know what you speak reader

• In the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, English is the vernacular or common language. That means it is the most spoken and used language in those countries. However, English does not have the status of official language in those countries. Most people there speak English in their daily lives and the government generally uses English, but legally these countries do not have an official language.
• There are about 77 million native speakers of French. Those people grew up speaking French, so it is their native language.
• many more people use French in their everyday lives. About 208 million people speak French every day as a second language or official language at school, at work or in communication with the government.
• there are also lesser-known areas where German (or a variant thereof) is spoken. One example is Namibia, which is a former German colony. German is also spoken in parts of Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Why? At the end of the Second World War, many Germans were deported to these areas. In addition, many German speakers migrated to countries like the United States and Australia, establishing small dialects there too.
• Latin remained the official language of diplomacy and government well into the Middle Ages, and it remained a scientific language until the 18th century. Many early French philosophers wrote in Latin.
• Before Latin began to disappear, the Roman Empire fell apart. Germanic tribes slowly gained more and more power.
• Imperialism began in the late Middle Ages with Columbus’s ‘discovery’ of America. Next, European countries like Portugal, Spain, England, the Netherlands and France also decided to establish many trading posts in overseas territories. The countries mainly did that so they could increase their own empires and because they could make more money for their economies.
• Traces of these European countries are still very much in evidence in many former colonies. These traces include the languages spoken there.
• English is spoken in the United States because until the late 18th century, England was the most powerful nation in the United States.
• French is still spoken in many African countries today due to colonisation.
• People in South Africa speak Afrikaans, a mix of Dutch, English and some local words. While the original languages are still spoken in Asia, these have been influenced by colonisation, as they contain bits of European languages.
• Malaysian and Indonesian contain many Dutch words, and there are many Spanish linguistic influences in Filipino.
• The word imperialism comes from Latin, where it means empire. The meaning of imperialism is a state’s efforts to greatly expand its territory in other parts of the world. In other words, it means expanding your own territory further and further, so your power increases and you gain more influence and prestige.
• After colonialism came imperialism. This is when the European powers really started seizing territories. In fact, the European powers started imposing their own political structure and culture. The aim of imperialism was to increase their own territory and expand their own power.