The fall of the English language?

What is the future of the English language?

Will Mandarin Chinese replace English as the language of business? Should native English speakers learn another language?

With companies around the world increasingly doing business in English, it might seem like English is quickly becoming the world’s lingua franca. But a book (shown on the right) featured in the Economist argues that’s not the case.

A growing number of people are learning English as a second language, while the number of native English speakers is not increasing as fast. So what happens when people decide to stop learning English? Will another language take its place?

The advancement of technology and translation may even crumble language barriers in the future. It is becoming easier to communicate with someone through the aid of an interpreter. And with the new Word Lens app on the iPhone, we can see a bright future for translation technology!

What are your thoughts about the future of the English language? Is it too soon to predict its downfall?