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Just 1,500 years ago, English was spoken by a smattering of Germanic tribes as they migrated from mainland Europe to the island of Britain. Today, linguists whisper and wonder: will English eradicate all other languages? 1500年前，英语还是一小撮日耳曼部落从欧洲内陆往英伦岛迁移时说的语言。如今，语言学家心生疑惑悄声交流，英语会不会消灭所有其它语言? English's 339 million native speakers are outnumbered by those who speak Spanish (427 million) and Mandarin Chinese (897 million). What's more, English's native speaking population has been decreasing steadily. While this situation seems to suggest that English is on the way out, globally, it's actually ascending. 有3.39亿人的母语为英语，而说西班牙语 (4.27亿)和普通话(8.97亿)的人更多。此外，以英语为母语的人数稳步下降。尽管情况看来英语似乎有渐弱之势，但全球范围而言，其实地位正逐步上升。 That's because 510 million people from all over the world have elected to learn English as a second language. No other language comes close. In science, business, and the media, English dominates. Learning the language is a cheap price of admission to join an increasingly interconnected world. 那是因为全球5.1亿已经选了英语作为第二外语，没有哪一门语言可以与之匹敌。科学、商务还有媒体领域，英语占主导地位。要进入这个联系日益紧密的世界，学习这门语言是廉价入场券。 | 
