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Non-American companies also advertise frequently in English when seeking business from other countries. As a result, many of the magazines produced and sold in other countries, such as Italy’s Panorama, are flush with advertisements for American products or services with product names and descriptive text in English.

For example, Panorama’s February 25, 2010, issue carried ads saying “Brother at your side,” “James Bond Deluxe Collection,” the “business magazine” economy; “Fusion = Fusion” for Infiniti cars; “McCain: It’s All Good” packaged food; “Spring/Summer Collection” for a fashion item; “Elegance goes sporty” for the Audi A6; plus “THIS IS IT,” the headline over the lead story on Michael Jackson’s revival from the dead.

HUMOROUS USES OF ENGLISH ADS

The Internet is full of ad images with imaginative uses of English that can cause a chuckle from expert users of the language. Bona fide samples from the Internet include: TOILET WOMAN—SLIP CAREFULLY; WELCOM TURIST—WE SPIK INGLISH; BE AWARE OF INVISIBILITY; CAUTION—BUTT HEAD AGAINST THE WALL; NO PARKING ABOVE THIS SIGN; PLEASE DO NOT EMPTY YOUR DOG HERE; PLEASE DON’T MAKE CONFUSED NOISE WHEN CHANTING; DO NOT GOSSIP—LET HIM DRIVE; FOOT WEARING PROHIBITED; TOILET—STAY IN YOUR CAR.

Ads in English seem to have a special cachet. In Holland, a study by Jos Hornikx of Radboud University in Nijmegen showed that ads in simple English were preferred even over similar ads in Dutch and held their own when more complicated language was used.10

The advantages of using English for international advertising are numerous. One is the positive image created for the product or service; another is the chance that potential customers will use the ad to learn more English or sharpen what they already know. One study showed that students who frequently watch subtitled TV and movies do better on translation tests. Not surprisingly, playing computer games in English also helps.

MUSICAL MISSIONARIES

As already stated, American popular music has played a huge role in propelling informal English to the larger world. The phenomenon goes all the way back to the early days of jazz in the United States. The New Orleans trumpeters, saxophonists, and singers of the 1920s and 1930s had no idea that they were doubling as missionaries of slangy English to the world as well as the nation.

From jazz to bebop, from blues to rhythm and blues, from rock and roll to country and western, from soul to hip-hop, music has played a big role in spreading the language through lyrics. Behind the star-studded artists have been the corporate sponsors, broadcasters, record companies, and of course Hollywood in promoting the words and music.

A huge new wave of American influence through music began in the 1960s as teenagers in other countries began latching on to songs and lyrics with a frenzy. They rocked and rolled, did the twist, and collected singles and LPs of such stars as Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, and Simon and Garfunkel.

So popular were such performers that their music became integral parts of “American studies” in high schools across Europe, according to Monique Briendwalker, who grew up in France during that period. She says Paul Anka was a musical guest at every party of teenagers in her area of Brittany.

Through the 1970s and 1980s, it became cool for European young people to go American not only in song but in clothing styles, and in the slang they spoke to each other. Casual became the way to dress, with basic jeans, tee-shirts and sneakers, a style that swept the world and remains dominant to this day.

Briendwalker lived these trends, later booking concerts for Columbia Records stars all over Europe. She says almost every teen learned enough American English to sound adequately cool and smart to their peers. She adds that the language became so universal that it was often difficult to link the youngsters to their native countries.11

THE KEY ROLE OF MTV

Viacom’s Music Television (MTV)