http://www.voanews.com/mediaassets/specialenglish/2008_08/Audio/mp3/voa-se-exp-history-english-pt1-20aug08.mp3
1. This is Steve Ember. And this is Shirley Griffith with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we present the first of two programs about the history of the English Language.
2. More people are trying to learn English than any other language in the world. English is the language of political negotiations and international business. It has become the international language of science and medicine. International treaties say passenger airplane pilots must speak English.
3. English is the major foreign language taught in most schools in South America and Europe. School children in the Philippines and Japan begin learning English at an early age. English is the official language of more than seventy-five countries including Britain, Canada, the United States, Australia, and South Africa.
4. In countries where many different languages are spoken, English is often used as an official language to help people communicate. India is a good example. English is the common language in this country where at least twenty-four languages are spoken by more than one million people.
5. Where did the English language come from? Why has it become so popular? To answer these questions we must travel back in time about five thousand years to an area north of the Black Sea in southeastern Europe.
6. Experts say the people in that area spoke a language called Proto-Indo-European. That language is no longer spoken. Researchers do not really know what it sounded like.
7. Yet, Proto-Indo-European is believed to be the ancestor of most European languages. These include the languages that became ancient Greek, ancient German and the ancient Latin.
8. Latin disappeared as a spoken language. Yet it left behind three great languages that became modern Spanish, French and Italian. Ancient German became Dutch, Danish, German, Norwegian, Swedish and one of the languages that developed into English.
9. The English language is a result of the invasions of the island of Britain over many hundreds of years. The invaders lived along the northern coast of Europe.
10. The first invasions were by a people called Angles about one thousand five hundred years ago. The Angles were a German tribe who crossed the English Channel. Later two more groups crossed to Britain. They were the Saxons and the Jutes.
11. These groups found a people called the Celts, who had lived in Britain for many thousands of years. The Celts and the invaders fought.
12. After a while, most of the Celts were killed, or made slaves. Some escaped to live in the area that became Wales. Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed their different languages. The result is what is called Anglo-Saxon or Old English.
13. Old English is extremely difficult to understand. Only a few experts can read this earliest form of English. Several written works have survived from the Old English period.
14. Perhaps the most famous is called Beowulf. It is the oldest known English poem. Experts say it was written in Britain more than one thousand years ago. The name of the person who wrote it is not known. Beowulf is the story of a great king who fought against monsters. He was a good king, well liked by his people. Listen as Warren Scheer reads the beginning of this ancient story in modern English.
15. So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes' heroic campaigns. There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes.
16. This terror of the hall-troops had come far. A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was proved, In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king.
