The Industrial Revolution

[expat]

...English was the common language that was most likely to be spoken by two people of different nationalities when they met, as a result it remained long after the empire itself has gone.

to America.

[DaveB]

Listening to a piece on R4 yesterday a.m. about English being the international language of the air. Got me to wondering why this was, so I started to think about the empire, got me to wondering why THAT was, which got me to thinking about the Industrial Revolution.

I started to wonder if other countries teach it the same way we do, I mean do other countries say 'oh yes, it all started in England'

The use of English as a Lingua Franca stems from the days of Empire. English was the language of the Empire and if you wanted to have a say in anything you learnt to speak it. We didnt bother learning the local gibberish, we just shouted at them and pointed guns at them untill they did what we wanted. As a result English became the language of the administrators in every country of the Empire. At it's height a quarter of the worlds population were British subjects.

With the collapse of Empire in the early 20th century and the beginning of international travel English was the common language that was most likely to be spoken by two people of different nationalities when they met, as a result it remained long after the empire itself has gone.

[Moscow Mule]

Wikipedia has a long (and pretty tedious) article. I can't be bothered tracing all of the contributors, but it seems pretty Britain-centric.

[BrowneIssue]

Listening to a piece on R4 yesterday a.m. about English being the international language of the air.

Except where it is Spanish.

[Archangel]

Listening to a piece on R4 yesterday a.m. about English being the international language of the air. Got me to wondering why this was, so I started to think about the empire, got me to wondering why THAT was, which got me to thinking about the Industrial Revolution.

I started to wonder if other countries teach it the same way we do, I mean do other countries say 'oh yes, it all started in England'

Scotland

- A jock

[EternalOptimist]

Listening to a piece on R4 yesterday a.m. about English being the international language of the air. Got me to wondering why this was, so I started to think about the empire, got me to wondering why THAT was, which got me to thinking about the Industrial Revolution.

I started to wonder if other countries teach it the same way we do, I mean do other countries say 'oh yes, it all started in England'