global second tongue expansion status English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is the first language, or mother (1)__________ of around 400 million people living in Britain, Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa, and it is spoken as a (2) __________language by millions more. English is learned by many more people worldwide as a foreign language. English has become a(n)(3) __________language, or international language, used by people who speak different native languages to communicate with each other. English has achieved the (4) __________of a world language over a long period of time, and for various historical and cultural reasons. In the 17th century English was spread by settlers going from Britain to America, and in the 18th and 19th centuries by the (5) __________of the British Empire.