I found the following answer to the question asking “Language understandable to English speaker without learning” posted in EL&U site:
“Conversational German would be somewhat accessible to a native
English speaker, but aside from conversational pleasantries afforded
us all by UG, most Anglophones do not understand German.”
I’m curious to know whether there is a significant difference of meaning and nuance between English speakers and Anglophones.
OED simply defines ‘Anglophone’ as an English-speaking person, while CED defines it as a person who speaks English, especially in countries where other languages are also spoken,-e.g. Kenya and Zimbabwe, and Merriam-Webster defines it as the adjective and noun – consisting of or belonging to an English-speaking population especially in a country where two or more languages are spoken.
What is the exact definition of Anglophone? Does it mean only English speaking people of the countries that once were ruled or under the influence of the British Empire including India, Hongkong, Singapore and South Africa?
Are English speaking Belgian, French, Dutch, German, Swiss of the countries where other languages are also spoken Anglophone? How about Japanese, Chinese, or Korean English speakers?
Is there word, native Anglophone as well as native English speaker?
Best Answer
I agree with @Bill's comment - to me, Anglophones are normally native speakers only.
But for me, that's largely because I wouldn't normally refer to "an Anglophone" in the first place. I use the plural form specifically to include people from many different countries who speak English as their mother tongue. Anglophones are representatives of whole linguistic communities.
But by most dictionary definitions, many non-native speakers here on ELU qualify as Anglophones (they speak English), so I can't deny that technically speaking Reg Dwight, for example, is an Anglophone. But in most contexts where I want to convey that someone speaks/understands English [fluently], that's how I phrase it. I've no real use for a word meaning person who speaks English fluently - either by birth, or through extensive exposure/familiarisation later in life.
For most people (read, me), Anglophone either identifies those specific members of a multi-lingual population having English as their primary language, or it collectively identifies all native speakers. But you can't normally "learn" your way into either category; you have to be born into it.