Quote:
Originally Posted by bnk
English is by far has the largest number of speakers in the world.
|
Right, but not native speakers.
English didn't become the defacto language for business and cultural exchange until well after WW2. English wasn't the most important global language pre-WW2.
My parents, who both grew up in postwar Germany, both went to college-prep high schools, where you have to master two foreign languages. My dad chose French and Latin, my mom chose French and Italian.
No one would do that anymore. Everyone learns English as one of the required two languages. French was the next most important language in Germany until probably the 1970's. There were probably more French and even Russian speakers than English speakers in Germany until the 1980's. Now practically every German under 40 speaks some degree of English.