In numbers of speakers as well as in its uses for international communication, English is one of the most important languages of the world. ... Natural languages are not like programming languages, which have gained or lost international currency over a period of a decade or two. Japan went through a two-century period of isolation from the West, during which time several European languages were establishing the base of their subsequent expansion.
――大阪外国語大学 前期日程(2月25日実施)――2005年