About English

English is one of the most widely spoken language in the world, being an official language in over 60 sovereign states. An estimated 400 million people world wide speak English as their first language, with another 600-700 million using English as a second language.

English has developed over the last 1400 years or so, first being spoken in medieval England, the language being based on languages brought over by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century.

The number of writers who have written in English range from William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson in Tudor times, through Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy to more modern authors such as George Orwell from Britain, James Joyce from Ireland and Edgar Allen Poe and John Steinbeck from America. Famous philosophers who have written in English include John Lock, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell among many more.

English is slightly unusual among languages in that it has no genders - the words 'a' or 'an' being used simply depending on whether the next word starts with a consonant or vowel, and the word 'the' being used for all words. Verbs are generally speaking very regular too, with an 's' simply being added for the third person, e.g. I run, you run, he runs, etc. However, English spelling is much less regular, e.g. tough and though being pronounced quite differently. This all means that English is relatively easy to learn to speak, but harder to learn to read and write.

English does not have any different forms of address when speaking to someone formally or informally, 'you' being used in all cases. However, in common with many but by no means all languages, it is common and considered polite to add 'please' at the end of any request.

Despite Brexit, it is likely that English will continue to be the most common language around the world, with two people from vastly different countries, e.g. Germany and China, often using English as a natural common language.