At this point in world history, English is the pre-eminent language of wider communication. In addition to over 275 million native speakers there are millions more who speak it as a second or foreign language. It is used as a library language, as a medium of science, technology, and international trade, and as a contact language between nations and parts of nations. It is also seen as a vestige of British colonialism and as an arm of American cultural imperialism. English is all of these things and more.