How will you use English in the future?

The question of how students will use English in their future lives is a recurrent one. They encounter it in preparation classes for their Cambridge exams and in some of their regular English class units. Answers normally range from ‘for work’ (I will use it for my future job, in an international company, etc.) to ‘for leisure’ (I will travel all over the world and use English as my lingua franca...).

How about ‘for family?’ One option seldom contemplated by students is using English for their closest personal relations. Will someone marry an English-speaking person? This Christmas, a Polish company created an ad that has gone viral, with over 7 million views on YouTube. In it, an old man in Poland begins to teach himself English for a very special reason… Want to know why? Here is the ad: https://youtu.be/7D3WJB5Yikw

Besides being touching in many ways, the ad makes us realize how English could become much more important in our future lives than we had ever imagined. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Javier García

English teacher