Global Language

A few days ago, a very good American friend sent me an email. He showed his surprised because introducing my name in Google, he discovered this blog. “When I saw your profile I knew you really were you” –he said- “however, unfortunately, I don’t understand a word”. That email made me think. Most of my friends, and of course the visitors of this blog, are Spanish speakers. I always write in Spanish except a few of my personal emails are writing in English and Italian. However, if I check my blog visiting counter I realized there are visitor from United Stated and from another non Spanish speakers countries (Egypt, Germany, Iceland). I supposed most of them are old students and a couple of friends who are living in those countries. –I supposed you used your blog to inform in which lines are you working and how your life is –my friend wrote me in his email-. And he was right. The reason was clear: He only understood the subtitle of the blog: “We keep in touch”, the only sentence written in English. English is the really international language. It’s impossible for anyone speaking Chinese, French or Danish and another hundreds languages. Maybe, and with a hard word, a person would be able to have a good command of a several ones. However, if you speak English and Spanish, you are able to communicate anything worldwide.

Generation of our parents, although it was not my particular situation, usually watch TV in their spare time. My generation –people around 30- watch TV and surf the net. In our teens, I remember how the lack of reading of their son was a typical conversation issue among my parent’s friends. Now days, the situation is absolutely different. Teenagers prefer surfing the net than watch TV. And they have to read….and write. And if they are interesting in some popular hobbies –computers, entertainment- they HAVE TO read in English. It’s not a coincidence English teaching, and also Spanish, is growing and growing. If you understand both languages you can surf the 90% of the net. And that is, simply, fabulous.