Facts About English
How much do you really know about the wonderful language you are learning. Here are 5 interesting facts about the English language you probably don’t already know.
1. English has 3rd most native speakers
Well as such a widespread language I thought we would do a little better than just 3rd place. But that is in fact true, Mandarin (~950 million) and Spanish (~470 million) have many more native speakers than English (~360 Million) Never mind! Better luck next year.
2. English has the largest vocabulary
Yes, first place in this category! English has over 250, 000 distinct words and as we often ‘borrow’ ‘steal’ and ‘invent’ new words, this number is growing every day. Don’t worry though, to learn them all just learn 15 new words every day……for 45 years!
3. The longest word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
This is probably the least useful fact you’ve learned today.
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis is a supposed lung disease and is the longest word in the dictionary. However, there are only two occasions where you will be able to use this word.
- If you get this unlikely lung disease
- You enter a pub quiz which asks the question “What’s the longest word in the dictionary?”
4. Schwa is the most common sound in English
Just like when you say the A in ‘ABOUT’, the schwa sound is most commonly found in the unstressed parts of words and you will notice that you use it more and more as you become more fluent (or as lazy as a native speaker).
5. 2/3 of native English speakers live in America
This is the scariest fact on this list, not because they are hiding in America but because they probably all have American accents. More British accents please teachers!
