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English
Spoken by: 400 million native, 1.8 billion in total
Spoken in: The United States, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and many other countries
Language family: West-Germanic


Phonology[]

Grammar[]

Orthography[]

English uses 26 letters in its alphabet; a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z. The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u, although y is sometimes considered a vowel.

Common difficulties[]

English is often thought of as a tricky language to learn because of its numerous rules and exceptions, both in spelling and pronunciation. English also contains more words than any other language.

In addition to Old English words of Germanic origin, a large proportion of English words are derived from or directly borrowed from other languages. Because of its history, English borrows extensively from French, Latin, Ancient Greek and Old Norse. In fact, English has taken some words from almost every language in the world. However, this can be a good thing: many poets and authors enjoy writing in English because of the many ways to express oneself and for the nuances available from near-synonymous words and phrases.

Many learners struggle with English orthography. It's not phonetic, and its spelling may be the most irregular of any language wriitten today. For a beginner, this can sometimes be the most difficult part of learning the language.

Resources[]

English Grammars

Rosetta Stone offers courses in both British and American English.

Duolingo offers courses in English for speakers of many languages.

Pimsleur offers courses in English for speakers of many languages.

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