English as a Global Language
Roughly, what proportion of the world's population is fluent or competent in English?
About one in four
According to David Crystal in "English as a Global Language" (2003), "About a quarter of the world's population is already fluent or competent in English, and this figure is steadily growing—in the early 2000s that means around 1.5 billion people."
In which century did firsthand descriptions of a uniform American English become common?
After the mid-18th century
Please give an example of the shortest grammatically correct phrase:
I am.
Say it is American English:
lorry
truck
Please tell, who said this American quote:
'Mama always said: Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.'
Forrest Gump
In how many countries is English the official language?
It is the official language in 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign countries such as Hong Kong.
The English language is conventionally divided into three historical periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. In which of these periods did William Shakespeare write his plays?
Modern English
The period of Modern English extends from the 1500s to the present day. Shakespeare wrote his plays between 1590 and 1613.
How many new words appear in the English Language every year?
About 4,000
Editors from the Oxford English Dictionary have estimated that about 4,000 new words are added to the dictionary every year.
Say it is American English:
torch
flashlight
Please tell, who said this American quote:
'I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed — we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'
Martin Luther King Jr.
Which country contains the largest English-speaking population in the world?
English is spoken by upwards of 350 million people in urban areas of India.
Which word was initially used to refer to a child or to someone young irrespective of the gender they belonged. It became gender-specific only later on.
Girl
Which letter is the most commonly used in the English language?
The letter ‘E’. One out of 8 of all the letters written in English is ‘e’.
Say it is American English:
aubergine
eggplant
Please tell, who said this American quote:
'Maybe it's not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate.'
Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne
Why English is called the language of the sky?
All pilots must identify themselves in English during international flights. Likewise, all air traffic controllers at international airports must be able to communicate with the pilots in English.
From which Old English phrase did the word “Goodbye” originate from?
“God be with you”
Please advise how many ways to spell the sound /ee/ in English can be found in the sentence below: He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas.
7
Say it is American English:
peckish
hungry
Please tell, who said this American quote:
'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.'
Mark Twain
How many words does English have approximately?
There are currently about one million words in the English language.
Which American dictionary publisher was largely responsible for American spelling differing from British spelling?
Webster. (In 1806, Noah Webster published the first American dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, which was full of laughable suggestions for streamlining American spelling).
According to rhetorician I.A. Richards, a proponent of the simplified language known as Basic English, "Even with so small a word list and so simple a structure it is possible to say in Basic English anything needed for the general purpose of everyday existence." How many words are in the lexicon of Basic English?
850
Say it is American English:
noughts and crosses
tic-tac-toe
Please tell, who said this American quote:
'Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.'
Benjamin Franklin