Local name:	English
Language family:	Indo-European > Germanic > West Germanic > Anglo-Frisian
Native speakers:	~ 341 million (Ethnologue.com, 1999)
Script:	Latin alphabet
Official in:	Antigua and Bermuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Uganda, UK, USA (de facto), Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Spoken mostly in:	USA, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland

English is a true world language; not only is it an official language in countries in all continents, but it’s also by far the most popular second language in the world, and functions as lingua franca in most scientific domains and many international organizations.

English is a Germanic language, and its core vocabulary is mostly Germanic, but thanks to the Norman conquest and the Roman Catholic Church, much of the vocabulary is derived from Norman (a variety of French) and Latin.

General American English: “The North Wind and the Sun”
Speaker: Kevin Age at recording: ?? (2009) Geographical reference: Wisconsin, US (Google Map)



The North Wind and the Sun were arguing about which one of them was stronger, when a traveler came by wearing a heavy coat.
They agreed that whoever got the traveler to take off his coat first would be considered stronger.
The North Wind blew as hard as he could, but the harder he blew, the tighter the traveler wrapped his coat around him, and finally the North Wind had to give up.
Then the sun began to shine, and the traveler immediately took off his coat.
And so the North Wind had to admit that the Sun was stronger.

Singlish (Colloquial Singaporean English): “De norf wind and de sun”
Speaker: Edward Age at recording: 30 (2013) Geographical reference: Singapore, SG (Google Map) Typical traits: Singlish has a strong tendency to use present tense, from different Chinese varieties it has incorporated particles (har, lor, lah) to express the speakers attitude, the word bo bian is an expression from Hokkien 無便 meaning ’no choice’.



Ai, de norf wind hor and de sun ah dey were arguing about which one of dem is stronger lah, and den hor, when de treveler come along wearing a heavy coat.
Dey agree ah, dat whoever dat got de treveler to take off his coat first would be stronger.
So de norf wind blow as hard as possible but de harder de blow de tighter de treveler rep his coat around him, finally bo bian, de norf wind give up lor.
Seeing dat, de sun begin to shine and de treveler, i tell you har, immediately take off his coat.
So de norf wind lan lan have got to admit de sun is stronger lor.

Eastern Indian English: “The North Wind and the Sun”
Speaker: Prashant Age at recording: 27 (2014) Geographical reference: Chaibasa, Jharkand, IN (Google Map) Comment: Prashant grew up in a bilingual home, speaking both Hindi and English as native languages.



The North Wind and the Sun were arguing about which one of them was stronger, when a traveller came by wearing a heavy coat.
They agreed that whoever got the traveller to take off his coat first would be considered stronger.
The North Wind blew as hard as she could, but the harder she went, the tighter the traveller wrapped his coat around him, and finally the North Wind had to give up.
Then the sun began to shine, and the traveller immediately took off his coat.
And so the North Wind had to admit that the Sun was stronger.