Today, English is not just a requirement for getting a prestigious job or education abroad. In terms of its prevalence, this language occupies only the 2nd place, yielding the palm to Mandarin Chinese. In total, about 430 million people around the globe speak English. But, in addition to the UK, this language is official for several other countries.
Why do they speak English in Australia?
But in the Eastern Hemisphere, English does not only include European states. To understand why this happened, you need to know something about the history of Oz. Australia was discovered by the navigator Willem Janszon in 1606. The land to which his ship moored was called "New Holland" by a native of the Netherlands.
Immediately they were declared the possession of the Netherlands. By the beginning of the second half of the 17th century. as a result of the discoveries of many navigators, the contours of the new mainland were already quite clearly drawn. However, Australia was never mastered either by the Dutch or by representatives of other peoples. So it was until the moment when for the first time the ship of James Cook moored to its shores. He bore the proud name “Endeavor”, which means “try, diligence”. The first British colony in Australia began on January 26, 1788.
How many languages were there in Australia before?
The first settlers of the Australian shores were convicts exiled here. The language they spoke was a dialect of English. It was filled with various jargons that had their origin in England, Scotland and Ireland. However, many of these words never became part of the official English language.
Those who are interested in which countries speak English are unlikely to suspect what competition in Australia it was made up of other dialects. It is believed that at the time of the landing of the first convicts in Australia, there were about 250 languages and 600 dialects. In the first century, about 80 new words passed into the English language from here. Some of them belonged to the language of the natives, for example, boomerang (boomerang), Dingo (wild dingo dog), Koala (koala).
But Australia never acquired the status of a country with an official English language. Australia does not have an official language, but the most widely spoken one is called Strain. The written rules of the English language in Australia correspond to those adopted in its British version.
English in Canada
What countries speak English besides Australia? Another country that has always attracted foreigners as a place to learn English is Canada. Not so long ago, the expression "Canadian English" appeared. Initially, North America was inhabited by aborigines - Eskimos and Indians. In 1622, when an English colony was founded here for the first time, English was spoken here for the first time.
At the beginning of the 17th century, English is becoming more widespread here. More and more colonies and trading companies appear on the territory of Canada. The oldest of them - Hudson`s Bay Company - exists to this day. Its main office is located in the city of Toronto, and it was founded back in 1670.
Why is Canadian English the easiest to learn?
Canadian English combines features of both British and American versions. Many are interested in which countries speak English in order to attend specialized language courses. In Canada, English is considered to be the least influenced by other languages. Many linguists believe that Canada is the easiest place to learn English. After all, the local version of English is most easily perceived by foreigners by ear. Canadian pronunciation is very different from American, and especially from South American. Indeed, in the American pronunciation, the endings of words seem to be “swallowed”, speech is filled with hypertrophied sounds “r” and “a”, which makes it very difficult to understand the interlocutor.
Languages of India
For those wondering which countries speak English, India continues the list. It is the second country in terms of population, and there are 845 languages and dialects on its territory. Hindi and English are recognized as official languages. The English language came to India as a result of the colonization of lands by the British conquerors. India was a British colony for almost 200 years - until 1947.
Why did English become the state language in India?
After independence, it was decided to include English in the school curriculum. This was necessary so that there were no communication problems between individual areas and states. In commercial educational institutions, English is not just one of the disciplines - many other subjects are taught in it.
Many are interested in which countries speak English for the purpose of moving or just traveling. Therefore, for those who would like to visit India, knowledge of Hindi will not be required. But at the same time, it will be an advantage - after all, not everyone here knows English perfectly. Indians do not expect visitors to their country to communicate with them in any particular language - be it Hindi, English, or one of the dialects. In this they differ, for example, from the French, who expect their interlocutors to communicate only in French.
Other countries where English is an official language
In addition to these, which countries speak English? The list, in addition to Australia, India and Canada, includes many other countries. These are the Bahamas, Botswana, Gambia, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Cameroon, Philippines, Republic of South Africa and many others. Despite the prevalence of English, researchers do not believe that it can displace native languages in these countries. The Philippines can serve as an example of countries in which English is spoken, and at the same time does not lose its position. For a hundred years, English has not been able to displace the native Filipino language here, despite the widespread teaching and emigration of local residents.
English is the third most spoken language in the world, after Chinese and Spanish. 365 million people on Earth speak English. And if you add to them those for whom English is a second language, you get an impressive figure - 840 million. The list of countries where English is spoken is quite large, the main English-speaking countries are the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland.
As you study English grammar and vocabulary, don't forget about some interesting information about English-speaking countries that will help you better understand the living structure of the language and its history. We have collected some interesting facts that you may not have known about, and now you can surprise your teachers or friends.
So, interesting information about English-speaking countries and the English language:
1. The letter “E” is found in English much more often than other letters, it is almost every eighth letter.
2. What letter do you think most English words start with? Turns out it's an "S".
3. The shortest sentences in English are considered “Go!” and "I am".
4. Do you know what the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” is famous for? It contains all the letters of the English alphabet.
5. Curious word “Queueing” (stand in line) is the only word in English that has 5 vowels in a row.
6. English is the official language of world aviation. All conversations between pilots and dispatchers on international flights and airports are conducted in English.
7. English is the official language in 67 countries around the world.
8. According to the British Council, one billion people in the world study English.
9. 80% of the electronic information in the world is stored in English.
