The English language has been around for over 1,000 years, however, many forms and adaptations have been added to it. The earliest recollection of English is cited from North-West Germany. Since then, influences from languages such as French, German, and Latin have formed the language that we speak today. Additionally, understanding British English/grammar can be rather challenging. So listed below are some interesting yet helpful facts about English that can also improve your learning.

  • English as a Lingua Franca 

The English language is one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. It is either a native language or a second language that many people learn, therefore, it is considered as a Lingua Franca. The term “Lingua Franca” refers to a language that is commonly spoken by two individuals from different countries as a common means of communication. For instance, a German speaker would speak English to a French speaker and visa versa. 

English is predominantly used in international business and academia, as most literature and research projects have been recorded in English. It is an effective way to communicate as many can understand the language due to the systematic structure of sentences. Nevertheless, if you are not a native speaker, don’t be distressed as the English language is considered to be an easy language to pick up, so don’t give up! 

  • Phonetics 

British English can become difficult when pronouncing specific words. For instance, the letters “ough” vary in pronunciation as a word differs. The word “rough” has a different sound to the word “dough”. Therefore, it is important to understand the correct pronunciation of each word. Essentially, there are 7 different ways to pronounce “ough”. Here are all the different words that use these letters in different ways:

  • rough /rʌf/
  • dough /dəʊ/
  • thought /θɔːt/
  • plough /plaʊ/
  • through /θruː/
  • borough /ˈbʌr.ə/
  • cough /kɒf/

(Facts about the English language, 2017)

  • Shakespeare

William Shakespeare is an English playwright/poet and actor. Shakespeare contributed to over 1,700 words into the English language which we all use today. His influences molded the English language and expanded the vocabulary of modern-day English. Words such as “atmosphere”, “control”, “hurry” etc. were all created by Shakespeare and added to the English dictionary. 

There are also many words invented by Shakespeare that were not included in the English language. This is because these words were unable to be defined or translated. Here are just 2 examples: Eftest and Armgaunt.

  • What do you think this means?
  1. Fun Fact – Words and Sentences

Now for the fun!

Here are some interesting facts about the English language that not many people know. Perhaps you can teach this to your friends.

  • The most commonly used letter in the English language is “e”. It is estimated that the letter “e” is used over 12,000 times in the dictionary. Similarly, the oldest letters and words in the English language, according to findings from Reading University, are “I”, “we”, “who”, “three”, and “two”. These words have been recognised to date back from over 10 thousand years ago.
  • The longest word in the dictionary is not “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” as most people believe – thanks to Mary Poppings – but in fact, it is “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”. This word holds an outstanding 45 letters and refers to a type of lung disease.

 Why not have a go at pronouncing this?

  •  The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Sounds like a rather simple sentence but in fact, this is the shortest sentence that uses all 26 letters in the alphabet. This is known as a pangram. This sentence is often used when practicing handwriting, choosing fonts and testing pens and pencils.
  • There is not one person that is 100% fluent in the English language. As many words are continuously added to the English dictionary – it is virtually impossible to know all of the words. It is estimated that there are over 2.5 billion English words in the dictionary. Therefore, the average adult would know around 40,000 – 50,000.