English is likely to remain one of the world's most important languages, but the share of the world's population that speaks English as a native language is falling. As of 1995, English was the second most-common tongue in the world, trailing only Chinese. By 2050, Chinese will continue its predominance.

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We have to think carefully about which languages those are. French, for example, is declining as an international language, but Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic are all languages of the future. Ethnic minority groups in the UK may well prove to be a major asset in this effort.

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Honduran cooks learn Mandarin. Mexican clerks learn Korean. Most often, people learn Spanish.

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