Why Learn English: 10 Reasons to Learn English

Learning English is important and people all over the world decide to study it as a second
language. Many countries include English as a second language in their school syllabus and
children start learning English at a young age.
However, do you know why learning English is so important? Here are ten good reasons to study
English.
1. English is the most commonly spoken language in the world. One out o !ve people can speak
or at least understand English"

#. English is the language o science, o aviation, computers, diplomacy, and tourism. $nowing
English increases your chances o getting a good %ob in a multinational company within your home
country or o !nding work abroad.

&. English is the o'cial language o (& countries. )hat is a lot o people to meet and speak to.

*. English is spoken as a !rst language by around *++ million people around the world.

(. English is the language o the media industry. , you speak English, you won-t need to rely on
translations and subtitles anymore to en%oy your avourite books, songs, !lms and ). shows.

/. English is also the language o the ,nternet. Many websites are written in English 0 you will be
able to understand them and to take part in orums and discussions.

1. English is based on a simple alphabet and it is airly 2uick and easy to learn compared to other
languages.

3. English is not only useul 4 it gives you a lot o satisaction. Making progress eels great. 5ou
will en%oy learning English, i you remember that every hour you spend gets you closer to
perection.

6. 7ince English is spoken in so many di8erent countries there are thousands o schools around the
world that o8er programmes in English. , you speak English, there-re lots o opportunities or you
to !nd an appropriate school and course to suit your academic needs.

1+. 9ecause it-s un" 9y learning English, you will also learn about other cultures. :ew e;periences
will make you grow as a person more than learning the values, habits and way o lie in a culture
that is di8erent rom yours.
Importance of English in the Business
World

Success in business is often hinged on one single important word communication; and most of it happens
in English.
The world is flat; the economic migrations of the past decades have become permanent expat
communities. Asians, especially, continue to migrate to the nited States or to Europe for !obs and live
there permanently. Even for those involved in business from their native countries, if they want to sell to a
larger mar"et, need to understand the trends and the cultures of those mar"ets. This is often best done
through the common currency that is English. #ove it or hate it, we simply can$t ignore it. %ig businesses
call the shots, so if in &ermany you do as the &ermans do, in the common world mar"et, learn English.
'n order to get ahead in your chosen field you need to ma"e yourself completely understood by the people
you wor" with. There will be emails; there will be telephone conversations, and they are costly( )nowing
good English helps you to ma"e your point faster. 'f you have a website that the whole world can see, you
had better have content that is meaningful and accurate and does not embarrass you or harm your
business.
Even within 'ndian companies, especially large corporations, the number of employees is too huge for
personal, one*on*one communication. +ence the intranet is the notice board and all communications are
made through it. 'magine a secretary who didn$t "now grammar and punctuation sent out a company wide
email ,meeting cancelled because of indisposed-. %ecause of whom. %ecause of indisposed. 's
indisposed the name of a person. Another 'ndian might scoff and laugh at the very poor grammar, or might
even get the gist of it, but what about the impression you ma"e on, say, foreign collaborators who receive
the same email. And even if we ignore the impression we ma"e, what about the issues that arise
from miscommunication. /eople !ust don$t "now what you mean. 0ritten communication is as important as
verbal.
Engineers typically are nonchalant about their lac" of language s"ills, saying that they understand their
core sub!ects and that$s enough. ' would say that it is not enough to understand the concepts through
insight or genius, you need to communicate that you "now. Thin" interviews and group discussions for !ob*
see"ers( 1ou cannot do this without proficiency in a language.
History of the English
Language
What is English?
A short history of the origins and development of
English
The history of the English language really started with the arrival
of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th
century AD. These tribes the Angles the !a"ons and the #utes
crossed the $orth !ea from what today is Denmar% and northern
Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain s&o%e a 'eltic
language. But most of the 'eltic s&ea%ers were &ushed west and
north by the invaders ( mainly into what is now Wales !cotland
and )reland. The Angles came from *Englaland* +sic, and their
language was called *Englisc* ( from which the words *England*
and *English* are derived.

Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east and south coasts in the 5th century
Old English (40!1100 A"#
The invading Germanic tribes
s&o%e similar languages which in
Britain develo&ed into what we
now call -ld English. -ld English
did not sound or loo% li%e English
today. $ative English s&ea%ers
now would have great difficulty
understanding -ld English.
$evertheless about half of the
most commonly used words in .odern English have -ld English
roots. The words be strong and water for e"am&le derive from
-ld English. -ld English was s&o%en until around //00.

1art of Beowulf a &oem written in -ld
English
$iddle English (1100!100#
)n /022 William the 'on3ueror
the Du%e of $ormandy 4&art of
modern 5rance6 invaded and
con3uered England. The new
con3uerors 4called the $ormans6
brought with them a %ind of
5rench which became the
language of the 7oyal 'ourt and
the ruling and business classes.
5or a &eriod there was a %ind of
linguistic class division where the
lower classes s&o%e English and
the u&&er classes s&o%e 5rench. )n
the /8th century English became dominant in Britain again but
with many 5rench words added. This language is called .iddle
English. )t was the language of the great &oet 'haucer 4c/980(
/8006 but it would still be difficult for native English s&ea%ers to
understand today.
$odern English
Early $odern English (100!1%00#
Towards the end of .iddle English a sudden and distinct change
in &ronunciation 4the Great :owel
!hift6 started with vowels being
&ronounced shorter and shorter.
5rom the /2th century the British
had contact with many &eo&les
from around the world.
This and the 7enaissance of
'lassical learning meant that
many new words and &hrases
entered the language. The

