English

English is a lightly inflected,  stress-timed language.

It is the subject that TEFL teachers teach. There are many varieties of English, including, but not limited to, American English (AmE), Australian English (AuE), British English (BrE), Indian English, South African English, Canadian English, Chinese English and so on. This wide-ranging reality has led to most specialists now preferring to use the term the English languages or Englishes.

Within the UK itself, regional varieties abound, such as Cockney and Estuary English in London or Scottish English (with variants such as Glaswegian) with major differences in the spoken language, and teachers must be aware of such differences when working on pronunciation.

Number of speakers of English
See main article Number of speakers of English

For various reasons it is difficult to be exact about the total number of native speakers of English but estimates vary from three hundred and nine million to three hundred and forty one million. This would rank English fourth in number of native speakers after Mandarin Chinese, Hindi/Urdu and Spanish.

On the other hand, if one were to attempt to include the number of individuals who speak English as a second language then the number becomes something in the order of one thousand five hundred million people - a larger number than that of any other language. A 2012 article in English Today by Bolton and Graddol, quoting a China Daily article, states that around 400 million people in China, approximately a third of the population, are currently learning English. A more precise figure, that of 390.16 million people who had learnt English i.e. studied it at school as a foreign language, is quoted by Wei and Su in the same issue.

Additionally English is used in international trade and industry to a greater extent than other languages. English is the only language for international air transport communications.

History of English
See main article History of the English languages

Notwithstanding its many varieties, English has a long and varied history which is, not unnaturally, bound up with the history of Britain, the British Isles and its peoples.

Modern English is the product of various Germanic invasions, the Norman conquest, the British Empire and much else.

Vocabulary
See main article Number of words in English

English has always freely absorbed words from other languages giving it the ability express a wide number of nuances. Nevertheless establishing the exact number of words is not as exact a science as one might suppose.