English is a West Germanic language, which was first used in England in the early Middle Ages, and became the most widely used language in the world because of its vast colonies. It was named after the Germans, who were one of the Germanic tribes that later migrated to Great Britain and were called England. Both names come from Angeria in the Baltic Peninsula. This language is closely related to Frisian and Lower Saxon, and its vocabulary is greatly influenced by other Germanic languages, especially Nordic (North Germanic), and is largely written in Latin and French.

English has developed 1400 years. The earliest form of English is a group of West Germanic dialects brought to Britain by Anglo-Saxon immigrants in the 5th century A.D., collectively known as Old English. Middle English began at the end of 1 1, and Norman conquered England. This is the period when the language was influenced by French. Early modern English was introduced to the printing press in London in the late15th century, when the King James Bible was printed, and the vowel movement began.

Since17th century, modern English has spread all over the world under the extensive influence of Britain and America. Through various print and electronic media in these countries, English has become one of the dominant languages in the world, and languages also occupy a dominant position in many regions and professional environments, such as science, navigation and law.

In terms of geographical distribution, English is the most popular language, and the number of native speakers of English is the third in the world, second only to Chinese and Spanish. It is the most widely studied second language, and it is the official language or one of the official languages of nearly 60 sovereign countries. Compared with native English speakers, more people learn English as a second language. It is the mother tongue of Britain, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries, and is widely used in the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia. It is one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union and many other world and regional international organizations.