since i spend most of my time in shanghai and various other cities in mainland china, it often feels like the world is made up largely of mandarin speakers. considering the sheer magnitude of the chinese population, the 1.3 billion people that have lured mobile phone manufacturers and automobile makers and consumer goods conglomerates to this part of the world, my inclination seems to make perfect sense.

however, some observers estimate that the number of english language speakers, both native and non-native, currently exceeds the roughly 1.37 billion mandarin speakers concentrated in china, taiwan, and singapore. and, interestingly enough, it’s the number of non-native english speakers that helps push the number to the top.

if you count native speakers based largely on the populations of countries that predominantly use english ╟ the united states, the united kingdom, canada, australia, south africa, new zealand, ireland, and the rest ╟ some experts say you’ll come up with a total of around 375 million people. but you’ve got over 300 million people studying english in china, nearly five times the population of the united kingdom. and an estimated two billion people around the world are learning english.

certainly not everyone studying english qualifies as an english speaker. but those that do (not only on the mainland but in india, indonesia, and other countries) propel the total number of english speakers into the same stratosphere as the number of people who speak mandarin, and perhaps even beyond.

so what does it mean when non-native speakers of a language outnumber native speakers?

well, already, english is the predominant language in airports and academic conferences, the language used among air traffic controllers and diplomats. it’s the language most available on the internet, as well as at international sports competitions. so, certainly, the usage of english has not been limited to english-speaking countries.

and when i visit one of our ef english first schools in china, the energy and enthusiasm i consistently witness are indicative that the desire to learn english continues unabated. while a language is usually a symbol of national identity, i think it’s fair to say that our students are sincerely embracing the essence of english itself. they infuse the language not so much with a sense that it belongs to another country, but with an internationally-oriented optimism about what a future successfully speaking english might bring.

of course, in the west and elsewhere, the study of mandarin has certainly grown in tandem with the explosive mainland economy. after the worldwide financial crisis of 2008, asia is largely regarded as the engine powering global economic growth, so the spotlight on china will undoubtedly remain fixed. interest in offering mandarin to young, school-age children in the united states has even resulted in a shortage of native chinese speakers in some academically-focused american communities.

so where will we all be, language-wise, ten years from now? will mandarin speakers come roaring back into the lead? or will english reign as the global lingua franca? and we can’t forget the hefty numbers of spanish and hindi speakers. all i can say is, interest in learning another language only means better communication for everyone, and a deeper understanding of other cultures. that can only be a good thing. and on that note, as they say in sweden, vi far se. we shall see…

bill fisher，現(xiàn)任英孚教育中國區(qū)ceo。fisher先生于1996年創(chuàng)辦了英孚教育網(wǎng)上教學(xué)系統(tǒng)englishtown，并擔(dān)任該網(wǎng)站的總裁和首席執(zhí)行官長達(dá)10年之久。2006年，他擔(dān)任英孚中國區(qū)ceo一職，全面負(fù)責(zé)英孚在中國的運(yùn)營與管理。除了供職于英孚的執(zhí)行委員會和 englishtown.com網(wǎng)站的董事會，fisher先生還活躍于一些創(chuàng)業(yè)組織，比如digital divide data、gamefederation ab等等，擔(dān)任他們的理事會成員和顧問。fisher先生畢業(yè)于常春藤盟校之一的布朗大學(xué)，獲得了計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)的學(xué)士學(xué)位；其后，在斯德哥爾摩經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院攻讀經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)碩士學(xué)位。

ef 英孚教育創(chuàng)立于1965年，是全球最大的私人英語教育機(jī)構(gòu)，主要提供海外英語培訓(xùn)、出國留學(xué)、海外游學(xué)、大學(xué)預(yù)科、海外實(shí)習(xí)、英美高中等課程項(xiàng)目。英孚的語言培訓(xùn)學(xué)校遍布在全球50 多個(gè)國家。英孚ef是2008北京奧運(yùn)會語言培訓(xùn)服務(wù)供應(yīng)商。ef英孚與2009年與劍橋esol建立國際合作，共同計(jì)劃研究如何改善學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)英語的方法。