English: A Double-Edged Sword of Globalization

English is quite likely the most powerful language that exists in human society. No one can avoid being influenced by English, no matter where we are, English is always involved or been around somewhere. Besides, globalization made English as a test to measure whether people get qualified or they are capable to take an offer. However, English probably poses threat to certain languages when an increasing number of learning English reaches the peak due to globalization. So, it is possible people will disregard their native language while learning a second language. Thus, the existence of English is like a two-edged sword, impacting on not only the advantages but also deteriorates smaller languages. Yet, based on my cognitive, it benefits us more

Over a billion people throughout the world are learning or speaking English (Pike, 2013). Plenty of people share their opinions in English on social media. International conferences are usually held in English, ranging from education, technology and entertainment. Recent years, the governments throughout the world have tried to create an environment to allow young people begin to study English in elementary school. Now, it is easier to see the importance of English.

First of all, being bilingual is important. Generally, Mandarin and English are equally significant. In many places, they are needed by the employee in order to serve their customers. For instance, clerks need English to deal with international business, the more fluent English you can speak, the more possibility that you can serve them well, then you get more potential to be promoted.

Second, English impacts on the frequency that people notice English. Nowadays, we are acquiring convenience and many interesting things via the internet. Especially, YouTube and Facebook helped the spread of English, people tend to share their comments in English regardless of where they are, discovering foreign video is also one of the attribution. In other words, English is also the language of technology and science (Pike,

Different communities have different ways to express their humor, their love, their life, Mr. Hagege (Claude Hagege) said, who is a prominent French linguist. We can't fully understand other communities' the punch line and offend line. Cultures have different traits. Different traits have different uniqueness. Whether we can understand their meaning or not largely depends on where we have been brought up, because we are associated with different national characteristics. For example, thumbs up are usually considered as a sign of approval or agreement. But in Middle East, that is an offensive gesture. Middle East is also an important region for petroleum.

What to do with smaller languages?

Similarly, in Taiwan, although there are many different languages spoken like Hakka and Minnan, the amount of people who speak them have been declining. For Taiwanese originally came from a language spoken by people in Fujian Province, Mandarin became the only official language. In spite of the decline, scheme has been taken to save them by launching a Hakka TV station.

One language represents one culture. It is controversial that should we give up the survival of smaller languages in order to reach new major culture? Varieties of opinions, some people will willingly abandon, some will not, depending on people’s perspectives. Personally speaking, it is worth to preserve any kind of languages