10. The most common words in English are “the” and “be”.
11. “Good” is the most common English adjective.
12. “Time” is the most common English noun.
13. The word "happy" is used 3 times more often than the word "sad", so English can be safely called one of the happiest languages.
14. The word “Goodbye” came into modern English from an Old English phrase that can literally be translated as “God be with you.”
15. The first dictionary of the English language was published in 1755.
16. “Town” is the oldest word that came from Old English and is still widely used today.
17. The oldest English words have come down to us from the Stone Age! These are “I”, “we”, “two”, “three” and “five”. These prehistoric words can be tens of thousands of years old. According to British scientists, some of them may be 40 thousand years old.
18. English is descended from the oldest dialects - West Germanic and Danish. These dialects were brought to Britain by the Germanic tribes, whose invasion began in the 5th-6th centuries AD. Therefore, at present, most words in English have Germanic roots. Since then, the language has changed a lot, but the main roots remain.
19. In the history of Britain there was a period when the English nobility could not speak English for a whole century. In 1066, the army of William the Conqueror invaded the country. The conquerors brought with them French and Latin. All representatives of the local nobility began to speak French, it became the language of power and aristocracy. As a result of the Norman invasion, 10 thousand French words came into the English language. These historical events serve as a very likely explanation for the fact that some words of French-Latin origin sound more "aristocratic" than similar words of English origin. For example, "mansion" sounds much more prestigious than "house", similarly "commence" sounds more impressive than "start".
Where, who and how speaks English.
Countries with a predominance of the world language.
English has long been the main world language, especially for business communication (as in the UN and the EU). It is widely used in at least 10 countries, reflecting British cultural heritage. Geographically, this is mainly the North Atlantic and the coast of the Indian Ocean. It is the native language of half a billion earthlings (3rd or 4th in the world along with Spanish) and the second language of one and a half billion. In terms of the number of speakers, English is second only to Chinese. Among young people, English is almost ubiquitous as an important educational, employment and immigration advantage.
State English
English is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Great Britain) as historically native. Celtic speech is preserved only among the rural population of mountain Wales (Welsh) and insular Scotland (Scottish).
It acts as a colonial state in the United States of America (formally in 31 US states), Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia (Australia), New Zealand, Jamaica, the Bahamas, Guyana and many Central American island mini-states as members of the British Commonwealth.
The Canadian province of Quebec is bilingual - local francophones recognize English formally. The natives of inland Australia retain their native speech. Middle American Creole English is characterized by Spanish, French influences and a strong African accent.
Official English
The English colonial heritage is strongly felt in a number of countries in Asia and Africa. English is 1 of 2-3 official languages of India (along with Hindi), Pakistan, Malaysia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles, Maldives, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon (along with French), Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa (along with Dutch and Zulu), Belize, Malta (along with Maltese) and Ireland (along with Gaelic). English there (except for the last 2 countries) is a non-native language, although it is taught in depth.
Indo-English is one of the largest in the world in terms of the number of speakers. It is divided into dialects, the most important of which are:
- Hinglish (dialect of Hindi speakers)
- Punjabi English
- Assamese English
- Tamil English
Liberia is an artificial state of freed black US slaves who moved to West Africa for nostalgic reasons.
English in Ireland and Malta is a second mother tongue along with the local language. Irish authorities promote Gaelic as a return to Celtic roots. In fact, but not formally, it is the same in Cyprus as in another former European colony of Great Britain. These 3 countries specialize in Literary English courses, offering reasonable prices and cultural experiences.
English Joke
“Oh, have you heard? Mrs. Blaunt died to-day while trying on a new dress."
"How sad! What was it trimmed with?
And the Levada Center (data for Russia) speaks English to 33% of the European population, for 13% of them this language is native, and for 21% - foreign.
The largest percentage of people who speak English are by far the UK and Ireland. Rounding out the top five are Malta, Sweden and Denmark. In these countries, the percentage of the population who know English as a foreign language is half of the total population of the country.
In Russia, the percentage of English speakers is relatively small - only 15%.
The UK and Ireland, for objective reasons, also lead in terms of the number of people for whom English is their native language, the next largest percentage is observed in Malta (3.55%), followed by Germany (2.16%).
As for English as a foreign language, Malta (58.84%) and Sweden (52.45%) take the first place here.
Least of all people speak English in the Czech Republic (11.75%) and Spain (11.7%).
Countries with a high percentage of English proficiency include Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Malta and Sweden.
For example, let's take the Scandinavian countries: Finland, Denmark and Sweden. In these countries, there is a lot of media in English. Also, Scandinavians often watch American films and TV shows in their original language with subtitles. Scandinavians are actively creating a language environment around themselves, which is a positive factor in the overall development of the English language. Also, the Scandinavian educational system places great emphasis on the thorough study of English at school. Teachers work a lot with students, emphasizing the integration of theory and practice.
Austria has an equally interesting history. In this country, tourism is considered a very important economic factor, therefore, in order to find a good well-paid job, you just need to know English at a good level.
In Malta, English is taught from early school age. Parents encourage their children to speak English at home. In Malta, English is recognized as one of the official languages of the country. The vast majority of Maltese prefer to read books in English. The country publishes the same number of newspapers in Maltese and English.
Every year English language schools in Malta attract 80,000 international students. Also interesting is the fact that Malta is considered one of the best places in the world to learn English.
