Being a native English speaker brings about certain advantages if you are employed in an international, multicultural sector. And which part of modern economies and societies in a globalised world is not international or multicultural?

English is the common denominator when it comes to communication beyond borders; sometimes even between different cultures within national borders.  One can decry this but it is also helpful. How else could we easily communicate across different cultures and nations if not through a universally acknowledged language? I myself know how hard it is to communicate all day in a foreign language. I even write my blogposts in English for the one and only reason: many people across the world understand it (some better than others). You keep trying to improve your English but you are aware of the fact that you will never  be as good at it as English native speakers.

I think that everybody should learn a foreign language and this includes English speaking people as well. I can imagine that it is hard to motivate yourself to learn a foreign language in case you know that so many people abroad will understand you. „Hey, they speak English as well“ (some better than others). But you can only understand the problems that somebody is facing when speaking in a foreign language once you have made the same experience.

I like the English language and I would never bemoan the fact that English has become the „world language“ number one. Au contraire, it makes life much easier for people like me who are communicating with people from many nations. Learning English is very important. But I would just like to ask for sympathy on the part of English speaking natives for people who are constantly trying to learn the language. Fortunately, many English speaking natives do already show this sympathy (some better than others).