The English Language Dominates the World

No matter where you go in the world, you have a very good chance of finding someone who speaks English. English is quickly becoming the global language, and it dominates the world in many ways. There are many reasons for this fact, one of which is the fact that Great Britain was a global power during the colonial days, and today America is, perhaps, the most powerful nation in the world. Because of this global domination, learning English is essential to successfully communicating in our new global society.

English Dominates the Business World

The world is accommodating to English speakers, and this is seen clearly in the Business world. This has happened slowly, and some European nations have fought it, but it has happened. Today, a meeting between business leaders in Europe who are from different nations will be more likely to occur in English than one of the native tongues of the professionals.

Why is this? The English domination is due, in large part, to statistics. The European Union reports that almost half of Western Europeans speak conversational English. In contrast, only 32 percent speak German and only 28 percent speak French. Additionally, 69 percent of business managers and 65 percent of those in their late teens and early twenties speak decent English. In today’s world, learning English simply makes good business sense.

The Language of Science and Technology

The scientific world has always been a proponent of a common language. This is why living things are classified using Latin words. When a German scientist makes a discovery, he needs to be able to communicate that discovery with his Japanese, American, and French colleagues. As such, the main language used in the fields of science is English.

The Internet also plays a role in making English the dominant language in the world. By far, the vast majority of online resources are written in English. Translations are available, but the main language most websites, as many as 80 percent of all websites, is English. Also, most forums are frequented by people who can speak English, which means that the free sharing of ideas online is more accessible to those who can read and write in English.

English Is the Language of Culture

While all countries have their own actors, actresses, and singers, those that achieve global recognition are almost always English performers. If you grab the iPod of someone in a non-English speaking country, you will probably find a few songs on it sung in English, if not the majority of the songs. Pop culture icons are global celebrities, and the vast majority of those who achieve global recognition are English speaking.

English Is the Language of Education

From the youngest students to the advanced graduate student, those involved in education across the world have seen the need to learn English. Elementary schools in European and Asian nations are teaching young children basic English. Universities across the globe are changing from their native languages to English. People are traveling to England and America to have their children taught English by native speakers. Countries like China are paying Americans to come into their lands to teach their people conversational English.

As English continues to morph into a global language, it has its skeptics. Some point to the time when Latin was the “global” language and say that no language can stay prominent forever. However, that was a time when the world was not connected by the click of a mouse or the dialing of a phone. Today, English is turning into a global language and it will likely stay there, although in a unique form that is a bit different than its current one. Regardless of the future of the language, it is evident that in order to make an impact on today’s economy, one must be able to use English well.

What is a Paralegal?

You`ve probably heard the word being used, but if you don`t understand what exactly a paralegal is or does, you aren`t alone. This article will explain everything you need to know about the profession.

Just What is a Paralegal?

Another title for paralegal is legal assistant and this is perhaps more revealing. It usually requires two years of studying to go to a paralegal school and these two years allow the person to do many of the more mundane tasks that a lawyer would normally undertake. While not an actual lawyer, the assistant is legally allowed to perform some of the same work.

You`ll often see ads for this type of work, since lawyers often hire a paralegal to work in their office. Larger law firms will have several working, each one taking on the jobs from several lawyers.

What a Paralegal Does

The work that is done by a legal assistant is varied. Essentially, the assistant is helping out a lawyer, or often several lawyers, by taking over some of the repetitive jobs or things that would be a waste of time for the higher paid professional. It`s still a good way to earn money, but without all the schooling required to become an attorney.

Let`s look at what a paralegal cannot do first. They cannot do anything that would be considered practicing law, including:

Giving legal advice Setting fees Acting as counsel in a courtroom

That being said, there is a vast area of tasks that are legally allowed and these are where the legal assistant will focus his or her attention while working for a law firm. The majority of this involves work that a lawyer could do but simply doesn`t have time for.

