English

English-Speaking World

English is an Indo-European, West Germanic language originating in England, and is the first language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the Anglophone Caribbean. It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language throughout the world, especially in Commonwealth countries and in many international organizations.

Modern English is sometimes described as the first global lingua franca. English is the dominant international language in communications, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. The influence of the British Empire is the primary reason for the initial spread of the language far beyond the British Isles. Since World War II, the growing economic and cultural influence of the United States has significantly accelerated the adoption of English.

A working knowledge of English is required in certain fields, professions, and occupations. As a result, over a billion people speak English at least at a basic level (see English language learning and teaching). English is one of six official languages of the United Nations.

Approximately 375 million people speak English as their first language. English today is probably the third largest language by number of native speakers, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. However, when combining native and non-native speakers it is probably the most commonly spoken language in the world.

English Learning Resources

Podcasts for English Learners

Podcasts are a great way to learn languages. You can use Free Language to check the vitality of available English language-learning podcasts by viewing their feed page. Click on any podcast below to view general info followed by the latest items from it's feed. You can tell if the feed has been updated lately, and it'll save you some time in choosing which podcasts to subscribe to.

News in English

News feeds from around the English-speaking world provide language exposure and practice joined with current events, culture, politics, science, sports and more. Here you can view summaries of these feeds and jump to view full articles when you interest is piqued.

English Internet TV

Miro Multimedia RSS Internet TV Player for Linux, Mac and Windows

Watching people speak English is a good way to gain exposure to the language in a non-study environment. This is great for folks who aren't living where the language is spoken and especially those already proficient in listening comprehension. If you don't understand anything, it's cool to "vegg out" for a while, but it's not the most productive thing you can do to learn. Try to find something with subtitles, and you're on the way.

If you do get into Internet TV, I highly recommend Miro, a free and open source media player with multimedia RSS capability that supports Linux, Mac and Windows. Hey, "because open media matters."

At any rate, below you'll find resources with literally thousands of Internet TV stations in a wide variety of languages. Amongst them you'll find plenty in English. Enjoy...

Helpful Resources and Tools for English

ExpertVillage.com Instructional Videos on Learning Foreign Languages
Foreign Language Translation Extensions/Tools/Plugins/Add-Ons for the Firefox Web Browser
PhraseBase.com Multi-Lingual Conversational Phrase Database Resource
expatriates.com Free International Multilingual Language Exchange Partner Classifieds
FoxLingo Free Firefox Browser Extension Software for Translating Web Pages
Online Flashcard Exchange Community

Make Friends Learning English

Social language learning has become incredibly popular on the web as it has transcended language barriers in previously impossible ways. Right now someone in Latin America or Spain could be interested in teaching you business English in exchange for you native language skills. If you speak several languages, the odds are even better that you'll find someone interested in a language exchange.

Note that not all networks below support English. Collectively, though, they support pretty much every language.

Study English Abroad Schools and Programs

It seems that the absolute best way to learn English is to go to a country where it is spoken - live it and study it, simultaneously. This can be a challenging path to take, but the reward is instant progress, the fastest way from "I don't understand" to "As easy as falling off a log". Traveling, living and studying abroad is an exciting way to learn any language while broadening your cultural awareness.

Eurolanguages.com Find and Reserve an English Study Abroad Program or Language School Free Online: London, England, Ireland...
Directory List of International Foreign Language Schools and Language Study Abroad Programs

Popular Tags for English

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Don't know what RSS is? Click here and it could save you plenty of time. And perhaps revolutionize your web experience.

English Aggregator

Free Language aggregates (brings together) web feeds in and about the English language for the purpose of exposing users to content in this language. Not only that, users interested in getting this dynamic combo of English feeds on one single RSS feed can click here and sit back. :)