Do Technical Writers Need an International Standard for English-Language Spelling?
In a 22nd October 1999 article in Canada’s newspaper The National Post, Canadian author Peter C. Newman describes how, in today’s increasingly global marketplace, English has become the predominant language of commerce.1 He writes: “Although English is the mother tongue of 380 billion people, 1.6 billion (i.e. 1.6 thousand million) have learned to speak it – that’s almost one-third of the world’s population.” He demonstrates how ministers of state who speak different languages often choose English as the most convenient language of communication. He cites the 11-nation European Central Bank in Frankfurt as a typical organization that works only in English. And he notes that many of the journals published by respected international organizations such as the Pasteur Institute also are published in English. TC-Forum is another example. A driving force behind this quiet revolution, Newman claims, is the Internet: “Recent surveys show that 80% of the wired world’s Web entries – and there wi
