Introduction to English
English is thought to be one of the most important languages in the world. There are many reasons why English is so important. One of the reasons is that English is spoken as the first language in many countries. There are 104 countries where English is spoken as the first language.
Although English is the language of so many countries, more people in the world speak Mandarin Chinese as their first language. Mandarin Chinese is spoken in sixteen countries.
Even in countries where English is not the native language, people use it for business and tourism. English is used for these purposes in most countries. English is considered the business language. English is the official language of the United Nations. English is also the official language of airlines and airports. All airline pilots that fly to other countries must be able to speak English.
There are different kinds of English like British English, Canadian English and American English. These are not separate languages. They are dialects. A dialect is the way people in a particular place speak their native language. In one place, people might have a name they like to use for something that is not used in another place. For example: In Britain, they call the building where a motion picture is watched a cinema. In America, they call it a theater. This is just a different way of talking about the same thing. Both of the words cinema and theater are English words, and can be used to describe a building where motion pictures are watched, so both of these words are correct. It is important to remember that any form of English that you learn is good. There are no better versions of English. There are only different ones
History of English Language: Today's English is the continuation of the language of the 5th-century Germanic invaders of Britain. No records exist of prevision forms of the language. The language most closely related to English is the West Germanic language Frisian. The history of English is an aspect of the history of the English people and their development. Thus in the 9th cent. the standard English was the dialect of dominant Wessex (see Anglo-Saxon literature). The Norman Conquest (11th cent.) brought in foreign rulers, whose native language was Norman French; and English was eclipsed by French as the official language. When English became again (14th cent.) the language of the upper class, the capital was London, and the new standard (continued in Modern Standard English) was a London dialect.
It is convenient to divide English into periods—Old English (or Anglo-Saxon; to c.1150), Middle English (to c.1500; see Middle English literature), and Modern English; this division implies no discontinuity, for even the hegemony of French affected only a small percentage of the population. The English-speaking areas have expanded at all periods. Before the Normans, the language was spoken in England and S Scotland, but not in Cornwall, Wales, or, at first, in Strathclyde. English has not completely ousted the Celtic languages from the British Isles, but it has spread overseas.
English as an International Language
- · Spread- to go everywhere
- · In common- the same
- · Communicate- talk
- · Complicated- difficult
- · Artificial- not real
About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners. It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. Why is this?
There are many reasons why English has become so popular. One of them is that English has become the language of business. Another important reason is that popular American culture (like movies, music, and McDonald's) has quickly spread throughout the world. It has brought its language with it.
Is it good that English has spread to all parts of the world so quickly? I don't know. It's important to have a language that the people of the earth have in common. Our world has become very global and we need to communicate with one another. On the other hand, English is a fairly complicated language to learn and it brings its culture with it. Do we really need that?
Scientists have already tried to create an artificial language that isn't too difficult and doesn't include any one group's culture. It is called Esperanto. But it hasn't become popular. But maybe the popularity of English won't last that long either. Who knows? There are more people in the world who speak Chinese than any other language. Maybe someday Chinese will be the new international language.