Investigations are the primary area of need. Finding witnesses, looking for previously decided court cases similar to the one at hand, and doing all manner of research involved in court cases is something that the attorney will not usually be involved in. So, they turn this work over to their assistants.

In addition, all the paperwork that goes along with these investigations will be taken on by the paralegal. This involves typing up reports, preparing court motions and even working on contracts and agreements that will later be approved by the lawyers.

What a Paralegal Needs to Know

While not actually a lawyer, the paralegal will be studied in court procedure since he or she will often be present during cases to provide the correct paperwork and reports for the attorney. This is a great help, since the attorney can focus on the actual presentation and the papers and reports are handed to him or her as needed, in the correct order. This requires an extensive knowledge of how everything works in the courtroom, from court motions to draft pleadings, all of which are taught during those two years.

The majority of the work that a paralegal does is paperwork. While this could be boring, it does involve some interesting cases and requires understanding most of the legal proceedings that will occur. This is the part that can be challenging and interesting and is the main reason people choose this profession.

Paralegals are a very important part of the legal system. Without them, lawyers would be required to do all the grunt work themselves and this would leave very little time for taking statements and prepping witnesses for the actual court cases. It`s a job that requires skill, training and the ability to work hard and accurately. It`s not for the faint of heart, but many people enjoy the challenge.

Language Similarities

If you are contemplating taking on a second language, its common practice to lean toward a language that is very similar to your native tongue. Languages that share similar words, similar sentence structures and similar conjugations to any language that you are already fluent in will most likely be all the easier for you to pick up quickly. People often compare the romance languages like French, Spanish and Italian; or the Germanic languages like English, German and Dutch and site all of the notable similarities that connect them and how seamlessly one can be translated into the other, but do you know why some so seemingly different languages share so many similarities?

Its All Relative

The reason that some languages are so similar to others is that the two are somehow related, and as they say, the apple doesnt fall far from the tree. The different families of languages share the same or very similar words or word combinations often because one language was partially derived from the other. Languages change over time, they borrow words, sounds and ideas from other languages and melt them into their own ” this has been going on since the dawn of the spoken work.

Thousands of years ago, as these languages were being developed, explorers where traveling to new lands and picking up nuances of communication from the people that they were interacting with and in essence changing or newly developing the language that they were speaking. Languages are constantly changing and evolving and in essence turning into different languages.

If an English speaking American from today could be transported back in time to the year 1900 and tried to communicate with someone speaking English as it was spoken at that time, the two would have a very difficult time understanding each other due to all of the words, ideas and phases that have been borrowed and absorbed into the English language over the course of the last thousand years. If the English spoken in America continues to transform itself at the rate that it has over the last few hundred years, they may have to start calling it American English, because of all of the alterations will have created a real separation between it and the English spoken in England ” though the two would still be from the same family of languages.

Spanish and French seem so similar to one another because they are so closely related, despite the fact that there are many differences present with individual words and vowel sounds, the two languages have enough similarities in terms of pronunciation and structure that someone who is fluent in one can often understand at least some of the basics of the other without having had any formal instruction.

The Borrowers

Even when two languages arent directly related there can be a connection that leads to some glaring similarities. When two previously unrelated languages come together, as could be the case with war occupation or invasion, one language will often borrow any number of things from the other ” adding potentially hundreds of new words to the borrowing language. This is precisely the reason that there are so many similar words in the English language and the French language. French speaking Normans had at one time occupied a portion of England, the English speaking natives borrowed several words and phrases that stuck and effectively altered the language from what it had been and made it much more similar to a language from another language family

Purely by Chance

The least likely reason of all of the potentials for a similarity among different languages is the fact that it is so purely by chance. Things can certainly happen by chance or by accident, which may be why two words from otherwise entirely different languages, having the same meaning, may sound similar, but when there are several similarities of sounds, pronunciation or grammar, often either the languages are related or there has been some other reason for borrowing.