“English is the language of international communication”.

The history of English

About 2,000 years ago England was known as Britain and the people who lived there were called the Britons. They belonged to the Celts. *** The Celts were the first inhabitants of Britain (800 BC). They spoke the Celtic language. It didn’t contribute many words to modern English.*** 55 BC – Roman legions led by Julius Caesar invaded Britain. The Romans spoke Latin.

The main periods in the history of English: * the Old English period (or Anglo-Saxon ) – 449 -1066 AD * the Middle English period – 1066 -1475 AD * the New English period – the 15th century onwards

* the Old English period (or Anglo-Saxon ) – 449 -1066 ADGermanic tribes ( Angles, Saxons 597 AD – the introduction 878 AD – the times when and Jutes) forced the Britons of Christianity. Christian monks, Vikings raided Britain. They to learn their language (449 AD) who spoke Latin, brought it brought a lot of Scandinavian to England words in English

* the Middle English period – 1066 -1475 AD There are also many French words in English from when William Duke of Normandy became the King of England in 1066(almost 3 centuries French was the official language of the English Kingdom)

* the New English period – the 15th century onwards. This period is marked by significant changes in political, religious and life of the country. William Shakespeare was the most prominent name in the literary life of this period ( o lot of new words, idioms and grammatical constructions were created)

The Queen’s English. In the 19th century variations in speech became more and more a sign of special class and the idea of “the Queen’s English” was born. This was a standard that all educated people should speak.