English has, arguably, become the most studied second language in most countries. Speaking from experience and from research, most countries actually put an emphasis on learning English for better future prospects, such as making English a requirement to know for job applications. Despite that and the fact that other languages may have more speakers, English over time has become the universal language for most foreigners. Now why is that? Most English speakers, like you and I, know to a degree that it’s not the most beautiful for romantic, or even well-structured language. Even those who are fluent or even study the language can still have complaints about the format. So what is the reason? Well, the answer to that is fairly simple, the British Empire. Chances are, at some point in history, the British had control over most parts or at least influence in all parts of the world, consequently becoming the main reason why English is so widespread. When most trading or colonizing was done around the globe, including business and administrative dealings, it was mainly done is English, which took over French which was then the wide spoken language. English became tied with ‘proper’ education and became rather elitist. So now we know the roots as to why English became the language monster it is today, let’s talk about learning experience, it’s influence, and lastly, it’s limitations, among other topics. 

Native speakers would argue that English is a relatively easy language to learn, despite their many complaints about it constantly not making any sense, while it is true to a sense, I would argue that it’s less easy and just more simple. There are difficulties in English and that has more to do with the specifics than anything else. You see, learning the nuances and the absolute unit of vocabulary in the English language is the tough part of it, though parts of that can be bypassed as well. You see, English, according to the Oxford dictionary may singlehanded be the language that has the most words compared to any other world language. And the reason for such a giant volume of words is because English, over the course of the British rule, became an amalgamation of foreign words with mainly Germanic and Romance language roots, as well as some Latin influence. The British ‘borrowed’ a few words from the countries they colonized and over time, they mutated and became incorporated into the English lexicon. So English is no stranger to foreign text, making the structure of the language extremely accommodating to new words. Not to mention, the rate at which English absorbs vocabulary and warps its meaning is astounding compared to older world languages, like French or Chinese. Take the word ‘cute’ for example, it originally meant sharp or shrewd, and yet it is now primarily used as a descriptor for small, dainty, and child-like things and/or features. 

Continuing, the reason as to why English can be so confounding for new and learning students is due to the fact that because of all the reasons above, it’s become a melting pot for languages. When first developed during the 5th century, it drew inspiration from Germanic and Romance languages, and unfortunately that meant a double dose of vocabulary. It created a two part description system in one language, and as the British empire expanded English only collected more and more phrases and words from the nations they conquered. Take these words for example; great (Latin), magnificent (Latin to Old French), and amazing (Proto Germanic). While native English speakers can understand their each and specific meanings, those who are unfamiliar with the most common situations these phrases are used in might believe they’re interchangeable. And to add to the difficulty, or to make it easier, there is no correct way to speak English, unless you’re a traditionalist or as I like to say, racist. Because English is so open to change, often times the original meaning of certain words or phrases can shift over time, changing with common usage and the rise and fall of trend words. It being the most mixed language in the world while it does add difficulty for those going the straight forward method of learning English, it also makes it a bit easier for those who struggle with it. English at the end of the day is still English, whether it is accented or ‘broken’ or Black english. And that gives new learners a bit of a safety net when first learning. 

Now let’s talk untranslatable words, and why English lacks them, and how it relates to culture more than just mere words. The metaphorical melting pot that is the English language is equivalent to mixing every color of the rainbow together, the result is one color made up of many different ones. Untranslatable words are inherently based on the culture and history of a language as it was passed on down from generation to generation relatively unchanged. There are very few English words that can boast that reputation, over time with the constant absorbing and warping of different parts of different languages, English all at once became every culture and no culture at the same time. English has become its change, it’s what defines it and makes it a universal language. However, the price you pay for that is the lack of culture. Let’s take a fairly traditional language for example, like Japanese which the earliest dated text was actually written completely in Chinese but is classified as a language isolate. An example of an untranslatable word or phrase would be, ‘mono no aware’, literal translation being ‘the pathos of things,’ is a Japanese term for the sudden awareness of ephemerality and impermanence and the wistfulness that comes with that. It originally comes from the Heian period, then popularized in the 18th century by Motoori Norinaga in his literary criticism of The Tale of Genji, it became central to his philosophy of literature and eventually became a Japanese cultural tradition. The phrase is made up in part of the individual meaning of the words in the phrase and the emotion it is related to; the ‘ahh-ness of things, life, and love’. English does not and cannot have the historical ties to certain words because it is not a language isolate, its an amalgamation therefore any cultural ties regarding a word isn’t passed on and never came a shared experience. Untranslatable words isn’t so much that they’re untranslatable, it’s that you cannot translate or put into words the depth of experience, feeling, and hundreds of years of history and culture. 

Nevertheless English is a great translation language, although untranslatable words are exactly that, English is the language that can get the closest when compared to other languages. With so many description words and even more synonyms, English can narrow down the exact meaning pretty closely. While no texts in its original language should be translated to English, if one wanted to then English would prove to be the closest and more accurate way of translating. Let’s go back to Japan once again, take the japanese phrase ‘komorebi’ for example, a direct and literal translation would be ‘sunlight shining through the trees’ but a more accurate translation would be ‘sunlight as it filters through the trees’. To English speakers, the usage of the word ‘filter’ is a unique one, as in this instance it captures the specific porous state of the sunlight as compared to the direct kanji translation just meaning ‘shine through’. It helps capture part of the essence of what komorebi is meant to feel. The liberty taken in the translation serves to better convey what exactly someone could feel hearing this word, and what image it is suppose to conjure up. Anyone can picture light shining through trees, but throw in the word filter, and it adds another level to your mental image. And that’s all because English had multiple words that have words made for quite specific descriptions and contexts. Certain words allude to different varying emotions and states of being which makes English, arguably, the ideal language to be translated into. It’s really the little things that bring to life the complexity of translation. It also helps that it’s a universal language, which means that the knowledge of the original text can be spread across multiple countries instead of being limited to just one or two languages. 

It can be very easy to forget or even know why English is the universal language it is today, it’s not something that people are taught or even seek to find out. You can sit and argue why English shouldn’t be the global language and you’d probably have some good facts to back it up, however, it’d be hard to change that now. Having grown up learning and dealing with English, I won’t blame some people for hating it or wishing it isn’t their primary language, but it’s hard to deny in this day and age that it has its beneficials. And it may now have the cultural important or long standing history that other world languages do but maybe history is being made now, and far into the future, the universal language will be something else and English will have its history being dated as today.