So, you think you know a thing or two about English?  Answer the 10 Multiple Choice and True / False questions below to find out how much you really know about America’s native tongue.  
(Italicized expressions are defined at the end of the article.)

0-2 correct: Bad day?  Too much TV?  Not enough caffeine?
3-5 correct: That’s slightly better than random guesses.
6-8 correct: Go ahead – pat yourself on the back.
9-10 correct: You’re a language guru.  Want to write the next article?

How many English words?

English is a monster – no question.  But just how big is this puppy?  If you’re learning English as a second language, don’t you want to know how far you have to go?

Question 1: How many words are in the English language?

(a) 200,000      (b) 500,000              (c) a million                (d) who knows?

Answer: (b), (c) or (d)

(b) The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 500,000 headwords, including some slang, technical, and archaic terms. 

(c) Other sources, however, estimate there are up to a million English words. 

(d) Why the confusion?  Sometimes it’s hard to say what’s an English word and what isn’t!  If you introduce a new slang term, and all your friends pick it up, is it English?  What about the names of chemical compounds – should we list all of those?  The problem isn’t that we can’t find our calculators  -- it’s that we can’t agree on the definition of an “English word.” 

Question 2: How many words does the average English speaker know?

(a) 1,000 – 2,000      (b) 10,000 – 20,000              (c) 60,000                  (d) 100,000

Answer: (b)

There may be an abundance (excess, plethora, surfeit, profusion, plenitude) of English words, but the average English speaker “knows” (that is, can understand) only about ten to twenty thousand of them.  In every day speech, s/he uses only about one or two thousand.  An educated adult has a vocabulary of about 60,000 words.    And the real verbal geniuses among us (you know who you are) top out around 100,000 words. 

ESL learners, take heart – just a few thousand vocabulary words, and you’ll sound just like the rest of us! 

How many English speakers?

So, who’s using that big treasure trove of English vocabulary?  You, me, and a few million other people…

Question 3: How many people speak English as a first language?

(a) 225 million            (b) 375 million            (c) 550 million            (d) 1 billion +

Question 4: How many people speak English as a second or foreign language (ESL / EFL)?

(a) 225 million            (b) 375 million            (c) 750 million            (d) 1 billion +

Question 5: How many countries give English official or special status?

(a) 15                          (b) 40                          (c) 75                          (d) 130

Question 6: True or False: One out of four people in the world speaks some English.

Question 7: True or False: There are more people in the world who speak English as a second or foreign language than people who speak it as a first language.

Question 8: The only language in the world with more speakers than English is

(a) There is none!      (b) Spanish                (c) Hindi                      (d) Chinese

Answers: (b); (d); (c); True; True; (d)

About 375 million people speak English as their native language.  About 750 million people speak it as a foreign language, and 375 million as a second language, for a total of over 1 billion speakers of ESL / EFL.   Yes, that means there are more people speaking English as a second / foreign language than people speaking it as a first language.  Estimates vary, but about one in four or one in five people in the world speak at least some English.   And on the national level, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries1.

English is spoken in more parts of the world than any other language, and the only language with more speakers is Chinese. 

Where does it come from?

OK, so English is whopping big.  And it’s everywhere.  Let’s go back to where it all started.

Question 9: English began when (modern day) England was invaded…

1. By the Romans in AD 43
2. By tribes from (modern day) Germany and Denmark in the 5th century AD
3. By Norman adventurers in the 11th century AD
4. By Australians in the 1500’s

Answer: (b)

Those first three invasions did happen – but the one that planted the seed of modern English was the arrival of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes beginning in AD 449.  Old English (previously called Anglo-Saxon … which sounds sort of like “English” if you mumble it right) was a variant of West Germanic spoken in areas of Europe that are now southern Denmark and northern Germany.

A note for the real history buffs: the Norman Conquest of 1066 was also significant in the development of English.  It marked the transition from Old English to Middle English… and introduced a lot of French into our vocabulary!

Question 10: English became the official language of the United States…

1. In 1776, when it was chosen by the Continental Congress, beating out German by a single vote!
2. In 1865, to help unify the North and South after the Civil War
3. In the 1960’s, when hippies staged a huge protest in Washington D.C.
4. English is not the official language of the U.S.

Answer: (d)

Sorry, German readers – but the first one is a myth.  The surprising truth is that the United States has no official language.  A movement began in the 80’s to make it our official language de jure (by law) instead of de facto.   But so far, no dice! 

It is, however, the official language in 27 states.  In Hawaii, it shares official status with Hawaiian, and in New Mexico with Spanish.  And yes, English is the official language of South Carolina.

So, check your score.  If you’re a language guru, be sure to tell someone who’ll be duly impressed.  And if you have any language questions you’d like to see addressed in future articles, email them to ______________@wetzelservices.com

Definitions

Puppy –  “This puppy” or “that puppy” is a slangy way of referring to the item at hand or under discussion.  In other words, it’s a cutesy way of saying “this thing.”  It’s especially popular among TV show hosts.

Take heart –  Be encouraged!

English as a Second Language (ESL)  / English as a Foreign Language (EFL) --  If English is not your first language, and you’re learning it in an environment where English is commonly in use, you’re learning ESL.  If you’re studying it in an environment where it’s not in common use, you’re learning EFL.  So, when you study English in Canada – it’s a second language; in Shanghai, it’s a foreign language.