In numbers of speakers as well as in its uses for international communica- tion and in other less quantifiable1 measures，English is one of the most important languages of the world. Spoken by more than 370 million people as a first language in the United Kingdom，the United States，and the former British Empire，it is the largest of the occidental languages. English，however，is not the most widely used language in the world. Chinese is spoken by more than a billion people in China alone. Some of the European languages are comparable with English in reflecting the forces of history，especially with regard to European expansion since the sixteenth century. Spanish，next in size to English，is spoken by about 240 million people，Russian by 210 million，Portuguese by 125 million，German by 110 million，French by 85 million native speakers ( and a large number of second-language speakers ) ，Italian by 65 million. A language may be important as a lingua franca in a country or region whose diverse populations would otherwise be unable to communicate. This is especially true in the former colonies of England and France whose colonial languages have remained indispensable even after independence and often in spite of outright hostility to the political and cultural values that the European languages represent.
French and English are both languages of wider communication，and yet the changing positions of the two languages in international affairs during the past century illustrate the extent to which the status of a language depends on extra-linguistic factors. It has been said that English is recurringly associated with practical and powerful pursuits. Joshua A. Fishman writes:“ In the Third World ( excluding former English-speaking and French-speaking colonies) French is considered more suitable than English for only one function: opera. It is considered the equal of English for reading good novels or poetry and for personal prayer ( the local integrative language being widely viewed as superior to both English and French in this connection) . But outside the realm of aesthetics，the Ugly Duckling reigns supreme.
The ascendancy of English as measured by numbers of speakers in various activities does not depend on nostalgic attitudes toward the originally English-speaking people or toward the language itself. Fishman makes the point that English is less loved but more used;French is more loved but less used. And in a world where “ econo-technical superiority”is what counts,“ the real‘ powerhouse’is still English. It doesn??t have to worry about being loved because，loved or not，it works. It makes the world go round，and few indeed can afford to‘ knock it. ’”
If“ econo-technical superiority ” is what counts，we might wonder about the relative status of English and Japanese. Although spoken by 125 million people in Japan，a country that has risen to economic and technical dominance since World War Ⅱ，the Japanese language has yet few of the roles in international affairs that are played by English or French. The reasons are rooted in the histories of these languages. Natural languages are not like programming languages such as Fortran or LISP，which have gained or lost international currency over a period of a decade or two. Japan went through a two-century period of isolation from the West ( between1640 and 1854) during which time several European languages were establishing the base of their subsequent expansion.
Notes on language a nd cultur e
1. quantifiable: that can be measured or counted in a scientific way
2. former British Empire : British Empire is a collective term for the territories under the leadership or control of the British Crown，including those in the Commonwealth of Nations and their colonies，etc. Here the “ former British Empire” refers to such countries as Canada，Australia，New Zealand，India，Singapore，Sri Lanka，and Uganda.
3. occidental languages: languages including English，and other European languages
4. with regard to: a phrase used to indicate the subject that is being talked or written about
5. lingua franca: language or way of communication used between people who do not speak one another??s native language
6. diverse populations: people who are very different from each other
7. indispensable: If you say that someone or something is indispensable，you mean that they are absolutely essential and other people or things cannot function without them.
8. outright: used to describe behavior and actions that are open and direct，rather than indirect
9. extra-linguistic factors: factors that have nothing to do with languages
10. recurringly: repeatedly
11. in this connection: a formal expression used to indicate what is being talked about is related to what has just been mentioned
12. the realm of aesthetics: the field in which the appreciation of beauty is involved
13. the Ugly Duckling reigns supreme: This expression refers to English which did not show any sign of potential power or promising future at first but it has now become the most important and powerful language in the world.
14. ascendancy: If something has ascendancy over other things，it has more power or influence than them.
15. Where econe-technical superiority is what counts: Where a nation is judged by the advantage it has over other nations in terms of economic power and advanced technology it possesses.
16. has risen to economic and technical dominance: has become more powerful than other countries both in economy and in science and technology
17. Fortran or LISP: Fortran is a problem-solving computer language widely used in scientific work; LISP is a high-level computer programming language designed to create a complex chains of operations and data and used in artificial intelligence research.
18. gained international currency: used or accepted by a lot of people at a particular time
19. subsequent: happening afterwards C. Post -r eading a ctivity Think and answer the following questions:
1. What is the topic sentence of the first paragraph?
2. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?
3. What is the main idea of the third paragraph?