> > mostly the idea that it's the worlds most populate language.

> I always thought that the largest percentage of people on this planet spoke
> some dialect of Chinese. Did I miss a memo?

Well, AFAIK, english is taught at chinese schools.
Some other poster said something about italians not speaking english. However, most young italians learnt english at school, though in some areas (in the north), the first foreign language taught is german.
French people are a whole different story though. They tend to deny their knowledge of any foreign language, at least as long as you meet them in France.

cu,
sven

PS: Do we get a little off topic?

cu,
sven