History of English

History of English

Masterclass: uitdieping

What do we know about English?

​Quiz

Multiple Choice

How many people speak English in the world (officially)?

• 6 billion

• 1.25 million

• 1.35 billion

• 4000

Multiple Choice

The English that is spoken throughout the world, is the same everywhere.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The word 'royal', 'beef' and 'mutton' came into English via ...

• Dutch

• French

• German

• Spanish

Multiple Select

Which 3 peoples settled in England in 400-500 CE?

• Frisians

• Jutes

• Angles

• Franks

• Saxons

Multiple Choice

Old English is more similar to Dutch & German than it is to Modern day English.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Almost all of the languages in Europe come from 1 shared ancient language.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The words 'cookie', 'Santa Claus', 'coleslaw' and 'spooky' came into English via ...

• German

• French

• Spanish

• Dutch

Multiple Choice

People who cook their meat on a 'barbie' instead of a barbecue, live in ...

• The USA

• The United Kingdom

• Australia

• India

​The history of English in 10 minutes.

​We are going to watch a series of 1-minute videos that explain how English evolved throughout the years.

​

There are 10 of them in total. That's why we only need 10 minutes to get a basic understanding of the history of English.

​

​

​Chapter 1: Anglo-Saxon

3 tribes came to England:

​

• Angles

• ​Saxons

• ​Jutes

​

​They brought lots of useful words with them like 'house', 'give', 'take' and the days of the week.

​Chapter 2: Norman Conquest

​

William the Conqueror invades England.

​​He brings French and Latin words (back) into English.

​

• ​Latin: in church

• ​French: official business, cooked meats, ...

• ​English: common people

Multiple Choice

Swine, cow and sheep are the original English words.

Pork, beef and mutton come from French and refer to these animals as a food.

• True

• False

​Chapter 3: Shakespeare

​Shakespeare is the world's most popular and well-known playwright.

​

​Under his influence and through his plays and poetry, many words entered the English language.

​

​His influence was huge.

​Chapter 4: King James Bible

​In 1611 there was a new translation of the Bible into English of that time.

​

​Many metaphors and figures of speech were added:

​

• ​to take root

• ​a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

• ​the salt of the earth

• a leopard can't change its spots

​Chapter 5: Science

Science started to be conducted in English instead of Latin, because it was easier.

​

​They started discovering things very fast that they didn't know before.

​

​New words were necessary:

• ​gravity

• ​pendulum

• ​cardiac

• ​tonsil

​Chapter 6: The Empire Strikes

English was now the language of the Bible, Shakespeare and science.

​

​The British went to conquer the world and started 'stealing' words from all over the world.

​

• ​India: yoga

• ​Africa: voodoo, zombie

• ​Australia: nugget, boomerang

• ​Carribean: barbecue, canoe

​Chapter 7: Dictionaries

​​Lexicographers: wrote dictionaries

​

​English expanded so much, people wanted to 'control' the language and more importantly, the spelling.

​

​Standard spelling as we know it was conceived.

​

​

​Chapter 8: American English

​English speakers travelled to America.

​

​They needed a lot of new words for plants (squash) and animals (raccoon, moose) they had never seen before.

hey borrowed these words from the native Americans.

​

​More people emigrated to America and influenced English:

• ​Dutch: coleslaw, cookies

• ​Germans: pretzels

• ​Italian: pizza, pasta, ...

​

​

​Chapter 9: Internet English

Internet changed through typing.

​New words were necessary:

• ​download

• ​toolbar

• ​blog

​

​Sentences were shortened

• ​IMHO

• ​Lol

• ​lmao

​Chapter 10: Global English

​English is everywhere now.

​

​It absorbed words from other languages and influenced other languages with its own words.

​

Many people and dialects that have their 'own version' of English.

10 minutes later!​

What have you learned?​

Open Ended

What is the most interesting fact you've learned in this lesson?

Open Ended

Was there something you already knew?

How did you already know that?

Open Ended

What was unclear or difficult to understand?

Open Ended

Is there anything you are more curious about, after watching the videos?

Poll

Did you learn anything new?

• Yes

• No

Poll

How would you rate the information you received?

• Not interesting at all.

• Slightly interesting.

• Quite interesting

• Very interesting.

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