How to Learn English

English is occasionally described as the world’s first lingua franca. This Italian term is defined as a bridge language which is systematically used to allow communication between people who do not share a native tongue. English is the most commonly spoken language in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Belize, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guam, Singapore, and Ireland. Due to it’s global importance, some countries include English as an official language even when it is not a widely spoken native language. These countries include Botswana, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Cameroon, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Liberia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Kiribati, Malta, Saint Lucia, Sierra Leone, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Samoa, the philippines, Seychelles, the Soloman Islands, Sambia, Uganda, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. In many other countries, India for example, English is widely used as a bridge language to avoid giving one indigenous language prestige over another. There are 350-400 million native English speakers worldwide, and English is spoken as a second language by an estimated 1.4 billion people. Another one billion people are estimated to be learning this vehicular language. The economic, political, and scientific influences of the United States and England, combined with the booming popularity of the American and British media, as well as the internet and social networking websites has resulted in English becoming the second most widely spoken languages in the world behind Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

This West Germanic language originated in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England before expanding around the world with Great Britain’s colonial dominance. The term English (originally known as Englisc) is taken from the name of the settlers who originated this popular language, the Angles. This dialect, now referred to as Old English was brought to the eastern coast of Great Britain by the Angles in the 5th century. English is heavily influenced by Latin roots, as well as the Old Norse language due to the Viking invasions in the 8th and 9th centuries. Old English was once again heavily influenced by Norman-French after William the Conqueror defeated Harold II King of England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. This molded language, referred to as Middle English, marks the beginning of English’s superficial relationship with the Romantic Languages. Middle English eventually emerged into Modern English as a result of the Great Vowel Shift that occurred in England between 1350-1500.

English is clearly one of the most vital languages to learn for the future. An understanding of this bridge language is imperative from an economic standpoint because most of the businessmen conducting international business are conversationally fluent in English. The United States and the United Kingdom are also key players in the world economy representing the 1st and 6th strongest economies based on GDP. In today’s world of globalization, anyone conducting international language is expected to have at least a mild understanding of English. English is a key language to comprehend for scientific purposes as well. In 1997, 95% of the articles in the Science Citation Index were written in English, even though only about 50% of them were from English-speaking countries. English is also the most popular language used on the internet. The HTML coding that comprises the internet is based on the English vocabulary, and over one billion pages of information are available on the world wide web for an English speaker. Major international competitions and conferences, such as the Olympics and the Miss Universe pageant are also conducted in English. With so many significant reasons to learn this worldly language, English is a crucial second language for every citizen of the world.

Not only is English the most conventional language to practice, it is also reasonably simple to learn. The English alphabet is an exact replica of the Basic Latin Alphabet containing 26 letters with no diacritics. Simple plurals are another plus to for anyone learning the English language. An object is pluralized by adding an “s” with very few exceptions. English words are also relatively short and easy to remember. English has a considerably large vocabulary, but the basic words are very simple to learn: girl, dog, tree. English is also considered easy to learn because there is more available study material for English than any other language. There are more movies, television series, and books available in English than any other language. Rosetta Stone can give you a foundation of English vocabulary and grammar, and Hollywood movies can be your study tools for quick, subliminal learning!

An understanding of English is obligatory for anyone who is hoping to openly participate in our globalized community. When an announcement is directed at the entire world, English is the language that is used. Due to its practicality and simplicity, English has become the consensus language for communication world wide. Learning English will prove to be the most important decision you will ever make!