Question of the month July 2009

In July we asked CE Barometer survey respondents what the most important business language in the world would be in ten years' time. Few would dispute that English holds this position today, but with emerging economies in Asia and the Middle East continuing to grow and mature, how long will this be the case?

At least ten years was the unequivocal answer from our respondents. A massive 84% said English would still be the standard in a decade. However, they did recognise the rise of Asia, with 11% saying Mandarin Chinese would be the norm, although as one person commented, "It is too soon for Mandarin to be the most important."

The remaining widely spoken world languages all scored 1% of the vote or less.