The Need to Learn English in a Connected World: A Common Language for Communication Beyond Borders.

Our world is increasingly becoming connected. We have heard of terms and phrases such as; globalisation, one-world, and connected world used in various contexts to describe how connected or are increasingly becoming connected into a global society. We can argue that the need for international business, finance and politics is making it necessary to stay abreast. Indeed, when people utter the expression 'it's a small world' in social contexts to mean that someone they know knows someone else. That expression can be used to describe just how small our world has become. Apart from scattered and isolated aboriginal communities, we are living in a world connected by the Internet, the World Wide Web with its cornucopia of resources, newspapers-print or electronic, Internet connected messenger services such as email and WhatsApp or WeChat and a plethora of apps for the computer and smartphone. The explorers of the past will be astounded to know, if they come back today, to see how far humanity has covered the planet with almost every inhabitable nook and cranny on the planet having become familiar to all.

In such a world where information is now at a premium for decision making for all sorts of reasons, a common language is often held to be an efficacious means of communication. Even though the need or desire and the accruing benefits of multilingualism, a common language can make communication beyond borders easy, without code switching or code mixing, or choosing a language from an array of them in order to communicate. Hence, many now see English as the preferred lingua franca for communicating beyond borders. The reasons for the need to learn English are as follows; international trade & finance, multinational corporation business, international politics, interpersonal communications, and tourism.

International trade and finance are a common phenomenon these days. Capitalism requires the consumption of raw materials and the resultant manufacture of finished products for domestic and foreign consumption. This is needed in order to keep money in circulation in the economy which in turn keeps employment for the citizen of a country. Domestic consumption alone never suffices for a country to generate tax revenue in order to run a country. Exports are needed to increase earnings of companies, sustain employment and increase national income. Even communist countries concede to the need for international trade. Many communist countries such as the People's Republic of China, The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the Republic of Cuba encourage their people, including school children, to learn English as they realise its importance in international business. If there are a multiplicity of languages for people to know in order to facilitate international trade, it will become difficult to communicate with one another. People will have to learn many languages while learning academically related subjects needed to gain employment. It will be an overload and burden on them. Also, international finance is required to fuel business and trade. Banks often borrow from foreign banks or financial institutions in other countries. Reinsurance companies and large insurance companies and large-scale finance companies. This will make it absolutely necessary for their staff to make financial arrangements quickly. With a common business language, the work flow will be very fast and not requiring cumbersome translating and re-translating. So the use of English makes for ease of conducting international trade and finance easy. 

Multinational corporation businesses use English as much as possible. Many large multinational corporations such Nestles, Mondelez, Johnson & Johnson, M&Ms, British Petroleum, Anglo-Dutch Shell, HSBC, BAE Systems and others use English as the standard language in their day to day business. It makes for a common denominator in all business transactions and corporate communications. Wherever these companies have their offices, factories or other kinds of installations, English assists in internal and external communications.

International diplomacy uses English as its language of choice. The United Nations (UN) and also other international organisations such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Bank and other regional organisations such as the Association of South East Asian Nations use English in their day to day dealings. If the national languages of each component nation were used then there will be great difficulty in getting work done and they will be making slow progress in their efforts. Even organisations such as Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and Non-Governmental Agencies (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace use English for their daily work internationally. Therefore by using English as a standard language, they save time from translation and can work faster.

Interpersonal communications have grown exponentially in recent years with the Internet being used to support social media services such as the ever popular and ubiquitous Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, Vimeo and myriad other social media platforms. The popularity of these platforms shows the growth in the need for interpersonal communications. While many social media platforms support various national languages, English as a common language makes it easy for people located far from one's national borders to communicate with people all over the world.

As well as that a people travel more and more often abroad as tourists, travelers and adventure seekers. The use English by hotels and resorts is increasing. Although their day to day business maybe in the local language, knowledge of English is useful to their staff in dealing with guests.

To sum up, it can be seen that to conduct international trade, finance, business, interpersonal communications, tourism and interpersonal communications, English is needed to be learnt. A common language makes it easier to be understood, makes working easier and makes communicating for whatever purpose all the more easier.