导语：在19至20世纪的，英国和美国在文化、经济、军事、政治和科学在世界上的领先地位使得英语成为一种国际语言。如今，许多国际场合都使用英语做为沟通媒介。英语也是与电脑联系最密切的语言，大多数编程语言都与英语有联系，而且随着网络的使用，使英文的使用更普及。英语是联合国的工作语言之一。 一些人认为低地苏格兰语是与英语最接近的一个独立语言，而一些人则认为它是英语的一个方言。与古英语最接近的是古弗里西语，这种语言现在仍然德国北部和荷兰的弗里斯兰省使用。苏格兰语、低地撒克逊语、丹麦语、德语、荷兰语、南非荷兰语和英语也很接近。拥有丹麦血统的法国的诺曼人于11世纪征服英格兰王国，带来数万法语词汇和拉丁语词汇，很大程度地丰富了英语词汇外，相对也驱使不少原生的日耳曼语汇作废。
大西洋英语趣事
大西洋彼岸的女儿打来电话：“老汉你学英语嘛，今后到美国来看孙孙也好跟人交流和相处融洽。”女儿热情的邀请，我想：除了探亲，美国是什么个天堂，还真想去看一看。电话里轻柔和润的声音又讲：“我们这里来了一对韩国夫妻会讲英语，大家相处很方便，很快就融入了那里的生活圈。”女儿那片诚心，真的激起我学习的热情。如今时代，中国已经成为世界更大经济体，交流往来日渐频繁;地球村越来越来小了，交流的需要，英语成了沟通的主要语种;现在，中央电视台电视剧也打出了双语字幕。
可是，这次学习是我人生中艰难宭相的过程，但是，又有许多生活趣事。
群山老年大学春秋开学之后，我和女友玲玲中途插班，我们带着一片陌生和好奇坐在明亮的教室，溜眼那些陌生的同学，同学们老态的脸和那花花绿绿的格式衣裳，流露出了富足，矜持和成熟。现在的中国人没有海外镀金的傲气和张扬，反而多了些许谦逊和收殓;反之的人，多了理解和平和。她们个个认真虔诚地学习的表情，使人钦佩和尊重，仿佛要把失去的东西拿回来。激情使我慢慢地爱上了英语。我就喜欢哪些名叫元音和辅音的豆芽脚脚，在那些陌生晃忽的字母里好像有一个大世界。玲玲曾经学过，很快就进角色。而我就像一张白纸，茫然不知所措。英语分语音班和语法班，班上有两个男士，其余30多个都是女人们。老师要求我们在校就用英语对话。一段时间后，喜欢诙谐和玩笑的我，进教室就像女朋友招手打招呼：goodmorning(早晨好!)而我就取英语拼读的中文同音字(估到摸你)，见到女朋友就叫：darling(爱人)用同音中文：“打你”开玩笑。认识和不认识的的同学们都嫣然一笑。
Impolite to His Brother
“Why were you so rude to your brother?” Gladys asked. “He drove all the way over here to deliver that package to you. But you didn’t invite him inside your apartment. You didn’t offer him anything to drink or eat. Then, when he was talking to me, you kept telling him to speak faster. He was speaking slowly because he knows my English isn’t that good—he was just being polite. Finally, when he and I sat down in the living room, you just went to your computer and started typing away.”
William tried to explain to Gladys that what she saw between him and his brother was their normal interaction. Roland was simply delivering a package; there was nothing for the two of them to chat about. Further, Roland felt that William's apartment had an odor; he usually didn’t even come inside the apartment when he visited. In addition, Roland was very picky about what he drank and ate—he wasn’t interested in eating William’s “junk food.”
Finally, William argued, he had told Roland many times not to “talk down” to Gladys. “He talks to you like you’re a two-year-old,” William said.
She said she didn’t mind; Roland was just trying to communicate. She just wished that William would be more polite to him. “When my sister visits me,” she said, “I hug her, I invite her inside, we eat and drink and talk, and we just have a good time with each other.”
Well, William told her, he and his brother were different. “No,” she corrected him, “maybe you and I are different.”