Comments on: Why is English so popular?

By: Abigail

Abigail — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:37:37 +0000

One thing English does have going for it, independent of history and politics (though history and politics are at the source of this oddity) is that it has about twice as many words as most languages. The reason: it developed after the Battle of Hastings when William of Normandy came over to what we now now as England and conquered the locals who, at the time, were speaking German (notice I said ‘locals’ not natives). The blending of the languages spoken by the conquered (German) and the conquerors (French) is what became English. And the etymology here is fascinating: from German we get house (haus) and from French we get mansion (maison); from German we get swine (schwein) and from French we get pork (porc). It’s pretty clear who was living in what kind of home, who was tending the animals and who was doing the fine dining based on the words that have come down from each language…

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:08:26 +0000

I could count myself lucky to have English as my first language, but from a strictly statistical point of view, it was the most likely outcome. As a Southern Californian, my definite pick for a second language is Spanish. Four years of high school study leaves me almost literate and not nearly fluent, but able to communicate well enough with my hispanic neighbors, who often speak English with equal difficulty.

By: Anna

Anna — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:51:43 +0000

Neat! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately in Kenya. Most people I encounter speak both English and Swahili. The kids are taught English in schools, so young people especially are usually fluent. I makes me feel like a total American a-hole for only speaking one language fluently.

By: Birthday Yums | Say Yes to Salad

Birthday Yums | Say Yes to Salad — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:25:47 +0000

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