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09.11.2021 15:06 •  Английский язык

1 A second language
2 The history of English
3 Popular language
4 Different English
5 The future of English
6 Facts about English
7 What languages do the British speak?
8 Why learn English

A. English is spoken as a first language by several countries including Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. While all of these countries share the same mother tongue, there are some differences in the way they speak and write. The first difference is in the accent. Another difference is the spelling of some words. And a third difference is that some of the words are not the same at all. So which
English is the best English to learn? Well, there is no best English. They are all equally good and correct.

B. English is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it's a first language for the majority of its citizens. However, visitors to the UK
are often surprised that they have difficulties in understanding the language. In Britain every part of the country has its own way of speaking English. About 25% of people in Wales still speak their native Celtic language called Welsh. In some regions of Scotland Gaelic is used as a first language. In Northern Ireland about 7% of people are bilingual and speak English and Irish Gaelic.

С. About one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners. It has become the new international language. There are more people who speak English as a second language than people who speak English as a first language. No wonder it is represented in every continent and in the three main oceans - the Atlantic, the Indian
and the Pacific.

D. In 1887 a Polish linguist L.L. Zamanhof invented what he called a universal second language. This language took the best bits of many European languages to make a new one for everyone to understand. He called it Esperanto. There are a reasonable number of fluent speakers of the language - though nobody is sure how many. Some say 100,000, others - 2,5 million. E. People have long been interested in having one language that could be spoken
throughout the world. Such a language would help to increase cultural and economic ties and simplify communication between people. Through the years, at least 600 universal languages have been proposed, including Esperanto, but English, according to specialists,
has better chances to become a global language.

F. One billion people speak English today. That's about 20% of the world's population. 400 million people speak English as their first language. For the other 600 million people it's
either a second language or a foreign language. As a second language English is spoken in more than 60 countries. Besides, 80% of all information in the world's computers is in English, 75% of the world's letters and faxes are in English, 60% of all international
telephone calls are made in English and more than 60%of all scientific journals are written in English too.

G. The modern world is becoming smaller all the time. Every day distances between different countries seem less. For this reason it's becoming more and more important to- know different languages, especially English. To know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every good specialist because it is the language of communication, business, science and culture.