l. The changing world of English

History of the English Language. 

A short history of the origins and development of English. 

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from "Englaland" and their language was called "Englisc" - from which the words "England" and "English" are derived.  

Varieties of English

From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze" when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English).

Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.

 We think that English is the language of the modern world. All people around the world know the English language importance in our life, because we need it in our work, studies and sometimes when we meet other people from other cultures, maybe they are not from Britain or America but we almost think they are talking English. And we need it for traveling to other countries. That does not mean our language is not important. We believe all people love their languages, but the first language now in the world is English.

We totally agree that English has become number one all over the world. We are convinced that it will still be the dominant language for two or maybe three decades to come. In a great number of countries much attention is paid to learning English.

English is the world language, influencing each and every single aspect of the daily and professional lives of millions of people on an international scale.

What makes English so important is its use as a lingua franca an international language that is used for communication by speakers of different languages. Estimates claim that about 1 billion people that are about one sixth of the world population have at least some knowledge of English and in most countries it has become one of the basic necessities in professional life.

English has become a lingua franca because nowadays English has been adopted for people who languages are different from each other’s and where one or both speakers are using it as a second language.