Englishlanguage.docVIP

English language The English language, which takes its name from its origins as the native tongue of the people of  HYPERLINK /wiki/England \o England England, is today the most widely spoken language in the world. HYPERLINK /wiki/English_language \l cite_note-4#cite_note-4 [5] It is spoken as a first language by a majority of the inhabitants of several nations, including the  HYPERLINK /wiki/United_Kingdom \o United Kingdom United Kingdom, the  HYPERLINK /wiki/United_States \o United States United States,  HYPERLINK /wiki/Canada \o Canada Canada,  HYPERLINK /wiki/Australia \o Australia Australia,  HYPERLINK /wiki/Republic_of_Ireland \o Republic of Ireland Ireland and  HYPERLINK /wiki/New_Zealand \o New Zealand New Zealand. It is the third most commonly spoken language in the world in terms of native speakers, after  HYPERLINK /wiki/Mandarin_Chinese \o Mandarin Chinese Mandarin Chinese and  HYPERLINK /wiki/Spanish_language \o Spanish language Spanish. HYPERLINK /wiki/English_language \l cite_note-ethnologue-5#cite_note-ethnologue-5 [6] It is widely learned as a  HYPERLINK /wiki/Second_language \o Second language second language and used as an  HYPERLINK /wiki/Official_language \o Official language official language of the  HYPERLINK /wiki/European_Union \o European Union European Union and many  HYPERLINK /wiki/Commonwealth_of_Nations \o Commonwealth of Nations Commonwealth countries, as well as in many world organisations. English is a  HYPERLINK /wiki/West_Germanic_languages \o West Germanic languages West Germanic language that arose in the  HYPERLINK /wiki/History_of_Anglo-Saxon_England \o History of Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of  HYPERLINK /wiki/England \o England England and spread into what was to become south-east  HYPERLINK /wiki/Scotland \o Scotland Scotland under the influence of the  HYPERLINK /wiki/Angles \o Angles Anglian盎格鲁人的 medieval kingdom of  HYPERLINK /wiki/Northumbria \