Native speakers of English are inherently, infamously even, bad at learning other languages. Just over a third of Brits can speak a second language, according to Eurostat, well below European peers such as Germany (where 79 per cent can speak a second language), Italy (66 per cent), and France (60 per cent). A 2023 poll suggested that the reality of British monolingualism is even worse, with just 21 per cent of UK adults claiming that they can have a conversation in a modern language that isn’t their mother tongue.
The usual retort of these stubborn monoglots is simple: English is the international language of everything, from business to travel, programming to the arts. They have a point. The rest of the world, despite advances in automated translation and interpretation, has never been keener to learn decent English. The global market for English Language Learning was valued at 28.7 billion US dollars in 2024 and is projected to reach more than 70 billion US dollars by 2030. Where there’s English, it seems, there’s brass.
Beyond borders
English is the most spoken language worldwide, with around 1.5 billion people speaking it natively or fluently. English is the most common language on the language learning app Duolingo, topping the ratings in more than 120 countries. More than half of all content on the internet is written in English.
At least 90 per cent of global corporations list decent English knowledge as a prerequisite for jobs. It is the language of communication in any number of firms (such as Airbus, Daimler-Chrysler, Renault, Samsung, SAP) not based in English-speaking countries. Not speaking English remains a handicap in the business world, particularly in firms that want to operate beyond the borders of their own countries.
Understanding English is not just a language skill, it is a signal that someone understands how international business works. That they will pick up the subtleties that automated translation apps, no matter how efficient, will miss.
Compounding the dominance of English is simple fact that each additional English speaker makes the language more valuable for everyone else who speaks it. This creates a self-reinforcing momentum that other languages struggle to overcome. Mandarin, towards which middle-class parents in developed countries have for some time been pushing their offspring, has more native speakers than English and is the language of the world’s second-largest economy. But taking the time (and spending the hefty cash) needed to learn it makes sense only for those whose careers might centre on China.
Even then, Chinese tech firms expanding overseas use English for international operations, having (in some cases) learnt the hard way that they were speaking a language investors couldn’t parse.
The technology mirage
Translation technology has its uses. It handles routine communication adequately. Documentation, basic emails, and even simple product specifications can be dealt with by software tolerably well. But the translation services industry remains robust all the same, projected to grow from 32 billion US dollars in 2024 to 38 billion US dollars by 2033. This continued growth reflects the (current, at least) limits of machine translation, and suggests that few are banking on too much advance in the technology in the short term.
That’s no surprise, given that high-stakes situations require precision that algorithms cannot yet guarantee. Pharmaceutical companies need exact translations of medical documentation. Law firms cannot risk contract clauses that are ‘mostly correct’. A mistranslation in either field could cost millions, or more.
Beyond pure accuracy, translation software also struggles with context, tone and cultural nuance. Business negotiations, board meetings, investor pitches rely on reading signals, understanding implicit meanings, and building trust. Software translates words. It does not translate understanding.
The unfair reality
Which brings us back to our monolinguist Brits (or Americans). Native English speakers benefit from historical accident (or, if we’re being cynical, colonialism). They face no language barriers in international commerce. This advantage is both unearned and unfair, but it exists. Non-native speakers who achieve genuine fluency overcome this disadvantage often at considerable effort and expense. Those who remain at intermediate proficiency face career ceilings. Those who speak no English at all may find their career’s stall before they have even begun. Poorer countries that struggle to provide quality English education risk being left behind, widening global inequality.
But these inequities stem from English’s dominance, not its decline. The market for English skills keeps expanding precisely because fluency confers such clear advantages. Parents wondering which language their children should learn face a simple calculation. English is not the best language, but it is the language in which global business is conducted. Objections to the linguistic hegemony of English are perfectly valid, but they do not change the reality. The world does not organise itself around fairness.
Countries and companies will keep spending billions on English language learning. Workers will keep investing time and money in improving their English. The premium for fluency will persist: it may well increase. Translation software handles the easy part, such as converting words between languages. The harder part, understanding context, building relationships, navigating cultural differences, still requires human fluency. No algorithm changes that.
Reinvantage does not offer English language courses, but it does offer Beyond Borders: a programme that helps IT and BPO companies work confidently with international clients by aligning their teams with how German, UK, and US buyers actually think, decide, and judge partners. Find out more here.
Photo: Dreamstime.
