Question

Why has English become so widely spoken? I s it because of it's an easy language to learn, or because Britain had so many colonies or is there another reason?

Answer 1

A large part had to do with airports, which legally mandated its use. Colonization was part, but the later trade with major players being English speaking countries did a huge chunk of it. Not because it needed to, but because Americans were so arrogant that they refused to learn the languages of many people they traded with.