- Joined
- Nov 13, 2002
- Native Language
- British English
- Home Country
- UK
- Current Location
- Japan
3. Would you not agree that there is one more English which has every right to be on your "list"? Could not English as a Second Language (ESL) be considered as an important variant with so many giving it a try for better or worse? I have a gut feeling that ESL speakers far outnumber more than one "everyman's local colloquial"
Non-native speaker outnumber native speakers, but they are not speaking the same thing, so I don't think it could be lumped together as a single variant. However, the influence and impact that non-native speakers have on the language will increase in the world we have today. There is no table where people sit and decide on the future of English, and English is not the exclusive property of native speakers.