PreLoader

The English Language may have saved the Trapped Thai Soccer Team

Adul Sam-on maybe one of the reasons as to why the soccer team of 12 teenagers with their 25 year old coach were rescued this week after being trapped in a cave obscured by flooding for a total of 18 days! It turns out as the only English speaking one in the trapped team, he managed to ease communication with the British divers as he communicated to both sides in languages they understand best which are; English for the divers and Thai for the trapped team. In fact the Daily Mail referred to him as “the sole communicator”.

Apart from the ongoing 2018 Russia World Cup the trapped soccer team has been the major headlines all over the world as good willed people from all over the world offered and volunteered their skills, time and resources to not only try to keep the trapped team alive but to also finally get them out of the damned cave.

Why the English Language could be the most important

English could be after all the most important language in the whole world; not the most spoken but most important. One of the reasons maybe because while other mega languages are spoken by multitudes of people who live in the same geographical areas or neighboring communities, English on the other hand is pretty widespread. There may be chances that the English language is spoken or understood by some people from every corner of the earth.

The mega languages spoken most but usually concentrate in a certain geographical are apart from a few of the speakers in the diaspora include Mandarin, Arabic and Russian to mention a few. Chinese or Mandarin is spoken by 1.2 billion people mainly in China with Spanish having over 400 million speakers.

Other common Languages include;

Arabic the language of Arabs with its various variations is spoken in Arab nations in the Middle East and Northern Africa although it is the default language or second/third language adopted by Muslims all over the world. Arabic happens to be the language in which the Quran which is the holy book for Islam is written and is the religion’s language of instruction. Countries where Arabic is the order of the day include; Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Libya, Sudan, Algeria, Yemen, Oman and Morocco to mention a few. This sacred language boasts of 250 million speakers.

What makes it special?

For some reason the English language is at least taught ass a lesson in almost every school in the world, even in those countries where English is not an official or national language. In fact even in countries where the English language is not a priority, it is still of major importance in the so called International schools. These are schools in countries where children of expatriates go and those of the rich go to; these could be children of ministers, governors, ambassadors, presidents or leading businessmen. The English Language boasts of about 360 million speakers all over the world.

By Angela Kyolaba

For more information about our services click here.