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On 13th October 1362 the Chancellor of England opened parliament with a speech in English for the first time, and in the same sitting members were permitted to debate in English. For these reasons, today has been marked English Language Day by The English Project.
Each year The English Project will be celebrating a different aspect of our language, with this year’s focus on the language of place and community. They’ve organised a variety of events, inviting visitors to explore the heritage of local place names and language in Hampshire.
We’re celebrating the English language too. We’ve been Googling trivia all morning and here are a few of our favourite facts:
– English is the mother tongue of over 400 million people and over 700 million people speak English as a foreign language. That’s a lot of communication!
– 80% of the information stored on the world’s computers is in English.
– English is the most widespread language in the world.
– The first notable English dictionary was published by Samuel Johnson in 1755 – over 250 years ago.
We’ve said it before that language and words are the currency of our business, so we’re really pleased to get behind the English Project and help raise the profile of our beautiful language.
Next year’s celebration will focus on the language of sports and games, so get your thinking caps on – how will you celebrate?
Read more about the power of the English language …
- Why are exclamation marks an unwelcome intrusion? We break it down
- Language is never more important than when you’re apologising
- Explore our writers’ blog
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