English Language FAQ

  Only four internationally recognised nation-states do not currently have a   de jure  or official primary language:

All languages have a complex grammar,  David Crystal

58 countries have English as an official language. Surprisingly, the list does not include  the USA.

U  This post has been updated here An extended version    of this piece is on Medium (3-min free read) 

Patisserie is a typical example of a French 'loanword' There are several thousand French loanwords in English. Generally, these are pronounced as they would be in their original language .

According to Merriam-Webster, the standard dictionary for American English, this is the All-Time Top Twenty:

The word  Robot means to work slavishly'. It is a rare example of a Czech word ('robota') being incorporated into English. 

The Latin alphabet drew heavily on the Ancient Greek one. There were, however, important variations

Are we born with the capacity to speak a language? Or do we learn exclusively through imitation? This is a quick guide to three key theories Behaviourism Sees language as the product of our interaction with our environment. We learn it  like any other skill through imitation and practice. Important aspects of the theory are: reinforcement (positive and negative), repetition, small sequenced tasks and consistency.  Many educational policies are based on social interactionism  - a more nuanced variant of behaviourist theory. Social interactionism focuses on the relationship between the learner, his/her environment and the context under which learning occurs. Key Theorist : BF Skinner Key term: operant conditioning : Put crudely, rewiring the brain to offer reward for successful language acquisition. Skinner saw this as a kind of mechanical process with four elements: motivating operations, discriminative stimuli, response, and reinforcing stimuli. Strengths :  s...

English is the world's leading lingua franca or second language (see L2 speakers in the table below). According to David Crystal, this has nothing to do with its inherent qualities. Other linguists disagree: Read More  Download English Language FAQ Teaching Pack only £1.99

It has only two letters but is arguably 'America's greatest word'.  

Robert McCrum, the writer of the influential  How the English Language Became the World's Language   has suggested that 'English .. has a grammar of great simplicity"  The argument for this is broadly as follows: English grammar is based on simplified form of German Verb conjugation is simple for regular verbs: four  endings for regular English verbs ( paint/paints/painted/painting ).  French, German & other key languages have  50+. There are fewer irregular verbs - and most are irregular in the same way. Written & spoken forms are comparatively similar English.  Noun and adjectival forms do not divide by gender Adjectives do not change form for plural nouns ( blue car/blue cars ) A version of this post is included in  50 FAQ about English    ($1.75)

Before You Read  Which language has the most a) native or first language speakers? b) second language speakers? The English Language from ESL Reading Listening: English - the easy language?

A recent article challenges the idea that English is the unstoppable homogenizing world language  ...  it would also be a big mistake to overestimate the reach of English. Though it is widely assumed that the planet is becoming more linguistically homogeneous, hard evidence suggests otherwise. Most of the approximately six thousand languages in use today are indeed spoken by relatively small communities, nearly half by populations of less than ten thousand. Although a great many of these idioms are in danger of dying, many new languages and dialects are coming into existence as well. More broadly, there are a number of major world languages other than English, used by large portions of the planet’s inhabitants, in the context of dynamic social, cultural, and economic activities. Fifteen idioms are spoken by at least one hundred million people—including Spanish, Hindi, Arabic, Japanese, Portuguese, and French. At around one billion, there are more than twice as many ...

Only 12 letters when using the English alphabet. On 20 August, 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the USA. To mark the occasion here are some fun facts about the world's biggest producer of pineapples. listen to ‘Fun Facts about Hawaii’ on Audioboo

Because they exercise their brains more - at least according to a recent New York Times article: It forces the brain to resolve internal conflict, giving the mind a workout that strengthens its cognitive muscles. Full article Incidentally, in British English 'smarter' usually refers to personal appearance rather than intelligence. .