English the official language is English, West Germanic language Old English descent who have a large loan from Old Norse, Norman French, Greek and Latin. English has spread around the world, mainly because the United Kingdom, and has become the international language of business as well as a second language most widely taught.
Scotland, the language fell from early northern Middle English, is recognized at European level, such as regional variants in the northern counties of Ireland, Ulster Scots. There are also four Celtic languages are spoken in the UK: Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh, an increase from the 1991 Census (18%). In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers living in England.
Census 2001 in Northern Ireland shows that 167 487 (10.4%) of people "have some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland), almost exclusively on the Catholic population / nationalist. More than 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides. The number of school children are taught in Welsh, and Irish Gaelic increased. Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken by small groups around the globe with some Gaelic still spoken in Nova Scotia, Canada (particularly Cape Breton Island), and the Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.
Across the United Kingdom is generally compulsory for pupils to learn a second language to some extent: up to age 14 in England, and until the age of 16 in Scotland. France and Germany are the two most common second language taught in England and Scotland. In Wales, all students up to age 16 who either taught in Welsh or taught Welsh as a second language.
|
|
|
|
|
