25 maps that explain the English language English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It’s spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to a tiny island named Tristan da Cunha. It reflects the influences of centuries of international exchange, including conquest and colonization, from the Vikings through the 21st century. Here are 25 maps and charts that explain how English got started and evolved into the differently accented languages spoken today. The origins of English 1) Where English comes from English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian. 2) Where Indo-European languages are spoken in Europe today Saying that English is Indo-European, though, doesn’t really narrow it down much. 3) The Anglo-Saxon migration 4) The Danelaw The next source of English was Old Norse. 5)The Norman Conquest 6) The Great Vowel Shift The spread of English Credits
English Timeline This interactive timeline allows you to explore the evolution of English language and literature, from the 11th century to the present day. Scroll through decade by decade to investigate the richness and diversity of our poetry and prose, as well as the many social, cultural and political strands from which our language has been woven. The timeline includes a fascinating combination of texts: Anglo Saxon tales and medieval illuminations; iconic literary manuscripts and printed texts; as well as letters, newspapers, handbills, posters, charters, speeches and campaign leaflets. Launch the interactive Flash timeline above, or explore the collections within each of the centuries below. Beowulf, Anglo Saxon monsters & more...
Do you speak Uglish? How English has evolved in Uganda Please don’t dirten my shirt with your muddy hands. Stop cowardising and go and see that girl. Don’t just beep her again, bench her. Typos? Some will be immediately obvious to English speakers: dirten, meaning to make dirty; cowardising, to behave like a coward. Others offer small insights into youth culture: beep – meaning to ring someone but to hang up quickly before the person answers. Now, Bernard Sabiti, a Ugandan cultural commentator has recorded these colloquialisms in a new book which attempts to unlock what he calls “one of the funniest and strangest English varieties in the world”. Working as a consultant for international NGOs, Sabiti kept being asked “what kind of English do Ugandans speak?” The result? Sabiti says the rise of Uglish directly correlates with a fall in the standards in education. Though not exclusive to the younger generation, the majority of words chronicled in his book are influenced by youth culture. But this is not a linguistic phenomena unique to Uganda.
The world’s languages, in 7 maps and charts These seven maps and charts, visualized by The Washington Post, will help you understand how diverse other parts of the world are in terms of languages. 1. Some continents have more languages than others Not all continents are equally diverse in the number of spoken languages. Whereas Asia leads the statistics with 2,301 languages, Africa follows closely with 2,138. There are about 1,300 languages in the Pacific, and 1,064 in South and North America. 2. Chinese has more native speakers than any other language, followed by Hindi and Urdu, which have the same linguistic origins in northern India. The numbers are fascinating because they reflect the fact that two-thirds of the world's population share only 12 native languages. His numbers are surprising, compared with the ones featured in the CIA's Factbook. The number for Portuguese is smaller than other sources suggest because not all Brazilians are native speakers. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Some language skills could be more rewarding than others.
Where did English come from? - Claire Bowern | TED-Ed There are two other TED-Ed lessons related to this topic: How languages evolve and How did English evolve? (a lesson that fills in some of the details that we omit here due to the fact that the focus of this lesson was further in the past). There is still a great deal of debate about Indo-European, most importantly about the location of the homeland. To read more about this debate, there are classic books by Mallory and Renfrew, as well more recent works by Anthony. Then, read these articles by Bouckaert et al. To learn more about the distribution of languages across the world, see LL-map or The Ethnologue.
Top 10 Family Days Out 8. Wrest Park, Bedfordshire Clearly one of Wrest Park's most appealing attributes is the sheer amount of space it affords families to run around, explore, discover and just simply have a bit of fun in. With over 90 acres of historic landscape surrounding the mansion, children could spend days here and never get bored! "Down every path there is another amazing building, statue or water feature to discover. My three boys love it here whatever the weather!" "Acres of space, acres of fun and imagination to be had with some good history thrown in for good measure!" Visit Wrest Park 9. This magnificent 12th century fortress has a long and colourful history - just one of the many attributes that makes this a top family destination. "Fab day out for all the family. "It's a castle, good and proper. "The best historic site for children because it is well preserved and they can explore the ramparts and get a real sense of life as it was." Visit Framlingham Castle 10. Visit Audley End
The History of English - How New Words Are Created The drift of word meanings over time often arises, often but not always due to catachresis (the misuse, either deliberate or accidental, of words). By some estimates, over half of all words adopted into English from Latin have changed their meaning in some way over time, often drastically. For example, smart originally meant sharp, cutting or painful; handsome merely meant easily-handled (and was generally derogatory); bully originally meant darling or sweetheart; sad meant full, satiated or satisfied; and insult meant to boast, brag or triumph in an insolent way. A more modern example is the changing meaning of gay from merry to homosexual (and, in some circles in more recent years, to stupid or bad). Some words have changed their meanings many times. Some words have become much more specific than their original meanings. Some words came to mean almost the complete opposite of their original meanings.
