English, English Speaking Countries
400 million people speak English as their mother tongue and more than 600 million people speak English as their non-native language.
Among the countries, where English is mother tongue belong e.g. the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, the Commonwealth (a voluntary association of
Britain and 47 of its former colonies) and many other. In countries such as India and South Africa English is the second official language. And there
are plenty of occasions to use English – in administration, business, technology, education, sport, aviation etc.
The English
language is of Germanic origin. Old English had many grammar forms, the pronunciation was different as well. But over centuries words have
been simplified and in fact have very easy grammar. On the other hand, pronunciation and spelling have become more difficult. Many words can be used
as different parts of speech (kiss, smile, drink etc.). English borrowed words form many other languages (French, Spanish, even Czech –
“robot”). It is clear that other languages are influenced by the English vocabulary.
Nearly two thousand years ago the Romans invaded
Britain and then stayed there for 400 years. The Britons didn’t learn Latin, they continued to speak their Celtic language. The Angles and the
Saxons came from Germany and spoke a Germanic language – they invaded Britain in the 7th century, and they pushed the Celtic speakers into Scotland
and Wales. Today some people in Wales, Scotland and Ireland still speak Celtic languages. In 1066 William the Conqueror and the Normans invaded
England. They came from France and they spoke French. At first the two languages were quite separate. The King and the aristocrats spoke French and
the ordinary people went on speaking Anglo-Saxon. And little by little the languages also mixed. The result was English. The grammar was mostly
Anglo-Saxon and a lot of words were French. The first book written in English was Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in about 1378. The setting up of
the first English printing press in 1475 by William Caxton was very important – it fixed the language in a sort of „official” form. From that
time English has been changing more slowly.
The two main dialects of English are British and American. Some of the most common differences
are in spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar structure. For example, in Britain they often have "ou" together whereas in America
they often leave out the "u" in such words as "colour". Pronunciation differs in that the British say can't (kant) and the
Americans say can't (kent), for example. One of the main differences in the dialects is in vocabulary with words such as chips (British) and French
fries (American), crisps (British) and chips (American), film (British) and movie (American) or underground (British) and subway (American). The last
important difference lies in the grammatical structure. The most noticeable grammatical difference is in the usage of the present perfect tense. In
American English this tense isn't used as often e.g., they have finished (British) and they finished (American).
There are several good
ways for non-native speakers to improve their English. Such ways include listening to English music, speaking to native English speakers, watching
films in the original English, playing computer games, having a pen pal, chatting online, travelling (as an aupair, for example), reading books in
English, taking extra language courses and working abroad.
One problem with so many people speaking English is that it brings up the
question of having one world language. There are several disadvantages as well as advantages to this. Some of these advantages are that people can
understand each other and communicate without problems, another advantage is that you can work for international companies. However, at the same time,
one language brings about the loss of identity of individual cultures and also makes the world an overall more boring place.
One of the English
speaking countries is Canada.
It is the second largest country in the world in North America (except Alaska). It
neighbours with the USA - with Alaska on the west and with the continental states in the south. There are many big and beautiful lakes in Canada like
Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake and the 5 Great Lakes near the USA, which form the longest undefined border in the world. The Great Lakes Region is
also the largest area of fresh water in the world and it provides many possibilities for waterpower industry. Canada has large mountain areas - the
Rocky Mountains, the Mackenzie Mountains and the Melville Hills. The climate varies from Arctic climate in the North to moderate climate in the
southern part of Canada. Cold tundra, large forests and the prairie cover the country. Canada has more than 27 million inhabitants. People are mainly
of British and French origin so the two main languages in Canada are English and French. The original inhabitants came to Canada from Asia cross
Bering's strait. The first Europeans here were the Vikings. During the Age of Discoveries some European navigators landed on the Canadian coast. Since
the 16th century large territories were occupied by the French but France lost this country in wars with England and Canada became a British dominion
than. The word dominion means that Canada is an independent country with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state. She is represented in Canada by the
governor-general. The federal parliament consisting of two houses: The House of Commons and The Senate. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and 2
territories. The biggest province is Quebec. The capital of Canada is Ottawa but the biggest city is Toronto. Canada has mainly coal, metal, oil and
gas, machine-building and chemical industries and the whole industry depends on the USA production. One day, when I’m rich I want to travel there
and explore all the nature of Canada by my own.
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