Why not GlobalMandarin or GlobalSpanish?
At GlobalEnglish, we’re often asked if we will be rolling out solutions for Mandarin, or even Spanish. After all, only one twentieth of the world’s population speaks English as their native language. Mandarin has more than double the number of native speakers than English, and with the economic growth and growing dominance of China, wouldn’t this seem like a natural offering? Is this just another example of cultural imperialism, something that English-speaking nations like the U.S. and England are often accused of?
The world history of language dominance is a complex one, and different languages have acted as the “lingua franca” of business, religion and even politics throughout time. Much of this was shaped by cultural imperialism and implemented through wars, conquests, and colonialism. Early recorded history in Europe shows the dominance of Greek, then Latin (particularly as the church expanded throughout Europe), and then even the rise of German throughout Central Europe following the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.