{"id":1746,"date":"2015-05-07T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T16:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/?p=1746"},"modified":"2020-12-10T13:46:02","modified_gmt":"2020-12-10T21:46:02","slug":"why-is-english-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/why-is-english-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is English Important?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I began my career in ESL as a public school teacher in South Korea. On my first day of class, the principal asked me to give the students a discussion question: \u201cWhy is English important?\u201d<\/p>\n

The first three answers my students gave were joke answers. \u201cEnglish is important because we\u2019re sitting in English class right now,\u201d one girl said. Then a boy smiled and said \u201cEnglish is important because Spider-Man is in English!\u201d The third answer got the biggest laugh. \u201cEnglish is important,\u201d another boy shouted, \u201cBecause Mr. Park is president!\u201d At the time, South Korea\u2019s newly elected President Park had was on TV almost every day talking about the importance of learning English.<\/p>\n

Although my students were just trying to be funny, they gave the big three reasons that English may be important: their immediate situation (being in English class), their personal interests (Spider-Man), and the situation in their country and world (their President\u2019s policies).<\/p>\n

If you are reading this, your immediate situation is pretty obvious. You are considering taking the TOEFL. Your personal interests are something you can easily figure out on your own too. As I\u2019ve mentioned in an earlier post<\/a>, there is so much entertainment and information in English that you can always find something that interests you.<\/p>\n

However, sometimes your immediate situation or your interests aren\u2019t very motivating. Learning the TOEFL and getting a degree at an English-language college or university can help you get ahead. But it\u2019s usually not your only option. And there\u2019s got to be plenty of entertainment and interesting information available in your own language. When your circumstances and interests aren\u2019t enough to motivate you, sometimes looking at the \u201cbig picture\u201d can really help.<\/p>\n

So why is<\/em> English important? Why do heads of state encourage people to learn it? Why are there tests for English that people take, all around the world?<\/p>\n

Much of English\u2019s importance is an accident of history. Between the 1500s and early 1900s, England became one of the most powerful nations in the world, conquering many countries\u00a0and trading with many others. England\u2019s empire shrunk and eventually disappeared during World War I and World War II. As Britain’s Empire went away, another English speaking country became very powerful worldwide. The United States gained a lot of influence because of its participation in the World Wars. And so, between the British Empire and America\u2019s influence, the world has been dominated by English speakers for the last 500 years.<\/p>\n

Many of my students have told me this isn\u2019t really fair. I agree. I don\u2019t like the idea that one group of people has more influence in the world than another. However, the power of English has some advantages. Having a single global language that\u2019s spoken\u00a0by people from around the world is useful. English helps people to share their ideas and get to know each other, even when their cultures and native languages are very different. To write or speak in English is to have a voice that can be heard around the world. English is a powerful tool that lets you say what you want to whom you want. It\u2019s a global language that lets you and your ideas travel more freely. Before we had a world language, no one had the power you can have now, the true ability to be a global citizen.<\/p>\n

Maybe in your current situation you don\u2019t absolutely need to improve your English<\/a>. Maybe you like television and books in your native language perfectly well. But if you look at your country and the world, I think you\u2019ll find that improving your English can always help you improve your situation and follow your interests. Coming to a website like this one could be your first step to better living through your second language. And reminding yourself of the power of global language can really motivate you to reach your target score on the TOEFL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I began my career in ESL as a public school teacher in South Korea. On my first day of class, the principal asked me to give the students a discussion question: \u201cWhy is English important?\u201d The first three answers my students gave were joke answers. \u201cEnglish is important because we\u2019re sitting in English class right […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13605],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[13630],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-skills"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy is English Important? - Magoosh Blog \u2013 TOEFL\u00ae\ufe0f Test<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I began my career in ESL as a public school teacher in South Korea. 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Additionally, he's helped students with TOEIC, PET, FCE, BULATS, Eiken, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT.\r\n\r\nDavid has a BS from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and an MA from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His work at Magoosh has been cited in<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C50&q=Recine+magoosh&btnG=\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> many scholarly articles<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/minds.wisconsin.edu\/handle\/1793\/65479\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> his Master's Thesis<\/a> is featured on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingwithpictures.org\/2013\/09\/research-highlight-teaching-english-language-learners-with-comics\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Reading with Pictures<\/a> website, and he's presented at the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.witesol.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/2014-WITESOL-Program-FINAL-10-28-14.pdf\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> WITESOL (link to PDF)<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/interoff\/docs\/nafsaregionv_2014conference\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> NAFSA<\/a> conferences. David has taught K-12 ESL in South Korea as well as undergraduate English and MBA-level business English at American universities. He has also trained English teachers in America, Italy, and Peru.\r\n\r\nCome join David and the Magoosh team on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCra3KQoJlOP7RYwaCyH2qew\"> Youtube<\/a>,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MagooshEnglishLearning\"> Facebook<\/a>, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/magooshenglish\/?hl=en\"> Instagram<\/a>, or connect with him via<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/david-recine\/\"> LinkedIn<\/a>!"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magoosh.com\/toefl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}