Nuts and Bolts: The Language of the Internet

Who uses the internet?

A report from the University of New South Wales tells us that 28% of internet users speak English; 23% speak Chinese; and 8% speak Spanish.

(For comparison, the number of people speaking English as a first language is 360 million; Chinese 1,200 million; and Spanish 437 million. (Though 1,500 million speak English altogether.))

Those figures don't seem too wildly unexpected, then; until you look further.

So: how much content is available on the internet in various languages?

English 56%
German 6%
Russian 6%
Japanese 5%
Spanish 5%
Chinese 3%

(About 95 million people speak German as a first language; 150 million Russian; and 130 million Japanese.)

Suddenly being a Chinese internet user doesn't seem to be such a horizon-widening experience, does it.

Still, I tend to look on the bright side.

Well, most of my income comes from teaching-English books sold in China. 

Word To Use Today: content. This word comes from the Latin contentus, which means contained. It's basically the same word as content meaning mildly happy, the idea being that to be contented involves having limited desires.