How come I speak English?

Bretrick said:
The French speak French, Spanish speak Spanish, Polish speak Polish.
How come I speak English when I have never been to England?:unsure:
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So what! People in Mexico, Central and South America speak Spanish, except those in Brazil speak Portuguese. Large parts of Canada speak French. I'm sure that their particular dialects differ quite a bit from the mother tongue, just as the American English in the United States differs from that in England. There are other examples around the world where settlers from a country kept using the same language as their country of origin.
 
Esperanto is a constructed auxiliary language. It's creator was a Polish doctor name of L. Zamenhof. He created the language to make international communication easier. His goal was to construct Esperanto in such a way that people can learn it much more easily than any other language.

Back in the Middle Ages, in Europe, those who learned to read and write, learned to read and write (and speak) Latin, whatever their native language might be. This meant that people could talk and exchange ideas using Latin.

The rise of nationalism, or was it earlier, people started to read and write in their various native languages and Latin became sidelined, so losing the former ease of international discourse. These days, another language has grown up to replace Latin, and despite the best efforts, it's not Esperanto, it's English. Nowadays people across the world all learn English as a second language. So English has become the new Latin.

Many university courses in Europe require an advanced level of English, even though English is not the country's native language, and of course, English is the modern day Latin which is used in business communication.

So to the question: "How come I speak English?" English speakers should count their blessings, it's not an easy language to master if you didn’t grow up using it, and yet it has become an important key to success in all kinds of endeavours all over the world.
 
My forbears came from the south of England in 1634. I suspect they spoke a different English from what I do.

It is pleasant when you visit another country and you can converse with the locals, Australia, England, Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Gibraltar, and Canada come to mind.
 
In a nutshell...because it's convenient. America was settled by people from all over Europe, each speaking their own language. There had to be a common tongue and English was the natural choice.
Britain is currently being flooded with immigrants and they are expected to learn the native language...English.
 
Because America began as a British property, part of the United Kingdom. Also, for ease in trade and in education. No way were English speakers going to accommodate teaching in multiple languages in the other centuries.

Don't worry - if America is overrun by any other power in this century, we'll all be forced to learn a new language.
 

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