1. English as a Foreign Language
All About English:
English as a Foreign Language

2. All About English: English as a Foreign Language
Many words have entered English through other languages.

3. Lingua franca…lots of words from other languages
In some cases, words from one language enter English through another language.
Some Latin words have entered through Greek or Spanish, for example.
French: fry, veal, royal, prayer, venison, princess, courageous, treacherous
Italian: cameo, design, algebra
Spanish: banana, tobacco, mosquito, alligator
Native American: canoe, squash, raccoon, chipmunk
Dutch: cookie, boss
German: noodle, pretzel, saurkraut

4. Latin in English
The Roman civilization was highly regarded. Since Latin was the language of that civilization, the Anglo-Saxons wanted to learn it.
Words that entered English from Latin were words that reflected that contact that the Anglo-Saxon people had with the Romans.
These include commercial and military contact at first, then later contact introduced religious and intellectual words.

5. Latin in English
Latin had three opportunities to influence the English Language.
The first influence came the first time Romans took over. Most words from this period are common household words and military words. A few examples include: stræt (street), cytel (kettle, L. catillus), and cuppe (cup, L. cuppa).
The second influence came from Celtic transmission. Latin words had filtered into the Celtic language from the previous Roman rule. Most of these words are place names, such as Lancaster, Winchester, Worcester, and Gloucester. These words include a form of the word ceaster, which represents the Latin word castra, which means camp.
The final and largest influence was an attempt by the Romans to make England a Christian country, beginning in 597. Christianity was not really new, thanks to Irish monks, but this attempt was brought on by the mission of St. Augustine. A few examples from the massive list of words in this era include: alter, alms, martyr, cleric, disciple, psalm, and temple.

6. Scandinavian in English
Old Norse is the language spoken by the Scandinavian invaders. Old Norse and Old English are cousins in the language world.
Many words borrowed from Scandinavians have the hard sk sound, such as sky, skin, skill, scrape, scrub, bask, and whisk.
Words such as ship, shall, and fish are actually English, which is in close to Scandinavian, due to the same Germanic origins.
However, some of the words are confusing when considering whether or not they are Old English or Old Norse. An example would be the Old English scyrte, which gives us shirt, while the Old Norse word skyrta gives us the word for skirt.
The amount of words of Scandinavian origin is not extensive. Words are often associated with sailing ships and predatory people. Names ending in –by or –son are also generally Scandinavian.
In some cases, two words for the same thing existed side-by-side until one finally replaced the other. An example of this is ey (Old English) and egg (Scandinavian). Can you guess which word replaced the other?

7. French in English
French came with the Norman Conquest of The Norman Conquest is the event that had the greatest impact on the English language.
It is due to the large amount of French that entered the English language at this time that English has lost so much of its Germanic sound and seems at times to be just as much of a Romance language.
A Romance language refers to a language of Roman origin (Latin speaking). Romance languages include: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian.
Norman French was looked down upon compared to the French of Paris. However, in England, French became the language of the Upper Class, since the rulers spoke French and those who were ruled spoke English. Parents would send their children to Paris to rid them of the “barbarity” of their French. Chaucer made fun of the difference in dialect:
And Frensh she spak ful faire and fetisly, After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe, For Frensh of Paris was to hir unknowe.

8. French in English
Thanks in part to “The Black Death,” French did not become the language of England. The plague killed epidemic numbers of people, resulting in a labor shortage. Since the number of laborers went down, wages went up, increasing the importance of the Middle Class workers, as well as the language they spoke.
French was used in the government, clergy, courts of law, military, arts and medicine, and in food and fashion. Words such as crow, empire, authority, and tyrant are just a few examples of the government area. Religious words include clergy, religion, theology,
Many French words that have become part of the English language have synonyms that mean almost the same thing. Due to the Upper Class use of French, many of the French synonyms have a meaning that is a bit more fancy. Some examples of these include: