Maturitní otázka pojednávající o anglickém jazyce, o jeho původu, současnosti, apod.

UPOZORNĚNÍ: Tento příspěvek je studentskou prací a mohou se v něm objevovat jazykové i faktické chyby.

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English as a Foreign Language

Pavlína Kupčová

I have been learning English for 10 years; I started when I was 9 years old. I decided to learn English because it's a world language. I also wanted to study English because it allows me to have many opportunities to get a good job. Another reason was so that I would be able to communicate with other people in foreign countries. I really like to travel so speaking English really helps. Out of all the people in the world, approximately one billion of them speak English. However, only 400 million of those people speak English as their mother tongue, whereas an astounding 600 milion people speak English as a non-native language. English is spoken as a native language in many countries such as the UK, Canada, the USA, Australia, the Caribbean, South Africa and New Zealand. In countries such as India and South Africa, English is not the only official language.

The origin of the English language dates back to the time when the Celts arrived in England. After the Celts came the Romans and they brought with them the Latin language. The next group of people to arrive in England were the Anglo-Saxons. These peple came from Germany and the Netherlands. In 1066 William the Conqueror, ruler of the Normans, introduced to England the French language. It is from this history that English gets many of its foreign words from such languages as French and German.

English today has many importances. A few of thse are related to computer language, international business, modern music, science, sports and most modes of transportation.

The two main dialects of English are British and American. Some of the most common differences are in spelling, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar structure. For example, in Britain they often have "ou" together whereas in America they often leave out the "u" in such words as "colour". Pronunciation differs in that the British say can't (kant) and the Americans say can't (kent), for example. One of the main differences in the dialects is in vocabulary with words such as chips (British) and french fries (American), crisps (British) and chips (American), film (British) and movie (American) or underground (British) and subway (American). The last important difference lies in the grammatical structure. The most noticeable grammatical difference is in the usage of the present perfect tense. In American English this tense isn't used as often e.g., they have finished (British) and they finished (American).

There are several good ways for a non-native speakers to improve their English. Such ways include listening to English music, speaking to native English speakers, watching films in the original English, playing computer games, having a penpal, chatting online, travelling (as an aupair, for example), reading books in English, taking extra language courses and working abroad.

One problem with so many people speaking English is that it brings up the question of having one world language. There are several disadvantages as well as advantages to this. Some of these advantages are that people can understand each other and communicate without problems, another advantage is that you can work for international companies. However, at the same time, one language brings about the loss of identity of individual cultures and also makes the world an overall more boring place.

Prohlašuji, že tento příspěvek je mým vlastním dílem, souhlasím s jeho zveřejněním v původní i pozměněné podobě na webových stránkách www.helpforenglish.cz.

Pavlína Kupčová, 19 let, Frýdlant nad Ostravicí

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English as a foreign language