About English

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England.

Now English is the most widely used language in the world.

It is spoken as a first language by the majority populations of several sovereign states, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and a number of Caribbean nations; and it is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states. It is the third-most-common native language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

It is widely learned as a second language and is an official language of the European Union, many Commonwealth countries and the United Nations, as well as in many world organisations.

Native speakers 328 million 
Second language: 495 million

Language family

Indo-European
Germanic
West Germanic 
Ingvaeonic 
Anglo–Frisian 
Anglic 
English

Early forms

Old English 
Middle English 
Early Modern English
English

Writing system
Latin script (English alphabet)
English Braille 

Official status

Official language in
54 countries
27 non-sovereign entities