Why people learn English

English is the most widely spoken language globally, both online and IRL. In fact, 1.5 billion people speak it. However, only around 25% of those are native speakers. So how did English become so dominant? Why do people learn it at school? And how have hybrid versions of English, like Spanglish (Spanish-English) or Hinglish (Hindi-English), developed? Georgie Thorman from BBC Learning English joins us to chat through everything we need to know.

English is also the most dominant language online and is the lingua franca (dominant language) of pop culture. AI is trained on vast amounts of information taken from the internet. So does this mean that as AI use increases, English will gain even more ground? We invited linguist and AI expert Linda Heimisdóttir onto the pod to explain.

Plus, we hear from three young people about why they chose to learn English. Are you learning English right now? We’d love to hear from you. All our details can be found below.

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Presenter: Hannah Gelbart

Producers: Mora Morrison, Natalia Makohon and Maria Clara Montoya

Video Journalist: Baldeep Chahal

Editor: Verity Wilde