eng5-R1· Reading· ~15 min

Reading: English around the world (infographic)

Reading an infographic for facts and figures — Unit 2, pp. 28-29.

Not every text is made of paragraphs. An INFOGRAPHIC is a visual text: it gives you facts through numbers, pictures and short labels instead of sentences. Your coursebook has one in Unit 2, on page 28, and the tasks on page 29 are what this topic practises. Reading an infographic well means three different skills. First, recognising what kind of text it is: this one is visual, and it carries facts, not opinions. Second, finding the CENTRAL IDEA — the one thing the whole text is about. This infographic is not about the number of English speakers, and not about English words in Japanese, even though both appear in it; it is about the importance of English around the world. Every other fact on the page supports that. Third, SCANNING: looking for one specific number or word without reading everything. The four numbers on the page are 7.5, 380,000,000, 1,500,000,000 and 4/5, and each belongs to exactly one fact. The infographic also gives you the words you need to talk about it: a NATIVE SPEAKER is someone who grew up speaking the language; a NATIVE LANGUAGE is the language you grew up with; a GLOBAL LANGUAGE is one people speak all over the world; an OFFICIAL LANGUAGE is the one an organisation or a country uses for its business; and SOCIAL MEDIA are sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Key terms

infographic — A visual text that gives information through numbers, pictures and short labels.
central idea — The one thing a whole text is about. Every other detail supports it.
to scan — To look through a text quickly for one specific detail.
native speaker — Someone who grew up speaking the language. Japanese students of English are not native speakers of English.
global language — A language people speak all over the world. English is one.
official language — The language an organisation or country uses for its business. English is the official language of the FIFA World Cup.
The four numbers on the infographic
NumberWhat it counts
7.5the world population, in billions
380,000,000the number of English NATIVE speakers in the world
1,500,000,000the number of English speakers in the world
4/5the proportion of English words on computers in the world

There are far more speakers of English than native speakers of it — that is the point the infographic makes.

The words the page teaches
WordMeaningExample from the page
native speakerspeople who grew up with the languageJapanese English students are not native speakers of English.
official languagethe language used for businessEnglish is the official language of the FIFA World Cup.
global languagespoken all over the worldEnglish is a global language.
social mediasites where people share and talkFacebook, Twitter, and Instagram are all examples of social media.
native languagethe language you grew up withPortuguese is the native language of Brazilians.

Five words that let you describe how a language is used.

Countries on the infographic
CountryWhat is true of it
MexicoEnglish words are common, but English is not the first language
JapanEnglish words are common, but English is not the first language

English words travel further than English itself — which is the infographic's argument.

✎Finding the central idea
  1. 1Step 1: list what the text mentions: speaker numbers, English words in Japanese, computers, the World Cup, Mexico, Japan
  2. 2Step 2: ask what they have in common: each one shows English being used somewhere far from England.
  3. 3Step 3: reject the details: "The number of English speakers" is only ONE of those facts, so it cannot be the central idea.
  4. 4Step 4: name it: the importance of English around the world.
✎Matching a number by reasoning, not by guessing
  1. 1The numbers: 7.5 · 380,000,000 · 1,500,000,000 · 4/5
  2. 2Step 1: 4/5 is a proportion, not a count: so it belongs to the share of English words on computers.
  3. 3Step 2: 7.5 is far too small to be a group of people: so it is the world population — in BILLIONS.
  4. 4Step 3: of the two big numbers, native speakers must be the smaller: 380,000,000 native speakers, 1,500,000,000 speakers in total.
  5. 5Step 4: check it makes sense: Every native speaker is a speaker, so the total must be bigger. It is.
🚫Common mistake

The central idea is not the first fact you see. "The number of English speakers in the world" is a detail on this page, not what the page is about.

⚠️Caution

Read the UNIT of a number. 7.5 is not 7.5 people — it is 7.5 billion, the world population.

💡Note

Native speakers are a smaller group than speakers. Anyone who learns a language is a speaker of it; only someone who grew up with it is a native speaker.

💡Note

An infographic carries facts, which can be checked. Watch for the difference between a fact and an opinion in any text you read.

💡Note

To scan, decide first WHAT you are looking for — a number, a country, a name — then move your eyes over the page for that shape alone.

Rules

  1. 1An infographic is a VISUAL text: it gives facts through numbers and images, not through paragraphs.
  2. 2The central idea is the one thing the whole text is about — not the first fact you notice.
  3. 3To scan is to look for one detail without reading everything.
  4. 4A fact can be checked; an opinion cannot. This infographic gives facts.
  5. 5Match each number to its own fact: the biggest number cannot be the smallest group.
  6. 6A native speaker grew up with the language; an official language is the one used for business.

Practice

4 easy · 4 medium · 4 hard

Up to 10 random questions per test

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