Why the world speaks English?
I am Aarihant Aaryan! Welcome to the Iron sharpen Iron newsletter,
Every week I share my homework from my startup journey, learning about human behavior, and sometimes decode industries and business models for fun,
I can’t control my curiosity :) )
In 1800 there were only a 26million people speaking English.
But by 2020 there were 1.5 billion people speaking English.
why is the world speaking English?
Now, get ready to read something you would have never ever read in your life:
Currently, the world runs on English, on every paper, every communication at least has an English word.
We all assume English is a language, no it is not.
English is the best network effect product built in the world by the British and scaled very well.
Let me help you understand what is a network effect:
The value of a product/service increases when the number of people who use constantly increases. i.e Facebook, Twitter, and phone calls.
Every network effect gives a value, but what value did English exactly give?
Economies change everything:
The world's average economy per person was nearly constant for two thousand years between $450 to $650.
Since 1800 it has increased by 1000 percent.
Apparently, England rode the wave of global economic dominance,
Till then only a "26million people" spoke English.
Look at the correlation of both the graphs :
What exactly happened in 1800?
In 1800, Britain had the Industrial revolution.
At that time people started moving from agriculture to factories. Their income started increasing in no time.
But what value did the language deliver?
As people started making more money, Britishers started exploring more different places. By that time they started investing so much to make travel efficient.
People from different countries started observing the massive change in their economics They wanted to be part of it - but is it possible if they don't know their language?
The value that English gave to people was the assurance of getting employment and making more money.
This behavior still exists, many pay to learn the language to get better employment opportunities.
Many people shift to countries for better opportunities.
Fact: By 1900 there were around 275 million people speaking English
Well, wealth opportunities were not the only value that English gave.
Something exciting happen in 1900 that was with movies, and drugs:
Many production houses and studious like paramount, universal, MGM, and warner brothers were incorporated and launched movies in "English"
In 19 century England global pharma dominated the drug market.
But why couldn't Chinese or Hindi crack it?
By 1500 china and India contributed 50.5% of world GDP, but it was not just the wealth creation -it's also about the right timing, the value was very powerful in China and India, but there was nothing that could scale the network i.e travel
When England was going through the industrial revolution, China said they didn't need an industrial revolution. They were also dealing with the opium crisis.
Indians were under the established leadership of the Mughals.
What happened with English throughout Britain wasn't an accident or luck
They always wanted it and they established the royal society of London in 1660 items and got all the founders of modern science in one place - well that's where the revolution started.
If you have any thoughts share them in the comments :)
If you found this insightful, do drop a like and tap on share.
A ❤️and share on LinkedIn / Twitter would definitely mean a lot.