In today’s world, the English language demonstrates a strong network effect: the more people use it, the more useful it becomes. 

More than a billion people speak English  as a first or second language, and hundreds of millions more as a third or fourth.  

For expanding businesses, young graduates, scientists and researchers, and international tourists, English proficiency broadens horizons, lowers barriers, and speeds information exchange. The incentives to learn English have never been greater.

And yet, the demand for English proficiency far outpaces supply. Education systems founded in response to the first industrial revolution have yet to adapt to the demands of the fourth. A front-loaded culture of learning leaves adults little time to reskill. The growth of the gig economy asks  people to transition quickly from declining to emerging opportunities.