the language most people resort to when traveling or working abroad. English is the most popular foreign language in the world. ![]()
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