Article: Why learn English

Why learn English

Learning to speak English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life.
That’s right. Do you think it would be fun to have access to information that other people can’t get? Talk and write letters to interesting people that others can’t communicate with? Impress people around you whenever you opened your mouth? Make big jumps in your career, leaving others miles behind?
You can get all this if you speak English well.

Get access to knowledge

What are you interested in? Is it science? Music? Computers? Health? Business? Sports? Today’s media — such as the Internet, television, and the press — give you almost unlimitedaccess to knowledge about your favorite subjects. After all, we live in the information age, don’t we?
There’s only one problem. Most of this knowledge is in English.

Here are some examples of knowledge you can use if you know English:

• Most pages on the Web. That’s over a billion (1,000,000,000) pages of information! It’s amazing that learning just one language gives you access to almost all knowledge on the Internet.

• Books — on any subject, from all over the world. Read books by British or American authors, and books translated from other languages. Whatever you’re interested in, you can read about it in English!

• The press. Only English-language magazines and newspapers can be bought in every part of the world. You don’t have to search for Time, Newsweek, or the International Herald Tribune!

• Science. English is the key to the world of science. In 1997, 95% of the articles in the Science Citation Index were written in English. Only about 50% of them were from English-speaking countries like the USA or Britain. (source)

• News reports. Watch international television networks, such as CNN International and NBC. They broadcast news much faster, and more professionally, than smaller, national networks. And you can watch them everywhere in the world.

Communicate with people

We like to call English “the language of communication”. Why? Because it seems all the people in the world have agreed to use English to talk to each other.

• About 1,500,000,000 people in the world speak English. Another 1,000,000,000 are learning it. (source)

• 75% of the world’s letters and postcards are written in English. (source)

• Almost all international conferences and competitions are conducted in English. For example, the Olympics and the Miss World contest.

• Diplomats and politicians from different countries use English to communicate with each other. English is the main language of organizations like the United Nations, NATO, and the European Free Trade Association.

If you can communicate in English, you can:

• Contact people from all over the world. Talk about your ideas and opinions on Internet discussion groups. Send e-mail to interesting people. Learn about their life and culture.

• Travel more easily. Communicate with people wherever you go — English is spoken in more than 100 countries (source). Ask directions, have a conversation, or... ask for help. Who knows, maybe English will save your life someday!

Push your career forward

If you want a good job in business, technology, or science, get out of that armchair and start learning English now! (If you already have a good job, start learning before you lose it!)

Knowing English will let you:

• Put “excellent knowledge of English” on your CV. Get your dream job, and earn more money.

• Gain technical knowledge. English is the language of technology, especially high technology like computer science, genetics, and medicine. If you’re going to read about technology, you’ll probably have to do it in English.

• Learn computer science. Read technical articles without difficulty. Or write your own articles!

• Be a world-class businessman (or -woman). It’s simple. International business is done in English. And all business today is international. So if you want to play, you have to know English — to contact other businesspeople, go to conferences, read international business newspapers and magazines, etc.

• Become a better scientist. Contact scientists from other countries, go to internationalconferences, visit academic centers abroad. Learn about new scientific discoveries by reading papers, books, and magazines.

• Use your computer more effectively. Most computer applications are in English, so you will understand them better — and become a better employee.

• Learn new skills for your job. The section “Get access to knowledge” explains how English helps you learn.

Enjoy art like never before

English lets you feel the culture of the world like no other language. With a good knowledge of the English language, you can do wonderful things:

• Watch American and British films in the original. Once you try it, you’ll never go back to dubbed versions!

• Read great books. Every famous book was written in English or it was translated into English. There is an amazing number of titles — from classic plays like Hamlet to modern thrillers like Jurassic Park.

• Enjoy English-language music more. Believe us: music is much better if you can understand the words.

English is easy to learn

English is not only the most useful language in the world. It is also one of the easiest languages to learn and to use:

• Simple alphabet — no special symbols such as é or ä. Type in sweet, part, film on your computer. Now try süß (German), część (Polish), фильм (Russian). Which is easier?

• Easy plurals — simply add s to a word. One car, five cars; one telephone, two telephones... There are very few exceptions.

• Words are easy to learn. In French, it’s la fille and le chien. In German, it’s dasMädchen and der Hund. In English, they’re just a girl and a dog. And that’s all you need to know.

