Why has English become one of the international languages Okhapkina Y. Shishkina V.

Plan 1. What languages are popular in the world? 2. Why has English become one of the international languages? England is workshop of the world; the British Empire; the scientific ideas; England is country of the oldest universities; the cultural legacy; football; business. 3. Conclusion.

What languages are popular in the world? Six languages are declared international by the United Nations Organization. They are English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German. 20 per cent of the world’s population speak English.

England is workshop of the world UK became workshop of the world because the first industrial revolution had taken place there. In the XIX century England produced the half of the world’ industrial goods. Those goods with inscription in English spread all over the world.

The British Empire At the beginning of the XX century many countries all over the world were ruled by Britain. All of them were included into the British Empire and were its colonies. India, Pakistan, Ceylon, for example, were among them. New settlements in America contributed to the popularity of English as well as the development of the new country.

The fist machines were invented in England. The scientific ideas A lot of British scientists made important discoveries. They are Newton, Darwin, Faraday, Rutherford. The fist machines were invented in England. The spinning machine was invented in 1733, the weaving mechanical machine – in 1784, the steam-engine – in 1803.

England is the country of the oldest universities Young people from all countries choose the universities of the UK. Medieval traditions are kept in Cambridge (1209), Oxford (1167). The first place here is given to the humanities. Oxford and Cambridge education is very prestigious and important for the next career.

The British literature The works of the British writers have great influence on the development of the world’ s art. The names of Robert Burns, William Shakespeare, Walter Scott, Rudyard Kipling are known all over the world.

Music British musicians also made a great contribution to the popularity of English. Have you ever heard «The Beatles», «The Rolling Stones», Sting, or «Deep Purple»?

The English rock-group «The Beatles» is still popular. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr were members of this famous group . They composed music themselves. «The Beatles» are not forgotten. Their songs often sound on CDs, TV, radio.

«The Rolling Stones» The legendary rock-group «The Rolling Stones» is one of the world’ s rock-music leaders. The members of the group became idol figures more than 30 years ago. They create album after album and give concerts, which are attended by huge crowds of fans.

Sting Sting wrote and sang many beautiful songs and took part in many films. He became one of the famous rock-composers of nowadays. But he thinks that neither fame nor money can not substitute him family and quiet home life.

«Deep Purple» The group changed its staff many times . But despite frequent changes «Deep Purple» still exists.

Football This sport game was born in England 400 years ago. Now football is the most popular kind of sport in the world. People of many countries became fans of English clubs, for example Liverpool, MU, Arsenal, Chelsea.

Business Today Nearly 50 per cent of all companies in Europe communicate with each other in English. 60 per cent of all international telephone calls are made in English. 75 per cent of all international letters and telexes are in English. 80 per cent of all information in the world’s computers is in English.

Conclusion. English, according to specialists, has all the chances to become a global language because of the simplicity of forms verbs have very few inflections and adjectives do not change according to the noun flexibility the same word can operate as many different parts of speech openness of vocabulary 80 per cent of all English vocabulary comes from other languages the number of people speaking English about 1 billion people.

Использованные материалы: 1. International English [Текст] // School English. – 2001. - № 13 (049). – с. 3. 2. English as a world language [Текст] // School English. – 2002. - № 16 (072). – с. 4. 3. Польская, Н. М. Великобритания[Текст]. – М.: «Мысль», 1986.