Talk:English language

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A fact from English language appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 8 September 2009.

Wikipedia

History

"English has a lot of words from French because of William the Conqueror, a French king who conquered England in 1066 AD (conquer = have a war and win). But Danes and Norsemen also came to the country, too."

I think Danes and Norsemen actually came 200 or 300 years earlier than the French. The page is not clear about that, and that should be changed.

Simpleness

I think this page should be made simpler, but I do not want to tag it. --Cromwell|Talk 13:51, 23 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I had the same thought, and I do want to tag it, but I'm also going to try and simplify it myself. Graymornings 01:54, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Inspiration

Simply try to combign Language and learning by combining two Wiki's in one. It will add up to being more wholesome!

:D

Getinspired2008 (talk) 01:30, 23 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

source: www.dunglish.nl

The main language of South Africa is NOT English

Your map indicates that the main language of South Africa is English, but if your read the article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa#Languages you will see that English is the first language of less than 8.2% of the population. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.54.202.70 (talk • contribs) 07:08, July 21, 2008 (UTC)

English is an official language. I think that counts. Qwilleranfan (talk) 14:23, 30 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The main language of Québec is NOT English

The maps also indicates that the main language of Québec is English, which is not true. The main language of Québec is French, otherwise the map doesn't match the map of the french language which indicates that French is the main language of Québec.

It goes by country. The official language of Canada is English. Griffinofwales (talk) 23:25, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Canada actually has two official languages, English and French, and according to this, the main language of Québec is indeed French. Lauryn Ashby (talk) 23:26, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I know both of those things, but my claim holds true - English is an official language of Canada. If the French language wants to put Canada on their map, they can do so, but making exceptions for provinces is unnecessary. Griffinofwales (talk) 23:29, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

If you knew this, then why leave French out of your previous statement? I'm not trying to make anything complicated, but it is important that we are accurate here. There's a difference between "the" official language and "an" official language. That being said, I see no problem with the map being the way it is, I just felt the need to point out that Canada has two official languages, when you claimed they only had one. Lauryn Ashby (talk) 23:30, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Does it matter? Griffinofwales (talk) 23:32, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Of course it matters, what kind of question is that? Lauryn Ashby (talk) 23:33, 2 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I'm with Griffinofwales on this one. Quebec not a country, and since the map clearly says "Countries", then it should not be singled out as one. It's misleading to those who might not know these facts. Qwilleranfan (talk) 14:20, 30 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Maps: There are two, almost identical, maps of the world. The only difference i can discern is in Quebec. The label for the map showing Quebec as light blue, how-ever, also refers to countries, not areas or provinces. Why is that map there?Kdammers (talk) 17:54, 15 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]

study interresting

Selon le service de la recherche sur la pedagogie de hanovre il existe un décalage important dans l'apprentissage de l'anglais entre le niveau qu'estime posséder les utilisateurs et leur véritable maitrise de l'anglais , il a été demander a des élève qui pratiquaient depuis 8 à 10 ans d'estimer leur niveau de compétence en anglais (34% on répondu très bien , 38% on répondu bien maitriser l'anglais) Par contre suite à un teste d'évaluation on c'est rendu compte que seulement 1% des étudiant maitrisait très bien l'anglais , et seulement 4% le maitrisaient bien)[7

English language-wikipedia

Will someone explain to me the difference here in Wikipedia between English and Simple English??

Simple English is simpler. I don't know what else would you expect to hear. 178.94.191.71 (talk) 16:25, 11 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Too clever?

While the normal native speaker/reader of English might catch and appreciate the swtich from "spelled" to "spel t" when referring to "color" and "colour," respectively, don't you think it might confuse the target reader of Simple English Wik? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 211.225.34.170 (talk • contribs)

No; the Simple English Wikipedia is about simple language, not simple ideas. Part of our target audience is people who are learning English as a second language and who would certainly be able to understand ideas such as this. Kansan (talk) 06:21, 1 March 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Why is this inserted in the history of the English language. It seems to be some kind of joke.

The English language is not often understood by Mexican immigrants, which shows the reason why most people cannot understand the dialect spoken by Texans. Certain careers in English-speaking countries often do not require the use of the English language: like taxi drivers, fast food cashiers, and tele-marketers.216.196.202.73 (talk) 03:20, 8 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, they are unsourced and somewhat biased. I have removed those lines. --Mukkakukaku (talk) 04:10, 8 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

BE vocab claim

"some British people now sometimes use American English terms." "Terms" is defined as "word or phrase" in the dictionary I have to hand. But the preceding sentences are referring to spellings, which our readers might well not consider under the word "term" (as I wouldn't). If we are making the claim that AE spelling is some-times used, then we should say "spelling"; if we are talking about vocabulary or collocations, then we should make that clear and give an example or two, as we have done with spelling differences. In any case, a source would be useful.Kdammers (talk) 13:39, 2 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Capitalization

The legend under the pie chart has the word "English" written as 'english.' I don't know how to change this, but it is wRoNg. Some-one please go to the source and correct it. Kdammers (talk) 11:59, 3 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If you are talking about the description under the pie chart, when I took a look someone over the years must have corrected it. --Tsugaru let's talk! :) 19:38, 28 July 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Not logical?

"Although it is a lot like English (and was even closer before Old English changed to Middle English), speakers of the two languages would not be able to understand each other. That is why people suggest that the closest major language to English is Dutch which is spoken in the Netherlands and nearby Belgium. German is spoken in Germany,..." - What does (Frisian) not being understood by English-speakers have to do with Dutch being suggested as the closest major language? Kdammers (talk) 17:28, 22 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

German

"It is, together with German, the most important language of science and technology."

This seems outdated, no? 73.170.137.168 (talk) 17:53, 30 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Diacriticals

Shouldn't something be added about the occasional use of diacrticals in English writing? Also, I think something about punctuation should be in the article. Kdammers (talk) 16:32, 18 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]

How Can I Use “Take Two and Call Me in the Morning” Safely?

As a long-time health writer, I’ve encountered countless medical phrases and sayings. But few have captured my attention, like “Take two and call me in the morning.” This simple yet powerful expression has become deeply ingrained in our cultural understanding of healthcare. Today, I will analyze this phrase, examining its origins, meaning, and relevance in modern medicine. Curiositytop (talk) 04:30, 12 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]