• Short words. Most of the basic words are short: run, work, big, go, man. Long words are often shortened: sitcom = situational comedy, fridge = refrigerator, OS =operating system. Speaking English saves you time. :-)

• Words don’t change. But in many languages, one word has many forms:

English: The man is blind.German: Der Mann ist blind.English: This is a blind man.German: Das ist ein blinder Mann.
English: I see a blind man.German: Ich sehe einen blinden Mann.

• Call everybody “you”. You can say “Do you speak English?” to your friend or to your teacher. In other languages, you have to use the right word for the right person. In English, everybody is equal. :-)

• English is everywhere. You can easily access English-language television, music, websites, magazines, etc. You don’t have to learn from boring textbooks. You can learn and use your English at the same time. Using your English is especially important because it increases your desire to learn.

Get satisfaction

English is not only useful — it gives you a lot of satisfaction:

• Making progress feels great. We’ll never forget the moment we discovered we could speak with Americans or watch TV in English.

• You will enjoy learning English, if you remember that every hour you spend gets you closer to perfection.

• Using English is fun, too, because every sentence you speak or write reminds you of your success.

English makes you a more powerful, happier person. It is not difficult to imagine some situations where knowing English gives you a great feeling.

We hope that, with our help, your progress in English will soon give you a lot of satisfaction, too. Many people have followed our methods and watched their “English power” grow very quickly. You can read about these people in the Successful English learners section of Antimoon.com.

FROM: http://www.antimoon.com/other/whylearn.htm

Why Learn English: 10 Reasons to Learn English

There are many reasons to learn English, but because it is one of the most difficult languages to learn it is important to focus on exactly why it is you want to learn English. Here we will look at ten great reasons why English is so important. Post this list somewhere you can see it and it will montivate you to keep going even when you are tired of trying to figure out which witch is which!

1- English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Throughout the world, when people with different languages come together they commonly use English to communicate.

2- Why learn English when it is so difficult? Well, knowing English will make you bilingual and more employable in every country in the world.

3- Despite China, the United States is still a leader in technical innovation and economic development. English is used in the United States and in each of these fields.




4- English is commonly spoken throughout much of the world due to Great Britian’s expansion during the colonial age. People in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, parts of Africa, India, and many smaller island nations speak English. English is the commonly adopted second language in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. Speaking English opens these countries and cultures up to you.






5- Another reason why English is so important is that it is the language of science. To excel in science you need to know English.


6- English is based on an alphabet  and, compared to Chinese, it can be learned fairly quickly.






7- English is also the language of the Film Industry and English means you no longer have to rely on subtitles.


8- In the United States, speaking English immediately opens up opportunities regardless of your ethnicity, color, or background.


9- Learn English and you can then teach your children English -- or if they are already learning, you can now communicate with them in English.


10- English speakers in the United States earn more money than non-English speakers. Learning English will open your job prospects and increase your standard of living.

FROM: http://www.5minuteenglish.com/why-learn-english.htm

Why Should You Learn English? 

Learning English is one of the best decisions one can make in order to improve their communication skills. Various statistics show that there are over three hundred million people in the world who speak English as a second language, and there are over one hundred million more who use the language as a preferred form of communication. Today, English is the official language of business communications in most countries, and here are some more reasons why you should learn the language.

1- Learning English will always keep you ahead of the curve. It will allow you to get access to information that non-English speakers cannot get, such as updates, world news and current events. These are normally communicated using English. If you employ people, learning English will help to eliminate staff mistakes caused by a language barrier. If you're writing your résumé, being able to write down you are capable of speaking english gives you a huge advantage.

2- You will gain confidence by writing and talking in English. If you learn it, your communication and writing skills will be enhanced and your customer service skills will also be improved. By knowing just what your customers need, you can provide them with what they are looking for.

3- You will be able to more easily impress your clients. As we said earlier, most businesses do transactions in English- you can be greatly successful in business if you can communicate effectively with business partners, customers and employers.

In this technological age, Internet access is becoming a right rather than a privilege. Many businesses are now choosing to have their employees learn English online to save both money and time. If you are having difficulty learning how to sharpen your communication skills, you can use the Internet to further your English speaking. These services can help anyone from an intermediate to a native speaker, and you can learn from the comfort of home on your schedule. Most courses will allow you to pay as you go.

No one can deny the impact of globalization on society and business- it has truly changed the way we communicate with people all over the world. To help you be a more effective communicator, you need a reliable way to learn and retain English.

FROM: http://www.coachenglish.com/why-should-you-learn-english.php