English is spoken as a native language by around 375 million people (250 million people in the USA, 180 million in India, 58 million in the UK, 18 million in Canada, and 16 million in Australia) and as a second language by around 375 million speakers in the world. English is the official language in 53 countries and enjoys special status in at least twenty plus more countries with a total population reach of over two billion. As for now, we can surely say Modern English stands its ground as the most popular and dominant language in international communications, probably even more so than Latin in former days. This is due to global historical development and possibly also the simplicity of English grammar compared to other world languages in addition to its significantly rich, extensive vocabulary (although it is said you only need to learn 2,000 basic words to start communicating in English). English is an official EU language and actual one of the "procedural", i.e. working, languages at the institution. English is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
Dialects and foreigners' nightmare...or nitemare?
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Source: DollarPhotoClub.com |
English
translation specifics
When we translate into English, it is important
to know for which market documents are intended. Everyone knows that Queen’s
English differs from US English in spelling. The examples above are well-known,
others are more subtle differences such as use of past tense of verbs where UK
English uses “-lled”, while US
English uses “-led”. And which
variant uses a period in “Mr”? Even simple things such as a writing the date
differ.
As a result, sometimes it is worth
contemplating whether texts should be published in different English language variants.
In car manuals, for example, the British put their travelling bag in the
boot and head for the motorway. An American would put his traveling
bag in the trunk and get on the highway. And when it rains in London, children put on their wellingtons…
Alphabet:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
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