Educ 235

English Facts!

by Maggie Dooley

​History of the English Language

​The English language has a long history and was originally developed from Germanic and Anglo-Saxon languages. One of the oldest forms of old English that we see today is the epic poem, Beowulf. Modern-day English is ever-changing and nearly around 4,000 words are added to the dictionary each year. Though Shakespeare had a huge influence on modern-day English, and invented many terms and phrases used today, Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet and writer is considered to be the father of the language.

​Geoffrey Chaucer, considered the Father of the English language.

Multiple Choice

How many words are added to the English Dictionary each year?

• 4,000

• 1,200

• 10,000

• 500

Multiple Choice

Who is considered the father of the English language?

• Shakespeare

• Geoffrey Chaucer

• William Wordsworth

• Charles Dickens

​Fun with Words

• ​"The" is the most common word in the English language

• ​"E" is the most used letter in the language

• "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is one of the longest words in the English language, containing 45 letters

• A pangram is a sentence that contains every letter in the language​

​One of the most popular pangrams!

Open Ended

Take ten minutes and try to come up with a pangram of your own!

​How Popular is English?

• ​About 1.5 billion people speak English worldwide

• ​English is an official language in 67 countries

• ​English is the most spoken language in the world, followed by Mandarin

Multiple Choice

Is English the offcial language of the United States?

• Yes

• No

​Book Facts

• ​The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular books of all time

• ​There are 14 main genres of literature

• ​William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie are tied for the best author's of all time

• There are over 129 million books that have been published throughout time​

Poll

How many books do you read each year?

• 0-5

• 6-10

• 11-15

• 16-20

Open Ended

How many different genres can you name?

Open Ended

What is your favorite book/who is your favorite author?