A website called Internet World Stats estimates that over 1.8 billion people are using the internet (as of December 2009).  That's more than one out of every 6 people on the planet.  On the chart to the right you can see that the largest group of internet users are estimated to be in Asia (42%), then Europe (24%) and then North America (14%).  Today's technology tip is about what language they are using online and how that's changing the world.

According to a recent Foreign Policy Magazine article (Wyne, Ali.  "The Language of Empire." June 6, 2009.)  Half the world's population is projected to be speaking English by 2015.  Currently English is a first language for approximately 400 million people and a fluent second language for between 300 and 500 million more.  Add to that another 750 million who have studied English as a foreign language.   That's over 1 billion members of the "English Speaking World."

Why the huge increase in English Language users?  The internet and computers have a lot to do with it.  As you can see on the chart to the right, it is estimated that about 28% of internet users are using English.  Chinese is the next largest language at 23%.  That means approximately half the internet is in either English or Chinese.  Even as the share of Chinese websites continues to increase, the internet's English language origins and the growth of the internet in places like India will probably keep it as the number one language.

Below are some links of interest that deal specifically with the worldwide English language trend:

   Indian English
   Transcript of a radio interview about the growth of English
    http://www.abc.net.au/rn/arts/ling/stories/s1298284.htm

   Not the Queen's English
   Newsweek International article about globalization and English
   http://www.newsweek.com/id/49079

   English Could Snowball on the Net
   Technical article about the potential for Internet English
   http://www.trnmag.com/Stories/2001/112101/
   English_could_snowball_on_Net_112101.html

   Innocent English
   Purely for entertainment, some funny English signs 
   http://www.innocentenglish.com/category/funny-english-mistakes-bloopers

   Simple English Wikipedia
   For those who are learning English, a simplified Wikipedia
   http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

PRACTICE ACTIVITY:  Check out some of the links above to learn more about how the internet is having an impact one languages world wide.

TO KEEP ON LEARNING:  To learn more about how English seems to be growing as a second language world wide try searching for:

Indian English
English on the internet
Use of English Online

Have a nice day!

	Web www.180techtips.com

 

Technology Tips Index:
 

	Microsoft Windows
	Internet
	Computer Hardware
	MS Outlook
	MS PowerPoint
	MS Excel
	MS Word
1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20
21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30
31	32	33	34	35
36	37	38	39	40
41	42	43	44	45
46	47	48	49	50
51	52	53	54	55
56	57	58	59	60
61	62	63	64	65
66	67	68	69	70
71	72	73	74	75
76	77	78	79	80
81	82	83	84	85
86	87	88	89	90
91	92	93	94	95
96	97	98	99	100
101	102	103	104	105
106	107	108	109	110
111	112	113	114	115
116	117	118	119	120
121	122	123	124	125
126	127	128	129	130
131	132	133	134	135
136	137	138	139	140
141	142	143	144	145
146	147	148	149	150
151	152	153	154	155
156	157	158	159	160
161	162	163	164	165
166	167	168	169	170
171	172	173	174	175
176	177	178	179	180

Home & Index
Mission Statement
Links

Sign Up Now!
to get
Free Daily Technology Tips

Copyright © 2006- 180TechTips.com