Do we really know the history of English?

[born to be wild]

FACT 3
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex from 871-899 while Wessex was the dominant kingdom. During his reign, he united the kingdoms together and commissioned the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, a historical record of important events in England that continued 200 years after his death. Alfred also settled a truce with the Vikings who repeatedly invaded the area. The Treaty of Wedmore was signed in 878 A.D. and this "Danelaw" gave the northeast half of England to the Danes for settlement. However, because the languages were so similar, the Danes quickly assimilated and intermarried into the English society.
.......to be continued..........

[Даша]

По данным на 2000 год (всеобщая перепись в США), английский язык является родным для 82 % населения США, и 97 % им владеет в разной степени.

английский - самый распространенный язык на Земле! точно без него никуда...

[born to be wild]

  А какой же тогда язык считается официальным, государственным в США?

Федеральные органы власти США никогда не объявляли английский язык – государственным или официальным языком Соединенных Штатов Америки. И хотя предпринималось много попыток сделать это, все они не имели успеха. В 1870 году, Джон Адамс, предложил Континентальному Конгрессу США объявить английский язык государственным. Его предложение было названо «антидемократичным и представляющим угрозу свободе личности».

По данным на 2000 год (всеобщая перепись в США), английский язык является родным для 82 % населения США, и 97 % им владеет в разной степени. Тем не менее, страна не имеет официального языка на федеральном уровне, хотя, из-за нарастающей роли испанского (например, на телевидении) и достаточно ограниченной ассимиляции мигрантов из Азии и Латинской Америки, многие штаты объявили английский язык официальным на местном уровне. Тем не менее, ряд языков (испанский, французский и гавайский) признаны официальными в ряде штатов и территорий.

[Ежик]

FACT 1
The English language is spoken by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language, or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles). English is the (or an) official language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, the United States has no official language (I didn't know that!!!).
......to be continued.......

  А какой же тогда язык считается официальным, государственным в США?

[born to be wild]

FACT 2
The Old English language (also called Anglo-Saxon) dates back to 449 A.D. The Celts had been living in England when the Romans invaded. Although they invaded twice, they did not conquer the Celts and Latin never overtook the Celtic language. The Romans finally left England in 410 A.D. as the Roman Empire was collapsing, leaving the Celts defenseless.
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" [sic] and their language was called "Englisc" - from which the words "England" and "English" are derived.
......to be continued.......

[born to be wild]

FACT 1
The English language is spoken by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language, or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles). English is the (or an) official language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; however, the United States has no official language (I didn't know that!!!).
......to be continued.......

[born to be wild]

     Do we know the history of English? Of course, we don't. Who does?

I'm sure most of us don't, although we learn and speak the language. Here i'm to supply you with some info about the history of language. I'll try to write as often as possible to keep you in the swim.

[Saneg]

     Do we know the history of English? Of course, we don't. Who does?

[Andy]

Hi Andy,
As far as I know, this is not quite the case. Many English words were really borrowed from French, but it chiefly began in the reign of King William the Conquarer who was French Before that time, many other words had been borrowed from Greek, Latin and many other european (and not only) languages. 

I do believe that lots of English words and expressions were simplified and borrowed from the "continental" part of Europe. If you speak both English and French it's obvious for you that French and English are alike, and it's not a secret that English grammar and lexis are similar to French but French words have lots of prefixes that we can't find in English (if you get what i'm taking about), English gammar is also very easy in comparison with French (they are also alike and can be compared mathematically)
The moral is: English appeared out of languages from the "Main Land"; 90% of it was borrowed or filtered by Europe and modern French looks older and more complicated in comparison modern English, though bigger parts of grammatical constructions and vocabulary are alike or can be easily understood if you don't know one of them

[vis604]

Hi,

      Queen's English это здорово. Но нам бы хоть на каком-нибудь.

Of course, if you can ever speak pure Queen's English, it will be the best result the Russian native speaker can achieve
 Anyway, you may set this goal, and make efforts towards it whatever may happen. In the end (even if it is not quite pure RP), you will speak excellent English which will be understood and pleasant to the ear wherever you can find yourself. Just keep trying!

Regards, Vladimir

[Дети к. Гранта]

      Queen's English это здорово. Но нам бы хоть на каком-нибудь.

[vis604]

Hi V.B.,

     The English speaking countries use different kinds of English, don"t they? What English do you think we should use?

Yes they surely do ;-) Furthermore, in the UK alone, depending on the region, we can find a lot of different accents and dialects of English, much more than in the US for example (it is considered to happen mostly due to the intensive migration of American people).
As for your last question, I think we should use either the RP (Queen's English) or the General American versions of English as the most recognised all over the globe and try not to get them mixed up (i.e. keep strictly to only one of them).
As to British RP - it is taught in all the universities of the former USSR and printed in most well known coursebooks from Oxford and Cambridge, though General American is easier to hear in modern films.
Anyway, the final choice is just up to us

Regards, Vladimir

[vis604]

Hi Andy,

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain began in 449) they spoke so called "Old English"
Also it easily can be seen that there was a huge influence of French and the whole indo-european family on English, it might sound a little rough but modern English really looks like an adapted version of modern French)

As far as I know, this is not quite the case. Many English words were really borrowed from French, but it chiefly began in the reign of King William the Conquarer who was French Before that time, many other words had been borrowed from Greek, Latin and many other european (and not only) languages.  What's more, English and French belong to different families of languages: one - to the German family, the other - to the Romanesque one. In addition, many aspects of their grammar and vocabulary (and principles of word-bulding) are utterly different.
We can speak about their slight similarity in some respects, but not think of one as an adapted form of the other.

Regards,
Vladimir

[Б.Я.]

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain began in 449) they spoke so called "Old English"
Also it easily can be seen that there was a huge influence of French and the whole indo-european family on English, it might sound a little rough but modern English really looks like an adapted version of modern French)

     Do you like French ever so much that really think English is an adapted  version of it?   

[Andy]

Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain began in 449) they spoke so called "Old English"
Also it easily can be seen that there was a huge influence of French and the whole indo-european family on English, it might sound a little rough but modern English really looks like an adapted version of modern French)