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With ideas too big for a single episode, The Compass presents mini-series about society

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The Compass: The Future of English: Too Much English?

Factual

Navajo Native American

13/06/2018 GMT

Too Much English?

The Future of English

BBC World Service - The Compass, The Future of English, Too Much English?

Will English continue to dominate or decline, diminish cultures or enrich them?

The series ends with Robin Lustig asking if you can have too much English. From India he hears how English can divide people as powerfully as it brings them together. In the US he meets speakers of Native American languages who want to keep their linguistic traditions alive. And in East Africa Robin asks whether a requirement to speak good English prevents millions from accessing the best jobs and universities.

Some see English as a 'killer language' which threatens the existence of less widely-spoken languages. But not everyone sees English as a linguistic thug. To a Shanghai entrepreneur, it is the glue in the global economy, for others a ladder of opportunity, while some claim English may soon be in retreat.

In an age of linguistic giants including Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic, Robin concludes by looking to the future to ask whether English will continue to dominate or decline, diminish lives and cultures or enrich them. 

Producer: Mohini Patel

(Photo: Navajo family attend the Denver March Powwow 2017. Credit: Joe Amon/Getty Images)

The Compass: The Future of English

How is the 21st Century transforming English - the world’s most widely used language?

Robin Lustig asks how the 21st Century will transform English - the world’s most widely used language.

English is the world's most widely used language but it is being transformed. To investigate its diversity, vitality and future direction, Robin Lustig travels the world to find out if English is set to dominate or decline.

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