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Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1924, Page 2

In the year 1801 the number of people who spoke English was only 20.1300.000; by 1300 it had grown to 111.000,000; to-day it is 170.000.000. and is rapidly increasing. More than 10 per cent of tho world’s population use English as their only language. Bv 19.30. if

nothing unforeseen occurs, English will l>e used by twire ns many people as any other language, and by the year 2000 will lie the means of communication lietwoen one quarter of the inhabitants of the globe. More than that since Endish is being taught in the schools of almost every civilised country it seems certain that by that time more than half the world’s population will lie able to read English. There

can l)c hardly any doubt but that in the course of time, English is hound to become the world language. Let \is glance for a moment, says an English student, at rivals of English, the other languages used by the peoples of this planet. In 1801 French was the most widely used language. In Mullhall’s Dictionary of Statistics the number then speaking French is given at .‘ll .(>OO,OOO, or 50 per cent, in excess of English-speaking peoples. Next came Russian and third German, each with about 30.000,000 adhcrentis. Fourth was Spanish, spoken bv just over 20.000,000, and fifth Italian, used by 1.5,000,000 people. In the space of 120 years the number speaking French has increased hv only a fpiarer, and is to-day just over *10,000.000; 70,000,000 speak German, 50.000,000 Spanish, 35,000,000 Italian. The only European language apart front English which has increased on a grand scale is Itussian, which is to-day used by about 100,000.000 people. AYitli all due respect to the use and beauties of the Itussian language, it can hardly be said to he a serious rival to English. Chinese is still used by an immense number. The present population of China is supposed to he about 120,000.000. Hut Chinese is so cumbrous a language that educated Chinese themselves admit that it cannot possibly survive. The only living language besides English which is at present growing with any rapidity is Spanish. Spanish is the principal language of America from Mexico southwards, aiid the population of the South American countries is increasing rapidly. let even Spanish is no likely rival to English as a world language. At present three-cpiarters of all the world’s letters and postal packets are addressed in English, more than half the newspapers of the world are printed in •English, while their circulation is finite three times that of all the periodicals printed in other languages.