World English

So... why did they sing in English?

English is the most spoken language

18% percent of the population are English speakers

1. English: 1.5 billion speakers

2. Mandarin: 1.1 billion speakers

3. Hindi: 602 million speakers

4. Spanish: 548 million speakers

Also, English is the language of the air (Aviation English) and of the sea (Seaspeak)

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More accents

English is studied by scholars by all over the world. In 138 countries, English is a mandatory subject in the teaching curriculum. That is 70% of the countries of the world! In the rest, there are chances to study it as a complementary subject.

But this hasn't been always like that...

English is nowadays the lingua franca. However, it was French the main lenguage spoken in Europe by diplomats, merchants, aristocrats for centuries... That's why it's called lingua franca (the language spoken by the Franks).

William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy, became the King of England in 1066. He brought into the country the French spoken in France by the time.

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French in the English language

The situation after the World Wars

The power of economics and war shifted towards the British Empire in the 19th century and the US in the 20th century. They became the ruling powers during these centuries. Also, the US export and imposes their culture, provoking a greater interest by the rest of the world.

Two main reasons:

The lack of an academy (unlike other countries or communities of speakers, French and Spanish, for example).

English as a primary language, as an official language and as a foreign language.