5 Facts about English
English is a language, basically known as the language of the people of England. English is the official language of the United Kingdom (England), Australia, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, and more than 50 other countries. English is the official language of 67 countries out of 195 total countries worldwide. It is the most interesting fact to be noticed; many people believe that English is the official language of the United States of America, but in reality, the United States of America doesn’t have any official language. In contrast, English is the widely spoken language in the United States. About 400 million people around the globe speak English as a native language. Over 1 billion people speak English as a second language. The English language consists of a total of 26 alphabets. English contains many interesting and captivating facts. Reading these facts would bring fun to your knowledge.
You may also like to learn about English Languages.
ENGLISH WORDS AND SHAKESPEARE’S CONTRIBUTION
Around 1,000 new words of English are added to the dictionary every year. The Second Edition of the 20th volume of Oxford English Dictionary contains 171,476 words currently in use and 47,156 obsolete words. Average English speakers usually know 20,000 to 30,000 words. You all are familiar with the great English poet and playwright; William Shakespeare. Shakespeare invented over 1700 new English words, which he used in his writings. English native speakers still use these words in their everyday life. Shakespeare’s invented English words are addiction, fashionable, inaudible, assassination, negotiate, outbreak, grovel, dishearten, belongings, cold-blooded, hot-blooded, and many more.
LONGEST ENGLISH WORDS
The English language contains many longest words. The list of some longest words is mentioned below:
- Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis: This word contains 45 alphabets. It is the longest word in the English language. It is a lung disease
- Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism: This word contains 30 alphabets. It is a condition of inherited pseudohypoparathyroidism.
- Floccinaucinihilipilification: This word contains 29 alphabets. It is the act of supposing something as worthless. This word itself is worthless. It is just used as an instance of the longest word.
- Antidisestablishmentarianism: This word contains 28 alphabets. It generally offers opposition to the disestablishment of the Church of England.
ENGLISH AS A LANGUAGE OF SKIES
English is known as the language of the skies. English is used for communication between pilots and air traffic controllers. No matter which country a pilot belongs to, the pilot must be well aware of English. In 2001, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommended English as a standardized language for air travel communication. All the international pilots and air traffic controllers must know the words and phrases introduced by ICAO. It has been made mandatory for aviation personnel to pass an English proficiency test.
MOST COMMONLY AND LEAST USED ALPHABETS
E is the most commonly used alphabet of English. Half of the time, while using the letter E, it isn’t even pronounced, and half of the time, it is pronounced. Q is considered as the least used alphabet. E is 56 times more commonly used than Q. Second most used alphabet is T, and the third most used alphabet is A.
VOWELS ENTRY TO ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The English language contains five vowels. They are; a, e, i, o, and u. While pronouncing vowels, your tongue remains between the teeth and doesn’t touch it. Vowels were invented in Greece while introducing the first ‘true’ alphabet.
CONCLUSION
The English language provides a gateway to communication between two or more people belonging to different identities, cultures, languages, in short, different backgrounds. It is easy to learn English for the one who desires to. As it is an international language, everyone should learn and speak it because it makes it easier to communicate anywhere in the world. There are many websites from where you can learn English. If you find any problem with difficult words, you may google for their meaning. So learning English is straightforwardly super easy.