The Global Language

With the advancement of technology, people became more and more connected to each other. There were some people who tried to create a global language.

Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, a polish doctor, created Esperanto in the 19th century. He named it the International Language, but because he published his book as ‘Dr Esperanto’, the name Esperanto became more popular among the speakers of this language. Today there are millions of speakers of Esperanto all over the world.

In the 19th century, when France was a world power, French became the global language in the civilised world. In many countries, most schools had French as part of their lessons. French became the language of art and culture because a lot of the art at the time was in French.

In the early 20th century, when the British Empire became very powerful, English became widespread. There was another English-speaking country that was becoming more and more powerful too—the United States. After World War Two the United States became the most powerful country in the world. This caused English to become one of the most widely-used second or foreign languages in the world. That’s why you’re now reading this text!