I agree that the would already should have had a lingua franca, but I must say that it English is far from the best candidate. The language is huge, and the grammar is full of irregularities. Pronunciation must be learnt case by case (why are "women" pronounced "wee-men"?).
(also recall this cute poem: http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~beatrice/humor/english-lesson.htm... )