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There is a story about one of the authors. He worked for an American oil exploration company in his youth. He did not grow up in Oklahoma or Texas like the other workers. One time he had to work with map makers in the high plains of Wyoming. There, the strong winds are always the enemy of communication.

His job was to place recording devices on a long line with the map makers. He would go ahead first with a tall stick, and the oil company map makers behind would sight the stick from far away. They waved at him, to guide him left or right. Then he would shout out the number of the device he planted there, on that straight line. The wind was very loud and he had to shout over it. But often the map makers from Oklahoma and Texas would just shake their heads. They could not understand what he shouted. The boy couldn’t talk right – they said.

That night, all the men had drinks together. They said they did not want to fire him, but they could not understand his numbers in the wind. After a few more drinks, they decided they could be language teachers. They taught him a new way to count, so the wind would not take away the numbers when he shouted them.

Some of the numbers in the new dialect of English sounded familiar, but others were totally different: (1) “wuhn” (2) “teu” (3) “thray” (4) “foar” (5) “fahve” (6) “seex” (7) “sebn” (8) “ate” (9) “nahne” (10) “teeyuhn” (11) “lebn”, and on like that. The map-makers were very happy, and not just because of the drinks. They had saved more than a job. They felt they had saved a soul. They had taught someone to “talk right” as they knew it.

Many people have experiences like this. If we do not speak different languages or dialects, at least we speak differently at times. We can copy different accents. Sometimes we speak in new ways to make it easier for others to understand us, and sometimes to sound like others so we are more like them. We often use different ways of speaking for jokes.

It should be easy to use Globish – the same words for everyone everywhere in the world. One language for everyone would be the best tool ever. It would be a tool for communication in a useful way. It might not be as good for word games as English, or as good for describing deep feelings. But Globish would be much better for communication between – or with – people who are not native English speakers. And, of course, native English speakers could understand it too.

So Globish makes an effective tool. You’ll be able to do almost anything with it, with a good understanding of what it is and how it works.

But Globish does not aim to be more than a tool, and that is why it is different from English. English is a cultural language. It is a very rich language. It sometimes has 20 different words to say the same thing. And it has a lot of different ways of using them in long, long sentences. Learning all the rest of English is a lifetime of work but there is a good reward. People who learn a lot of English have a rich world of culture to explore. They do a lot of learning and can do a lot with what they learn.

But Globish does not aim so high. It is just meant to be a necessary amount. Globish speakers will enjoy travel more, and can do business in Istanbul, Kiev, Madrid, Seoul, San Francisco and Edinburgh.

This will be worth repeating:

Globish is “enough” and less than Globish would be not enough. But more than Globish could be too much, and when you use too much English, many people will not understand you.

This confuses some people, especially English teachers. They say: “How is better English, richer English, not always better?” English teachers like people to enjoy the language, to learn more and more English. It is their job.

When we see native speakers speak English it seems so easy. We think it should be easy for non-native speakers too. But when we look at English tests, we see that all kinds of English are used. There is no clear level of English, just more and more of it. For example, the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) does not tell you when you are ready. It does not say when you have “acceptable” English. Globish is a standard that you can reach. A Globish test can tell you if you have a required amount of language to communicate with other people. That is what brings “understanding” – and either we have it, or we don’t.

The British Council says (in Globish again):

“For ELF (English as a Lingua Franca) being understood is most important, rather more important than being perfect. The goal of English – within the ELF idea – is not a native speaker but a good speaker of two languages, with a national accent and some the special skills to achieve understanding with another non-native speaker.”

These non-native speakers, in many cases, speak much less perfect English than native speakers. Speaking with words that go past the words they understand is the best way to lose them. It is better then, to stay within the Globish borders. It is better to do that than to act as if you believe that the best English shows the highest social status. With Globish, we are all from the same world.

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