Richard has a British accent as he states his opinion of International English, I hope it was done tongue in cheek! I.E. makes communication possible between 2 or more non-native speakers, for example it is the language of the International Olympic Association, Air traffic Controllers, United Nations and many other organizations. This is quite different from academic English which has an emphasis on correct grammar usage and pronunciation.

International English..simple, it's the English that has been handed down, rearranged and taught to unaware students across the globe as real English. Let me explain...after leaving England, English went to America and got ruined, then other countries started learning, adding accents and new vocab etc. Then (this is the worst part) these new speakers of English started teaching this "2nd hand" English to other foreign learners. Due to a shortage of actual British people, no doubt, but nowadays you have, for e.g. Chinese people teaching other Chinese people how to speak English.....and so we have the new "International English" (also known as "American English") or as I like to call it, "3rd-hand Engilsh"

Yes, because it has become the language for International Business and relations. In fact there are more non-native speakers of English than native speakers. There is a new English known as International English. It's purpose is communication not requiring perfect grammar or pronunciation.

Colin, i see you are from Canada, I mean no offense to you but I'm afraid I was completely serious with my answer above. I really don't see why "American English" is accpeted around the world as English, it would be like me going to Hong Kong to learn standard Mandarin. I learnt Mandarin in mainland China, where the language is more standardised and now have a good enough command of it to be a translator. Many westerners ask me to teach them and I point-blank refuse. Why? Simple, it's not my language and no matter how good I may get in the future, I will never be able to speak as fluently as native Chinese.

Você esqueceu de citar a fonte do seu comentário. Tanto a frase "You don't need long arms to embrace the world; you need English." como sua resposta foram copiadas da página do Prof. Ricardo E. Schutz: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-ingl.html