English is thought to be one of the most important languages in the world. There are many reasons why English is so important. One of the reasons is that English is spoken as the first language in many countries. There are 104 countries where English is spoken as the first language.
Although English is the language of so many countries, more people in the world speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language. Mandarin Chinese is spoken in sixteen countries.
Even in countries where English is not the native language, people use it for business and tourism. English is used for these purposes in most countries. English is considered the business language. English is the official language of the United Nations. English is also the official language of airlines and airports. All airline pilots that fly to other countries must be able to speak English.