English

English Here you will find out some fun facts about English in England and how it is different around the world.

By Ashlyn and Anisa

English in England • In England and Wales only 0.3% of the population (138,000 people) reported that they could not speak English at all.

• English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers.

• The reason that the language got its name English is because it was named after a Germanic tribe, the Angles, that migrated to England.

English across the world •There are 55 states where English is an official language.

•There are 6 different official variations of English across the world, they are British English, American English, Indian English, Canadian English, Philippine English and Australian English.

•The United States doesn’t have an official language.

British English vs American English • Here are some words that are different in American English and British English.

British English

American English

Crisps

Chips

Sweets

Candy

Chips

French Fries

Biscuits

Cookies

Film

Movie

1. Shakespeare added over 1,000 words to the English language.

2. English uses the Latin alphabet.

Fun facts about the English language

3. English used to have 29 letters instead of the current 26.

4. A new word is added to the dictionary every two hours.

5. 11% of the entire English language is just the letter E. 6. The two most common words in English are I and you.

7. The most common adjective used in English is ‘good’.

8. The most commonly used noun is ‘time’ 9. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is NOT the longest word in English. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and dust.