Why English is Important, and Why I Feel Conflicted About It

The English language is taking over the world. All around the world, people are learning and studying English. Because we are living in an increasingly globalized world, people of many different backgrounds have recognized the importance of a lingua franca. I have been asking myself, "Why English? Why, out of all the thousands of languages out there, is the language that I happened to be raised with the one that everyone is learning? What's so special about my language anyway?"

This is because English is the language of the internet, the language of international business and affairs, the language of tourism, the language of the media, and the language of products distributed on a mass scale worldwide. Many websites, whether for fun or for business, are in English. Youtube users from many different countries post videos in their own language, but they also post videos in English because they know that they will get more views and reach a wider international audience using English. Some funny memes and jokes posted on websites such as 9Gag are posted by users who are not native speakers of English, and that is why there are occasional grammatical and spelling errors. But as an international community, we understand each other anyway. All around the world, there are television channels in English. Even here in Thailand, my host parents watch National Geographic shows on TV. While many American shows such as "Psych" and "Police Women of Dallas" have been dubbed in Thai or have subtitles, some TV shows have no translation at all, yet people watch them anyway. In Europe, this is more prevalent. In Sweden, I noticed that many shows are not translated. This is one reason why Swedes are so good at English--they hear it on the radio and watch it on TV every day. They learn it in school from a young age until they graduate from high school. It is pervasive and it is everywhere. But still I wonder, why English?

Here in Thailand, I am helping to teach English at a school for a development project. When you hear "international development," what comes to mind? Most people would think of voluntourism in Africa, helping out at an orphanage, helping to build houses or bathrooms, etc. When I signed up for this program, I had an option of choosing different organizations to work for. Why was being an English teacher an option? I wondered that for awhile. As I've thought about it, I've realized that it was an option because English is important for the development of a country. A country whose inhabitants can speak the lingua franca of the world are much more able and competitive in an internationally-oriented business scene.

There are many reasons why I feel an inner conflict about this. One of these reasons is the attitude that people in the Western world sometimes have about development. To quote my professor, Dr. Brown, "Many people have this idea that development is about going to another country and helping out our brown-skinned brothers. Like we somehow know the answers to their problems that they've been dealing with for years. This is not true at all. These people have been there for a long time, they know what works." That is very true. Thailand is by no means a starving or struggling country. They have their own way of doing things that works for them. And while it is right to help people, do we know how to do it the right way?

Just because English is the lingua franca does not make it a superior language, nor does it make us superior by any means. There is no superior race or superior culture. As I've traveled and studied languages, I've learned this firsthand. If someone speaks a different language but struggles with English, it does not mean that they are not smart. They think about the same things, they joke around, they are equally intelligent, and they are just as clever. It's just that they're doing that all in a different language.

 I think that because English is so widespread nowadays, one result is that Americans tend to be cut off from the rest of the world. They take it for granted that their culture is an everyday part of other countries. They take it for granted that other people speak their language, or should speak their language. And they see no reason to try to learn another language because it seems that there's no need to. I actually think there is a need, and that is the fact that learning another language, or at least trying to learn it, helps to open your mind. It helps you realize the world is much bigger than just one way of thinking or doing things. This is the kind of education that many people sorely lack.

While I think it is important that the world has a lingua franca, I also feel conflicted because I know that American culture is changing other cultures. And because the USA, UK, Canada, Australia, and other countries already have English-speaking citizens, people from these countries sometimes take it for granted that they can travel the world and use their own language. Tourists may get a bad reputation because they will go to other countries expecting the people there to speak English, and when the people sometimes don't understand, they get frustrated. I saw that happen here-- a white girl was trying to ask a somewhat complicated question to a Thai girl behind the register, and when the Thai girl didn't understand, she got frustrated. So I had to explain to her what to do. Or my friend met some Europeans who were trying to buy things with euros, and when the people didn't accept them, they didn't get it. She had to explain to them, "no, this is Thailand, where you use baht." Not all tourists are like this, but many are, and it gives us a bad reputation. And while I am helping (albeit in a small way) to equip students for the world by teaching English, I am also perpetuating these negative consequences of the spread of English.

Guys, when you travel, you need to conform to the ways of the country, not try to make the country conform to you. If you want things to be the way they are at home, then don't travel. But if you are willing to try to see life from a new perspective and be uncomfortable sometimes, then travel is definitely for you. You don't have to understand the culture 100%. You don't have to learn an entire new language either, but at least learn some basics of the language in the country where you're going. That will make things so much smoother for you, and the locals will respect you for trying. They will also more likely be friendly and helpful. And in learning a new way of doing things, you will become a more educated, more globally-thinking person.