English Language Facts

Enjoy our interesting English language facts and information and have fun
learning new trivia related to the English language.
Find a range of facts related to the history of the English language, how
many words there are, vocabulary origins, the alphabet, how many native
speakers there are and much more. Read on and learn some cool English
language information.
English is a West Germanic anguage.
!he English language spread with the growth of the "ritish Empire,
becoming the dominant language in #anada, the $nited %tates, &ew
'ealand and (ustralia.
!he growing global in)uence of the $% has further increased the
spread of English.
!oday English is probably the most widely spoken language in the
world, with many people learning it as a second or foreign language. *t
is estimated that there could be as many as +., billion total English
speakers worldwide.
With over -.. million native speakers, #hinese /andarin is the most
spoken native language, followed by %panish and English.
!he countries with the highest populations of native English speakers
are the $%, $0, #anada and (ustralia.
English is one of si1 o2cial languages of the $nited &ations, as well as
French, Russian, %panish, (rabic and #hinese /andarin.
English has a huge vocabulary, with over 3,.... di4erent words listed
in the 51ford English 6ictionary.
English incorporates words from a large number of di4erent languages.
/any of these words have French, 5ld &orse or 6utch origins.
/any scienti7c words used in the English language come from atin or
Greek.
English is written in the atin alphabet 8also known as the Roman
alphabet9.