The Gift of English

One of the current controversies facing our community and our country involves the English language. Why, people ask, should everyone have to learn English? Why print documents only in English? Why force applicants for citizenship to learn English?

Let me give my answer to this below. You will see how my position on this issue is based on the knowledge that when we provide someone the opportunity to learn English we are not being domineering or insensitive. Instead we are giving them a gift. The gift of English.

How could it have happened that the language of one little island has spread around the world? England was no more imperialistic or conquering in the last few centuries than any other country. How was it possible to spread its language so far and wide?

The answer lies in the qualities of English itself. All languages are wonderful. All languages have unique characteristics. Many languages even have a particular quality that is better than the same quality in English. Some people, for example, feel that certain types of poetry can better be expressed in Spanish than in English. But the success of English is due to the fact that it has gathered in one language more useful characteristics than any other language on earth.

English is the most powerful, efficient, subtle and flexible language on earth. It was bound to occur that among the hundreds of languages developed by humans over the millennia, one would incorporate the largest group of desirable features. English just happened to be that language. Any other language that had been first to include all the benefits of English would have swept the world instead. English didn’t conquered the world because it was imposed more than any other language. It conquered the world because of its own inherent characteristics.

The Characteristics of English

Efficiency

Think of a company that produces a product more efficiently than its competitors. That company will outpace its competitors. The same is true of languages. English is the most efficient language on earth. It takes an average of 30% more space to express an idea in another language than in English. People who write text materials for translation into other languages have to leave 30% white space on a page to allow room for translation.

English achieves this efficiency in a number of ways. Native English speakers are so used to shortcuts, that they don’t even realize that not all languages offer them. For example, abbreviating a word or using an acronym for a group of words is not possible in all languages. Take this sentence for example:

Mr. Smith’s newest shirts were Mrs. Smith’s birthday gift.

If you wanted to say that in another language it might go something like this:

The shirts the most new of Mister Smith were the gifts of Mistress Smith on his yearly day of birth.

The ability to substitute “apostrophe s” for the word “of” shortens the sentence greatly. So does the option of saying Mr. instead of Mister. We shorten our sentences in other ways, too. Think of contractions such as doesn’t, haven’t, I’ll, he’s and John’s (for John is). Nor do all languages offer the ability to say ASAP, SASE, CBS, IRA, AKA.

Another characteristic that adds efficiency to English is its use of a writing system based on sounds. The number of sounds we use in English is far fewer than the number of concepts we can express. Some other fine languages are hampered by a system of writing which requires a different shape for every concept, rather than using a different shape for every sound.

Who knows? Maybe the efficiency of English was an unappreciated secret weapon in World War II. Since we were able to make all of our coded messages 30% shorter than those of the enemy, it would have given the enemy less opportunity to grab them out of the air. But theirs had to be 30% longer, which gave us more opportunity to detect their messages.

Flexibility

English is an amazingly flexible and adaptable language. It easily accepts words from other languages and makes them its own. Not all languages can comfortably do this. We can even create words ourselves and have them understood. Abbreviate “knock out” to “KO” and the following sentence is still easily comprehended: The winner KO’d the loser in the fifth round.

Power and Subtlety

Because of its ability to adopt words from other languages, English may have the largest vocabulary on earth. It contains close to half a million words. This makes English very powerful, and capable of expressing very subtle differences with great precision. This quality alone has been invaluable in the scientific domain.

Compare this to a certain Indian language in the southern U.S. It has only 400 words. This limited vocabulary forces speakers to do things like repeat a word in order to emphasize it, and say it three times in order to add more emphasis.

Non-native speakers say that English is a difficult language. It’s generally assumed that this refers to its grammar. But basic English is actually one of the easiest languages in terms of grammar. Our verb endings are a cinch when compared to those of other languages, and we don’t have to make gender agreements on articles and adjectives.

The thing that makes English difficult is the same thing that gives it variability and precision: its huge vocabulary and large number of idioms. As one example, a slight change in a preposition following a verb totally changes the meaning of the verb. So novices can learn basic English easily, but power users never stop learning English.

A Valuable Skill

When we teach English to our immigrant students, we are not being dictators. When we ask potential citizens to learn English, we are not being insensitive and domineering. Instead, we are offering them a gift, the gift of English. We are giving them the most powerful communication tool on Earth. English is a popular language because it is a great language. We can be proud of using it.