Question:
Assuming, of course that it IS their -second- language.
I wonder how many people learn it as a first, second, third...
Last summer I worked with some Africans from Sudan and Ziare,
and for them, Swahili was the second language, and English
was about number four.
It has also occured to me that possibly the majority of English
speakers are NOT native speakers, i.e., learned it as a "second"
language. Anybody have any stats or wild guesses on just what
percentage of English speakers worldwide are true native speakers?
Answer:
Mosaic II_, an English-as-Second-Language text, includes an essay, "An
English-Speaking World," which is about the influence of English. It states of
those who speak English, "barely half of those speak it as a mother tongue."
The essay goes on to suggest that the British notion of teaching English
throughout its colonies contributed to its omnipresence
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