There's quite a bit of a difference between "French in the USA", "Spanish in the USA" and "virtually everyone speaks it". Does anyone have any hard data? It does seem to dominate Twitter.

Keep in mind that the Internet is in English and English is quickly becoming the World's main language.

Then, think about the millions of tourists who come to Egypt every year.

The educated speak English; the un-educated can say English phrases. They both watch American movies.

So, by "virtually everyone speaks it", I mean that virtually anybody can somewhat hold a conversation.

Egyptians say that the more languages you speak, the better job you can get. Tho' you'll find as many speak Italian as their "European" language as speak English (and quite a few speak English with a strong Italian accent).

English is taught in school (around the start of junior high school), so theoretically all educated people should be able to at least understand it and carry out simple conversations.

Some countries teach French instead of English (I believe that's the case in Algeria and Tunisia; not sure about Lebanon).