Today English is an international language, but how did it reach the special position in which it finds it today? Watch the following video and find out a few things about the History of the English language. After watching the video, try to answer the following questions.
According to the videos...
1. When and How does the English language begin?
2. What happened to the Romans´ language?
3. Where do the names of the week come from?
4. When Cristianity comes into the island what happens in the language? What kind of words are introduced?
5. Who comes after the Anglo Saxons and what kind of words do they introduce and how many approx?
6. Why is 1066 an important date in the history of the English language?
7. In which contexts did French begin to be used?
8. What was the difference between beef, mutton and pork and cow, sheep and swine?
9. How many words were taken from the Normans?
10. How many new words and phrases were introduced by Shakespeare?
11. Why was King James Bible important for the English language?
12. In the seventeenth century which language was used in the world of science ? What important scientists are mentioned. As a consequence of the new discoveries what happens in the language?
13. What´s the meaning of the sentence " The sun never sets on the English language"? Write the names of some of the countries where the British people travelled to and some of the words they introduced in their own language because of their contact with other cultures.
14. What did lexicographers try to do to end with the chaos of their language in the 18th century? Who is the lexicographer mentioned in the video and what did he do?
15. What happens in America with the language? What kind of words did they have to take from the Indians and why?
16. What examples of American English are mentioned in the video and what are the British equivalents?
17. When was the first e-mail sent? The invention of Internet meant that a lot of new words were coined. Which words are mentioned in the video?
18. What happens nowadays with the English language? How many speakers do we have today? How many are native?
