[andsoitis]

> In time they'll unseat English as the global language.

The data strongly suggest otherwise.

English’s dominance is growing, with over 80% of online content in English.

There are 1.5 billion English speakers vs 1.1 billion Mandarin speakers. In third place is Hindi at 600 million, followed by Spanish at 560 million and French at 280 million.

86% of Mandarin speakers are native speakers while only 25% of English speakers are native speakers. The ratio for Mandarin has been holding steady while for English more and more non-native speakers are learning it.

Not only is Mandarin mostly spoken by native speakers as the ratios above illustrate, the Chinese birth rate is dropping.

So no, not only is English the world’s true lingua franca, it is extending its lead.

[999900000999]

I'm always open to being wrong.

A smart African student might decide to learn Chinese as well as English.

A smart Chinese student may learn English, French among others.

We'll see what happens in the next 30 years.