The Popularity of English
英语的普及
Good morning, every one. Today's lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know, English is widely used in the world.
大家早上好。今天的讲座主题是英语的普及。众所周知，世界上有很多人都在使用英语。
Although English is not the language with the largest number of native or first language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca.
虽然把英语作为母语或是第一语言的人不是最多的，但它确实成为了一种通用语。
Then what is a lingua franca?
那么什么是通用语呢？
The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communication between two speakers whose native languages are different from each other's,
这个术语是指，两个母语不同的人在交流中大量使用的语言，
and where one or both speakers are using it as a second language.
还有在交流中一方或者双方作为第二语言大量使用的一种语言。
For example, when an Indian talks to a Singaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca.
例如，当一个印度人用英语和一个新加坡人谈话时，英语就是通用语。
Then actually how many people speak English as either a first or a second language?
那么，到底有多少人把英语当作第一语言或是第二语言呢？
Some researchers suggested a few years ago that between 320－380 million people spoke English as a first language, and anyway between 250－350 million as a second language.
研究人员几年前表示有3.2到3.8亿人将英语作为第一语言，而2.5到3.6亿人将其作为第二语言。
And of course, if we include people who are learning English as a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically.
当然，如果我们把世界各地学英语的人也包括在内，这个数字可能会急剧增加。
Then we may ask a question: how did English get there?
然后我们可能会问一个问题：英语是怎么走到这一步的？
That is, how did English gain the present status of popularity? There are in fact a number of interlocking reasons for the popularity of English as a lingua franca.
也就是说，英语是如何达到现在的普及程度的？事实上，英语作为一种通用语言得到普及，有许多相互关联的原因。
Many of the reasons are historical, but they also include economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of the language.
许多原因是历史的，但也包括影响和维持语言传播的经济和文化因素。
Let's go through the reasons one by one.
让我们逐一讨论这些原因。