system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How did English become the international language?

There are easier languages and there are languages with more native speakers, so why is English the language that everyone in the world is expected to know?
gpt
Historical accident. In the past, other languages like Latin and French have served as the "international language." It just happens that we've had two successive English-speaking nations as the most powerful in the world - first Great Britain, then the United States.

At the height of British power, it was literally true that the sun never set on their Empire - they had significant holdings in places all over the world and on every continent. Furthermore, they were a major mercantile nation, and English traders could be found almost anywhere. English was a highly useful language to learn for this reason.

As American power eclipsed that of Great Britain, people didn't have to learn a new language to deal with the new power - Americans spoke English, too. So English's position became more entrenched.

Meanwhile, the world became smaller as transportation in the British/American age eclipsed what came before it. In less than a century, trips that took weeks or months by ship could be made in hours by airplane. In this environment, anyone could theoretically go anywhere - and the best option for many of them was to go to the rich Western countries, many of which were Anglophone, for education. Thus, English again was reinforced as an international language.