Excuse me, can you speak English?

 Schools. schools. schools. Britain. Britain. Britain. I spend much of my professional life waxing lyrical about the massive strengths of the UK's independent schools. Their prowess is down to their holistic educational practice - not only do they have some of the best academic results in the world, but they also excel outside the classroom, and their pastoral care is second to none.

However, in so doing, I often overlook one of the central reasons underpinning parents' and children's decisions to choose a British boarding school is the fact that they will be totally immersed in the English language. The recent raising of eyebrows in Hong Kong about English being a "waste of time" reminded of this fact.

It is, of course, true that Chinese is the native language of nearly 20 percent of the human race and that there have been various efforts and initiatives in the West to encourage more children to learn the language. The most progressive of schools have, for example, introduced compulsory Putonghua lessons.

But the fact remains that English looks not only certain to remain the language of international business, but for this position to be further strengthened in the decades ahead. The number of Chinese-speaking children at schools overseas - in the UK, United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - is testimony to this.

Yes, there are only 360 million native English speakers on the planet, but it is estimated that around 1.5 billion speak English proficiently - and it is understood in more countries worldwide than any other language.

This is not an apology for linguistic laziness in English-speaking countries but it is an undisputed fact that the world does revolve around English.

English can be learned in a classroom in Mongolia, by watching films in Mexico, or by working in a call center in Mumbai.

However, the best means of being able to listen to, converse fluently and intelligibly in English is to live it. And that is always best done when the brain is working best - when you are young and adaptable.

Being taught in English is, of course, the best start, but children learn just as much language when they're at a social or sporting activity.

Naturally they'll learn some jolly bad English too, but their confidence and spoken English will be dramatically better if they've actually lived it too.

The beauty of the holistic nature of British boarding schools (and their counterparts in the United States, Canada and Australia) is that youngsters are surrounded by English in every possible scenario - not just in the classroom.

This is what will help them stand apart from others who haven't had this privileged experience.

English is a sine qua non.

is the director of schools consultancy at Ascent Prep in Causeway Bay