English Conquers the World

A Theme Page about how the English language spread around the world – for elementary and intermediate students (A1.2 – B1), year 5-B1 in Sweden

A list of English Speaking Countries: 87 countries where English is spoken as a first or an official second language.

Warm-up

World Englishes: 30 countries with a million English speakers – YouTubehttps://youtu.be/OwQNFaID1IwA video and song about 30 countries with about a million (or more) speakers of English. In these countries English also has some official status.

Lesson Plans

English Conquers the Worldhttps://webenglish.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/english-conquers-1.pdfA reading chapter about how English first spread around the world. See activities page and easy version belowEnglish Conquers Activities
English Conquers the World EZ

ChevronDownhttps://ndla.no/en/subjects/subject:39/topic:1:188628/resource:1:19383A world language is not only characterized by the number of its speakers, but also by its use in international organizations and diplomatic relations.

Reading

How did English become the world’s most spoken language? – ESL language studies abroadhttps://blog.esl-languages.com/blog/learn-languages/english-language-global-number-one/

Why is English such a global language? We’ll tell you the story of how this little language became the most studied in the world – check it out!

Ten things you might not have known about the English language | OxfordWords bloghttps://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2015/08/12/ten-things-you-might-not-have-known-about-the-english-language/

Hey, English speaker! Congratulations. You speak a language that straddles the globe like nothing before.

Listening

Jay Walker: The world’s English mania | TED Talk | TED.com (4:34) https://www.ted.com/talks/jay_walker_on_the_world_s_english_mania?language=en

Jay Walker explains why two billion people around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese students rehearsing English — “the world’s second language” — by the thousands.

Viewing

FunEasyEnglish.com Classroom English World Language – YouTube (1:35)https://youtu.be/03j4qL2Q6X8FunEasyEnglish.com Reasons to discuss in the Classroom if English should be the World Language

Why Did English Become the International Language? – YouTube (7:24)https://youtu.be/iqDFPU9YeQMThis video explores how English became the global lingua franca. – An overview from the 16th century until today.

What is a “Lingua Franca”? – YouTube (3:04)https://youtu.be/a9ZdC6wZnksWhat is a “lingua franca”? Here`s a video that explains and gives some examples of what is lingua franca.

The History of English in 10 Minutes – Sub ENG – YouTube (11:04)https://youtu.be/SfKhlJIAhewTo see the subs click on the first button on the right. – A fun, concise history of English with fast speech (choose 0.75) and subtitles

Rise and Fall of the British Empire (v2) (18:56)https://watchkin.com/c6faefc0bdThe History of England, and later Britain, from the rise of the Heptarchy to the transition from Empire to Commonwealth.

David Crystal – World Englishes – YouTube (10:15)https://youtu.be/2_q9b9YqGRYFrom the interview with David Crystal in Belgrade on 9 November 2013. “The future of Eglishes” (yr 8-B1)

10 Facts – WHY English is a Global Language 🌐📚🤓 | Go Natural English – YouTube (12 min)https://youtu.be/whWKE3Apnm4?t=141Why do we speak English in America? Let’s talk about why we speak English, about American history, the British Empire, and more!

Schools around the World – YouTube (ca 20 min)https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42A-UOtZ7W8tB87jwEXMBuK6FgpqTJG6A playlist with 3 videos of school classes and one of the school lunches around the world, not only English Speaking Countries.

33 Eye-Opening Pictures Of Classrooms Around The Worldhttps://www.buzzfeed.com/gabrielsanchez/this-is-what-going-to-school-looks-like-around-the-world?bffbparents&utm_term=.jia7zJepq#.kfZE1rnAd

It’s that time of year again — back to school!

Interactive

English as an International Languagehttp://www.5minuteenglish.com/feb28.htmAbout one hundred years ago many educated people learned and spoke French when they met people from other countries. Today most people speak English when they meet foreigners.

More Materials

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-people-speak-english-and-where-is-it-spoken/How many people speak English and where is it spoken? Did you know English is by far the world’s most studied language? And that 20% of the world speaks it?

Research Project

English Speaking Countries and Territorieshttps://webenglish.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/englishcountrylist-1.pdf

A list of English Speaking Countries, the ones in bold have English as a native language. Find information about several of the countries here: English Speaking Countries

English Speaking Countries | WebEnglish.sehttps://webenglish.se/english-speaking-countries/Link collections of countries where English is spoken as a first or an official language for students’ research projects.

Research Questionshttps://webenglish.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/worldproject-1.pdfFive questions to answer while working on a project on the English Speaking World (yr 8-B1)

How to Work with a Projecthttps://webenglish.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/how-to-project-1.pdfA poster with some basic rules for working with a project by Outi Frisk / WebEnglish.se

CC

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