The Question
On occasion, my opening question at an English Language Teaching (ELT) conference is, “How many countries have English as a first or official language?” To twist the screw just a bit more I add,
“You’re all English teachers, so you should know where the language is spoken, right?”
They agree that they should and for the next few minutes set about fathoming the English as a first or official language list.
More squirming, a few shouted out queries and I let the pressure off.
“How many do you have on your list?”
Rarely does the number exceed ten or fifteen.
Take a moment; how many can YOU list?
The Response
“Would you like to see my list?” I ask.
You know what the response unanimously is.
“Do you think that is something that might be useful for an English teacher to know?”
A resounding “Yes!” always follows.
The List
In truth, at this writing there are at least thirty-five countries that have English as a first or official language!
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