SPOTLIGHT: English around the world - a global language

Why is English often talked about as a global language or lingua franca?

Approximately 1.53 billion people worldwide speak English, either as a native language or as a second or foreign language. This includes about 400 million native speakers. English is the most widely spoken language globally, even though Mandarin Chinese has more native speakers. 

This dominance is down to historical developments:

• The British Empire spread English to many parts of the world during colonial times.
• In the 20th century, the rise of the United States as a global superpower further cemented English as a key international language. Today, its role in globalization and international communication has made it even more essential.

SPOTLIGHT: English around the world - history

A History of the English language

Ex. 1: Watch the presentation on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU9pshEkwVE

Ex. 2: Match the word groups to their origins.

	Origins	No.	Word groups
1	Latin (Roman Empire, christianization)		potato, zeitgeist, tortilla, rucksack, tomato, schadenfreude, angst, kindergarten,
2	Celtic languages (pre-Roman British population)		castle, parliament, army, peasant, servant, baptism, duke, court
3	Germanic languages (invasion of the Angles, Saxons, and Frisians)		whisky, trousers, dad, clan
4	Old Norse (Scandinavian Viking settlements)		priest, mass, church, wall, military, wine, belt, monk, arena, angel, altar, bishop, pope, nun,
5	Norman Invasion and Conquest (1066 Battle of Hastings)		skull, husband, skin, window, sky, get, skirt, knife, egg, ill, skill, gate, mistake
6	Loan words from other languages around the world		kangaroo, boomerang, apartheid, pajamas, shampoo, bungalow, turban
7	British Empire/colonization: words coming in from former colonies		water, son, daughter, earth, mouth, brother, nose, child, drink, food, eat, sun, moon, wood, field, house, home, family, eyes

 

KEY Ex. 2: No. -> 6 – 5 – 2 – 1 – 4 – 7 – 3 

SPOTLIGHT: English around the world - geography

Languages in Europe

Out of the 142 language families in the world, the Indo-European language family is the largest, comprising over 400 languages and dialects spoken by over three million people and with 46 % of the world population having a native language in this family. It dominates in Europe and large parts of central, southern, and eastern Asia.

The Indo-European language family can be divided into several branches, some of which are prevalent in Europe. These include:

• Germanic languages, spoken by around 515 native speakers (English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, etc.)
• Romance languages, spoken by more than 900 million native speakers (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) and descended from Latin, the language spoken in the Roman Empire
• Slavic languages, spoken by more than 400 million people (Russian, Polish, Czech, Croatian, etc.)
• Celtic languages, spoken by around 515 million people who are native and non-native speakers (Irish, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, etc.)

Ex. 1: Study the info-graphic above and decide on the languages spoken in the following European regions:

• Scandinavia and Northern European countries
• British Isles and Western Europe
• Central and Central Eastern Europe
• Southeastern Europe
• D-A-CH-L countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein)
• Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) 
• Southern Europe and the Mediterranean Region
• Eastern Europe
• Baltic States (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania)