November 2007 Post: Is it an English as a Second Language World?

I read the post on The Fischbowl blog that got an honorable mention in November 2007. I found if very fascinating. It was about how people in the world who speak English as their second language out number people who are native English speakers 3 to 1. That is a vast majority! It talks about how all over the world people who are communicating are doing it in English which is not their native language. It also comments on how many business meetings are conducted in English and people get relieved when there are no native speakers present! That thought especially struck me as fascinating. The fact that so many other people are using our language and changing it so much concerns me a little. When will the changing of our language start to actually affect those who speak it natively?
Some of the comments on this post interested me too. She agreed that even as a native English speaker her language had altered to fit the form of English spoken in other countries. They used English as a working language but it was an altered form of English that she had to adapt to to understand! I thought that was very interesting.
I guess when you think about it, this really is an English as a Second Language World!