[throwaway1053]

> The immediate predecessor to English as a world language was French

From what I remember, there was a divide between Catholicism and Protestantism, where some of the smaller countries that followed Protestantism used German as a common language due to its origins. I think knowledge of German in Norway was something that was expected of students attending the universities until the mid 1900s (due to geopolitical changes)

[Neonlicht]

Japanese scholars famously learned Dutch because they were the only foreigners who were allowed to bring in Western books.

Luckily if you are intelligent enough to read Dutch learning English is a walk in the park.