Last month, I was in Ireland for a chill-out week. After visiting museums, gardens, churches, and Trinity College, I took a pre-dawn bus for Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. The memorable trip to the latter, with its rugged beauty and birdlife, was almost matched by the cultural entertainment of the driver that included Irish songs and tales. He was a former history teacher and reminded us that English is actually a colonial language.

Under the British rule, Irish-Gaelic wasn’t taught in school; it was actually prohibited. The first time I heard about the EU Court of Justice’s decision to employ Irish-Gaelic translators and interpreters, I thought it was a waste of money because Irish people speak English. I now understand why and rightly so.

Mahatma Gandhi had said that “To give millions the knowledge of English is to enslave them.” He believed that the British colonial education subjugated the Indians. However, presently, Indians show pride in their English cultivated during British rule. Similarly, Filipinos, who were colonised by the Spaniards for 333 years and by the Americans for 48 years, have developed affection for Spanish and English. Nowadays, toddlers in the Philippines learn English words before their dialects.

English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world; approximately 1.5 billion, including around 370 million “native speakers”.  (The term “native speaker” is generally accepted in linguistics and language teaching to refer to someone who has spoken a language from early childhood. However, it can be seen as politically incorrect or exclusionary because dictionaries define “native” as relating to a person’s country or place of birth or someone who was born in a particular country or place. Instead, more inclusive terms are “fluent speaker”, “proficient user”, or simply specifying the context, like “first language speaker” or “language used at home”).

English is the official language in about 60 countries (i.e. the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country’s government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc.), which is around 30% of the world’s total. This includes Australia, Barbados, Canada, Jamaica, India (co-official with Hindi and several other languages), Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines (co-official with Tagalog), Singapore (one of the four official languages), South Africa (alongside 10 other languages), The United States, The United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago. If we include those that have English as an official language by de facto (not recognised by law), this increases to 75 countries (39%).

English is often the primary language of international business, with many multinational companies use it as their working language. It is the dominant language in scientific research and academic publications. At least 30% of Internet content is in English and a substantial proportion of films, music, and books is produced in this language, contributing to its influence, spread, and weight.

“English is not owned by anyone. It is a global language, and its future lies in the hands of its speakers.” – Linguist David Crystal.

We – users from many cultures and identities – shape the English language. Still, our grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and choice of words represent us in whatever we do. Poor usage of the English language harms our credibility and makes us appear inattentive.

I wish you a festive end-of-the-year celebration!