AsChinabecomesaglobalpowertheChineselanguagewillassumeagreaterglobalsignificance.Thatsignificancewillextendoverbusiness,trade,cultureandotherareas.ButwilltheChineselanguageeverreachthetypeofinfluencethatEnglishnowhas?WillMandarineverbecomealinguafranca?Aftertheyear1600,theBritishEmpirebegantospreadEnglisharoundtheworld.Thatprocesswasgivenahugeboostinthe20thcenturythroughthebusiness,technologyandpost-warre-constructioneffortsoftheUS.Beyondthis,therewereanumberofquiteextraordinarytrendsinculture,scienceandtheartsthatreinforcedthesedevelopments.Manyofthesewerespontaneous,butotherswerehighlydeliberate-theworkoftheBritishCouncil,forexample.Eitherway,Englishnowstandsunchallengedastheworld’sinternationallanguage.ButtheEnglishlanguagealsohassomeinherentqualitiesthatenabledthisprocessevenfurther.Englishisa‘mongrellanguage’thathasalwaysborrowedheavilyfromotherlanguages.Thishasallowedittogrowquickly,flexibly,andefficiently.(Englishhasmanymorewordsthananyotherlanguage.)Ithasdevelopedspontaneously(withoutanAcademieFrancaisetorestrictit,forexample)andithastendedtowardsasimplification-fromamorehighlyinflectedlanguagetowardsbecomingalesshighlyinflectedone.