English Language

language · history · communication · global

Named after the Angles. English gets its name from the Angles, a Germanic people who migrated to Britain after the Romans left around 1500 years ago. Their homeland in what is now Germany and Denmark gave the language its West Germanic roots.

Most spoken overall. More people speak English as a second language than as a native language, making it the world's most widely used language for communication between different countries. This happened because of the British Empire's power and America's influence around the world.

Third in native speakers. While English is everywhere globally, it ranks third for native speakers after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. This means fewer people grew up speaking English as their first language than those other languages.

Part of a big family. English belongs to the Indo-European language family, which means it's distantly related to hundreds of languages spoken across Europe, Asia, and beyond. All these languages share ancient roots that scientists have traced back thousands of years.

Most learned second language. More students around the world choose to learn English as a second language than any other language, making it essential for business, science, and international communication.