An e"am&le of .iddle English by 'haucer

;amlet<s famous *To be or not to be* lines
written in Early .odern English by
!ha%es&eare
invention of &rinting also meant that there was now a common
language in &rint. Boo%s became chea&er and more &eo&le
learned to read. 1rinting also brought standardi=ation to English.
!&elling and grammar became fi"ed and the dialect of >ondon
where most &ublishing houses were became the standard. )n
/208 the first English dictionary was &ublished.
Late $odern English (1%00!&resent#
The main difference between Early .odern English and >ate
.odern English is vocabulary. >ate .odern English has many
more words arising from two &rinci&al factors? firstly the
)ndustrial 7evolution and technology created a need for new
words@ secondly the British Em&ire at its height covered one
3uarter of the earth<s surface and the English language ado&ted
foreign words from many countries.
30 Things You Can Do To Improve Your
English
1.Dont be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident. People can only correct your mistakes when they hear you
make them.
2.Surround yourself in English. Put yourself in an all English speaking enironment where you can learn
passiely. !he best way to learn is through speaking.
".Practise eery day. #ake yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend
studying and stick to it. Establish a routine.
$.!ell your family and friends about your study plan. %et them to push you to study and also dont let them
interrupt you.
&.Practise the $ core skills' reading( writing( speaking and listening. !hey all need to be worked on for you to
improe.
).*eep a notebook of new words you learn. +se them in sentences and try to say them at least " times when
you speak.
,.Do a lesson at least once a day.
-.#emorisation of lists is one of the most common ways of learning ocabulary for a test. .ts only a good
e/ercise for short term studying because you often do not retain the information that you hae learned for a
test.
0.+se your body clock. .f youre not a morning person( study in the afternoon.
11.2ou will find words easier to remember if you try to remember an e/ample sentence using that word rather
the word on its own.
11.Plan to take a test. 2oull find that you work harder when you need to study for something.
12.Saying that( its better not to study just to take a test. !hink of the bigger picture. 3hat can you do when
you hae a good command of English4 5ow will the 6uality of your life improe4
1".%ie yourself a long term goal. 7ocus on working towards it.
1$.%ie yourself short term goals too and reward yourself when you achiee each one.
1&.8reate an atmosphere in which you want to learn( not because you hae to. 2oull learn more when youre
learning because you want to.
1).*now what works best for you. !hink about what methods hae been successful for you in the past and
stick with them.
1,.7igure out how you learn. .t can be by memorising( reading( speaking( summarising or other methods.
7ind out how you study best. .t can be in a 6uiet place by yourself or with a group.
1-.%et help9 .f you dont understand something youe got to ask someone. :sk your teacher( classmates or
friends for help.
10.Review! Review! Review! #ake sure that you take the time to reiew things you hae studied in the past.
21..ts not a good idea to study on your own for more than "1 minutes at a time. !ake regular breaks( get
some fresh air and stretch your legs.
21.Dont be in such a hurry to moe up a leel. 8oncentrate on the leel you are at now.
22.3atch D;Ds rather than !;. .ts better to use something that you can watch oer again to catch
information you might hae missed the first time.
2".3atching !; only gies you the chance to hear something correctly first time. !his is better for high leel
students. .t can be great practice for speaking to natie English speakers so you dont hae to ask them to
repeat themseles9
2$.<ead graded readers. !hese books are especially written for your leel. <ead a whole noel. 2ou can do it9
2oull feel great afterwards.
2&.8hildrens books hae easier words and are a good alternatie to graded readers.
2).=ewspapers are a good place to find passie constructs. <ead through an article and see if you can find the
passie sentences.
2,.<ead for the general meaning first. Dont worry about understanding eery word( then go back and look
up new words.
2-.7or a word you dont understand in a sentence( look at the other words around it. !hey will gie you a
hint. !ry to guess the meaning from the conte/t.
20.>earn root words. !heyll help you guess the meaning of words. 7or e/ample'scrib ? write( min ? small
"1.3hen you learn a new word( think of all its other
forms' Beautiful @adAectieB(beauty @nounB( beautifully @aderbB.
9ritish and <merican spelling
There are several areas in which %ritish and American spelling are different. The differences
often come about because %ritish English has tended to "eep the spelling of words it has
absorbed from other languages 2e.g. 3rench4, while American English has adapted the
spelling to reflect the way that the words actually sound when they5re spo"en.
'f you5re writing for %ritish readers, you should only use %ritish spellings. 'n one or two cases,
the preferred American spellings are acceptable in %ritish English as well, especially the *i6e7*
i6ationendings. 0hile you can use both the *ise7*isation or the *i6e7i6ation endings in %ritish
English, it5s important to stic" to one style or the other throughout the same piece of writing.
+ere are the main ways in which %ritish and American spelling are different.
=ords ending in 0re
%ritish English words that end in *re often end in *er in American English8
British US
centre center
i!re i!er
litre liter
theatre
theater or theatr
e
=ords ending in >our
%ritish English words ending in *our usually end in *or in American English8
British US
colour color
lavour lavor
humour humor
la!our la!or
neigh!our neigh!or
=ords ending in >i?e or >ise
9erbs in %ritish English that can be spelled with either *i6e or *ise at the end are always
spelled with *i6e at the end in American English8
British US
apologi"e or apologise apologi"e
organi"e or organise organi"e
recogni"e or recognise recogni"e
=ords ending in >yse
9erbs in %ritish English that end in *yse are always spelled *y6e in American English8
British US
anal#se anal#"e
!reathal#se!reathal#"e
paral#se paral#"e
=ords ending in a vowel plus l
'n %ritish spelling, verbs ending in a vowel plus l double the l when adding endings that begin
with a vowel. 'n American English, the l is not doubled8
British US
travel travel
travelle$ travele$
travelling traveling
traveller traveler
fuel fuel
uelle$ uele$
uelling ueling
=ords spelled with double vowels
%ritish English words that are spelled with the double vowels ae or oe are !ust spelled with
an e in American English8
British US
leu%aemia leu%emia
manoeuvre maneuver
oestrogen estrogen
pae$iatric pe$iatric

:ote that in American English, certain terms, such as archaeology, "eep the ae spelling as
standard, although the spelling with !ust the e 2i.e. archeology4 is usually acceptable as well.
@ouns ending with 0ence
Some nouns that end with *ence in %ritish English are spelled *ense in American English8
British US
$eence $eense
licence license
oence oense
pretence pretense
@ouns ending with 0ogue
Some nouns that end with *ogue in %ritish English end with either *og or *oguein American
English8
British US
analogue analog or analogue
catalogue catalog or catalogue
$ialogue $ialog or $ialogue

The distinctions here are not hard and fast. The spelling analogue is acceptable but not very
common in American English; catalog has become the S norm, but catalogue is not
uncommon;dialogue is still preferred over dialog.
Aside from spelling differences, many items and practices have different names in %ritish and
American English. To explore further, see %ritish and American terms.