Word on the street | LearnEnglish | British Council | Oxford University Transcript Oxford should be about an hour's drive from London. It’s very popular with tourists and students. And Oxford University is one of the top ten universities in the world. I’m at the top of the Carfax Tower. Oxford University is made up of thirty eight different colleges. Many students get involved in activities outside their studies. Nick: How important are the extracurricular activities like the sporting clubs and societies? Student: I think it’s really important. Nick: Is it difficult to get the balance right between your university work and your sport? Student: Well, I tend to be busy all of the time. There are universities in most big towns and cities in Britain. Many students come from abroad to study in the UK. Waqas Adenwala is from Pakistan and lives in Rosebury Hall, the university halls of residence about 2 kilometres from the main campus. Nick: Hi, Waqas. Waqas: Hi Nick. Nick: Nice room. Waqas: Thank you. Nick: So why do you live in a Halls of Residence? Waqas: It’s great.
World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century. In fact, they are now falling out of use at a rate of about one every two weeks. Some endangered languages vanish in an instant, at the death of the sole surviving speaker. Others are lost gradually in bilingual cultures, as indigenous tongues are overwhelmed by the dominant language at school, in the marketplace and on television. New research, reported today, has identified the five regions of the world where languages are disappearing most rapidly. The study was based on field research and data analysis supported by the National Geographic Society and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, an organization for the documentation, revitalization and maintenance of languages at risk. At a teleconference with reporters today, K. Dr. Another measure of the threatened decline of many relatively obscure languages, Dr.
Tonåringar världen runt - bedömning av realia Det finns kunskapskrav som vi lärare känner oss bekväma med. Och så finns det de där andra. De där bitarna som vi försöker låtsas att de inte finns, för att de är så kluriga. Realian i kursplanen Så, hur ser det ut egentligen? Ur Lgr11, kursplanen i engelska:Syfte: I mötet med talat språk och texter ska eleverna ges möjlighet att utveckla förmågan att sätta innehållet i relation till egna erfarenheter, livsvillkor och intressen. Hur arbetar vi då med detta? Bedömningsunderlag för denna förmåga kan vara i muntlig eller skriftlig form. Eftersom analysen utgår ifrån egna erfarenheter behöver vi hitta något som är relativt likt elevernas egna upplevelser, men det behöver finnas tillräckligt mycket skillnader för att kontasten ska bli tydlig. Teens in the USA Under flera år har jag använt en serie som nu tyvärr börjar bli till åren. Skärmdump från avsnittet från Houma, Louisiana. Till dessa filmer gav jag mina elever en filmuppgift. Elevernas uppgift kan ni hämta hem här. Teens in South Africa
U.S. History: Free streaming history videos and activities Since 2009, resources available on HaveFunWithHistory have been the focus of many classroom assignments, as well as a means of supplementing, and enhancing classroom curriculum. How to use these resources: Link to an individual HFwH video, or Subject to support your current curriculum, Create an assignment around a video or activity (ex: Boston Tea Party), or Use resources as part of a Webquest, or other online assignment. Each video or activity includes a brief description, links to related subjects, as well as suggestions for living-history field trips. Learning about our history is more than collecting names, facts and dates. The videos on this site deserve the same amount of scrutiny that any other history resource demands. So enjoy the videos, and Have Fun with History!
(2) 14 Wacky Things About Indian Culture Teacher's powerful slavery lesson for Black History Month goes viral A sixth-grade teacher took Black History Month to the next level with a door-size letter to her students about slavery. Math teacher Jovan Bradshaw of Magnolia Middle School in Moss Point, Miss., covered her classroom door with bright yellow paper and a message (which she attributed to poet and author the Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen): “Dear Students, they didn’t steal slaves. The teacher’s Facebook photo went viral, with 14K reactions and 103K shares. “It all started with this little boy in my class,” Bradshaw told WLOX. Bradshaw, 40, also told WLOX, “So many of our African-American students don’t know where they come from. The teacher of nine years tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she planned to cover her door with a picture of a black woman with natural hair, until the conversation with her student. As a math teacher, Bradshaw tries to make history relevant.