English may be the most important factor in deciding which countries are leaders in the future. The language of the most advanced management and technology is undoubtedly English. Being able to absorb this information is really the key to the new centrury. In the 21st centrury, we increasingly have to deal with other countries. We can' t go there and speak our own language, because nobody is going to learn it in order to understand us. Our Asian rival, India, has surged ahead of other developing countries in information technology,  because of its superior English skills. Unless we are able to master  English, we will not be able to get our population to use IT and take advantage of the new economy. There is an urgent need to have a workforce which is proficient in the language, in view of the information technology onslaught.