International Association of Language Centres International Association of Language Centres The International Association of Language Centres was founded in 1983 as a non-profit organization to accredit and represent independent language schools teaching the official language of their country. There are currently 118 IALC accredited schools in 21 countries worldwide: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malta, New Zealand, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, USA. The 9 languages taught by IALC schools are: Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Since their creation in 1983, IALC have been cementing their reputation as an
Official language to the government in their native languages. In countries that do not formally designate an official language, a "de facto" national language usually evolves. English is the most common official language, with recognized status in 51 countries. Arabic, French, and Spanish are also widely recognized. An official language that is also an indigenous language is called "endoglossic", one that is not indigenous is "exoglossic". An instance is Nigeria which has three endoglossic official languages. By this the country aims to protect the indigenous languages although at the same time recognising the English language as its lingua franca. Around 500 BC,