Summary of 'Don't Insist on English' by Patricia Ryan

Patricia Ryan’s has been an English teacher in the Gulf for 30 years and she has seen a lot of changes. She talks about languages loss and the globalization of English. The statistic that she showes us show that there are 6000 languages in the world, but there are 600 languages in 90 years, that’s quite shocking. Today, a language dies in every 14 days. Teaching English has moved from being a mutually beneficial practice to becoming a massive international business. It has become a bandwagon for every English-speaking nation on Earth. The best education according to the latestWorld University Rangkings is to be found in the universities of the U.K and the U.S. So, everybody wants to have an English education, naturally. However, if someone is not a native speaker, he/she has to pass a test. Patricia Ryan loves that we have a global language. She says that we need more that 600 languages. She says that this system equates intelligence with a knowledge of English which is quite arbitrary. Einstein who has intelegence is stand did not have to have English and did not have to pass an English test. Even, he was considered remedial at school. But, fortunately he successed for the world. Nowadays system, it would do not have the opportunity for the poor stuents because the fee of the tests are expensive. Patricia Ryan also tell us that the intelegence is the problem solve. If someone can’t think a thought, he/she is stuck. But if another language can think that thought, then by cooperating, someone can achieve and learn so much more. Finally, Patricia Ryan says that someone does not only focus on English test, but also “Mind Your Language” and use it to spread great ideas.