English

The English Language, commonly referred to as English, is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages. It is spoken in many countries around the world. English-speaking ("Anglophone") countries include the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and a number of Caribbean nations. There are about 375 million native speakers (people who use English as their first language), the largest amount of native speakers after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. About 220 million more people use English as a "second language." It is often used in work and travel, and there are at least a billion people who are learning it. This makes it the second most spoken language, and the most international language in the world.

History
The English language began in England. Germanic tribes (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes) came to Britain from around 449 AD. They made their home in the south and east of the island, pushing out the Celtic Britons who were there before them, or making them speak the English language instead of the old Celtic languages. Some people still speak Celtic languages today, in Wales (Welsh) and elsewhere. Gaelic is the Scottish Celtic language, still spoken by some in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. "Scots" is a dialect of English (although some call it a separate language). Irish Gaelic is spoken by very few people today.

The Germanic dialects of these different tribes became what is now called Old English. The word "English" comes from the name of the Angles: Englas. Old English did not sound or look much like the English spoken today. If English speakers today were to hear or read a passage in Old English, they would understand just a few words.

Structure
Nearly 60% of the vocabulary in the English language comes from Latin and Neo-Latin languages (mainly French): However, in the most common words, the amount of Germanic origin words is much higher. Also, besides the simple vocabulary, there are expressions and typical short phrases, many of which are of Germanic origin.
 * Langue d'oïl (French): 29.3%
 * Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin and Frankish (Germanic language): 28.7%
 * Germanic languages: 24% (inherited from Old English/Anglo-Saxon, Proto-Germanic, Old Norse, etc. without including Germanic words borrowed from a Romance languages)
 * Greek: 5.32%
 * Italian, Spanish and Portuguese: 4.03%
 * Derived from proper names: 3.28%
 * All other languages: less than 1%

Because of the widespread international use of the language, there are various accents and dialects worldwide, including the stereotypical Jamaican/Carribean accent, the stereotypical Indian accent, and the stereotypical Australian accent.