English language
English is a West Germanic languag e that was first spoken in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages . It is now the third most widely used language in the world, behind Mandarin and Spanis h It is spoken in many countries around the world. Anglosphere countries include the United Kingdom , the United States , Canada , Australia , Ireland , New Zealand and a number of Caribbean nations. There are about 375 million native speakers (people who use English as their first language), [5] which is the largest after Mandarin and Spanish . About 220 million more people use it as their second language. It is often used in work and travel, and there are at least a billion people who are learning it. This makes English the second most spoken language, and the most international language in the world. En...