Teach English in Wangzhuangji Zhen - Liaocheng Shi

The English language has passed through three phases of development: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. Old English, dates from the 5th century when Germans invaded Britain. Therefore English was formed by the Anglo-Saxon language. The Anglo-Saxon people are the mixture of Germanic people - Anglos, Saxons and Jutes (Danes) - from a region near Elbe’s river mouth and the Holstein region of Germany. These people settled in the east and south of the island of Great Britain. Middle English is from the time of the invasion of the Vikings and conquest of England. Words like ugly, knife, call, take, leg, window are proof of their influence in the English language. Latin influenced the language and some words of French origin were also added in the language. Examples of their influence are the use of words like liberty, school, pirate, martyr, angel, disciple among many others. Modern English came with the consolidation of the German and Nordic structure with French and Latin influence. According to the latest data (Ethnologue - 2019, 22nd edition) English is the largest language by number of speakers and the third most-spoken native language in the world, following Chinese and Spanish. It is globally accepted that English is a lingua franca. Many reasons have contributed to that, such as the expansion of British colonialism, the economic power that England obtained after the Industrial Revolution. The political-military power that the United States of America gained after World War II that resulted in a great economic and cultural impact worldwide also established solid grounds for the English language to spread. Additionally, Unites States has always made and continues to invest heavily in cinema, music and technology, creating a closer proximity to the world with its culture. Currently, English is used in the media and in the entire areas of information technology and telecommunications. An example of its importance is the Aviation English, the international language of civil aviation, as it is stated on the International Chicago Convention recommending that the English language should be used for universal use in international aeronautical radiotelephony communications. Another well-known fact is that almost 80% of all internet pages are written in English. More than 60 countries have English as their official language, funny enough the United States of America is not one of them. It is also one of the official languages of the European Union, the United Nations Organization, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the International Olympic Committee. There are more than 35 dialects just on the British Isles. Received Pronunciation, also known as the Queen’s English, is hardly spoken by anyone else than the Queen, but is what most non-Britain’s recognize as the British accent. Another 24 dialects are known just within the United States. There are around 4000 new created words each year, of which only around 1000 reach the dictionaries and Shakespeare made a great contribution with over 420 invented words that we are still using it nowadays, such as amazement, birthplace, engagement and generous. However John Milton, although less known to the public, was probably the greatest word provider to the English language, with at least 630 new minted words, such as enjoyable, pandemonium and sensuous. Bear in mind nevertheless that many English words have changed their meaning throughout the time. Cute used to mean clever and shrewd and nowadays means attractive in a pretty way and nice used to mean foolish, reckless and hard to control and nowadays means something pleasant. English has undoubtedly a very vast vocabulary and the way it is spoken keeps evolving. Language will never stop changing because it will continue to respond to the needs of the people who use it.