English in the world: A very brief history of a global language

English today is a truly global language. It’s used all across the world, for everything from finance to popular culture.

But how did a language that was once spoken by just a few tribes on an island off the coast of continental Europe end up becoming the world’s pre-eminent lingua franca? And how has the language changed over the centuries as it has spread around the globe? This short animation about English in the world explains all!

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[milindpatil]

23 April,
Happy World english language day .

[keacoq]

That was pretty lightweight.German and French origins. Simplified while French was the language of the elites. As a low status language it displaced French as the high status language. An important factor in spreading British influence in the world. Spread by force, by commerce, and (I say) by its ease of use as a lingua franca. (Easy I understand to be understood in, though difficult to speak really well.)

[AH]

Gracias esto me ayuda a comprender mas la historia de el ingles.

[hayond]

I can't 🚫wait ⏰for people🧍to start 🏁talking 🗣like what❓was shown 📺at the phone 📱in the end 🔚

[OOO_IWayanRanggaAdiyasa]

very good video, this video must have one milion views

[MrJohnAndrewhall]

But this doesn't tell us when the English language was formed or what it evolved from? You went from Britain's speaking Gaelic to mixing with Romans etc. then abracadabra English?

[cintiahernandez]

In which areas does English impact on?

[filmographie]

Hey, I really like your video! Do you know how the classical background music of the video is called?

[nowelynreazol]

Hi.. may i ask for permission to use this video for educational purposes? Thank u!

[LifeWithYasmina]

What dialect/accent is the video dubbed?

[lolilol]

POV : ta sécher tous tes cours de linguistics donc tu essaye de rattraper avant les partiels

[rampantmutt]

Much of this is misleading. The language is not called English because it comes from England, but because it was the language of the Angles. Saying that England was not "properly established" as the language of England until the 1300s can lead folks to believe that England was not the language of most Englishmen until that time. Henry IV was not the first king of England to speak English as his mother tongue, but he was the first SINCE the Norman Conquest.

[latenightlogic]

I don’t agree with that last statement. It’ll change but I think at it’s basic level it’s in its final form.

[lovelygirl]

Too bad there’s a passage from the Bible at the end, can’t play it in front of students