The Story of English episode 1 - An English Speaking World - Part 1 / 7

[jimztar]

Thanks so much for uploading this!

[ANARCHYGOD2012]

@gyforget theres no such language as mexican, if ur attempting to be sarcastic its pathetic since spanish is a european language derived from latin the spanish replaced the aztec mexican language of nahautl as all invaders with guns and steel tended to subdue a less advanced people

[jopeteus]

I love english. It has simple grammar and it is fairly easy to pronounce. That's the best possible language to communicate internationally!

[mindacid]

@jopeteus Simple grammar? Seriously? You must be a native English speaker.

[jopeteus]

@mindacid

I didn't mean to offend you. It might be hard for you to admit it but there are languages out there that comparing english to them wouldn't be fair for english speakers. They have grammar so comlex that they make your head spin. I know this because my native language (finnish) has more complex grammar than english and I don't even consider finnish to be a hard lanugae to learn. And I know other languages that are even more complex than finnish. I accept the facts unlike you.

[amin9140]

i like 

[Demonlock54]

Haha, Europe went through hundred years of shit-hole backstabbing and war due to their incompetence. Naturally, the instruments of war is improved through the process. And with the borrowing of gun powder from China, their technologies of war became much more advanced than the rest of the world. England, being an island, don't have to worry about building an Army. So they spent pretty spent everything on the Navy. Having guns and large ships, they forced other people to speak English. No glory.

[1SOTODANIEL]

hahahaha, letters and telegrams?? i feel even younger watching this

[bellbonne]

This is the series that solidified my desire to become an English teacher. Shows how tv can be inspirational. Thanks for uploading!

[gyforget]

This video is BS. Yeah, I REALLY believe that they speak English in the USSR. GUESS WHAT? USSR doesn't exist anymore last time I checked. I think more people speek Mexican these days anyway this "documentary" is a load of crap I didn't watch more than the first minute cause I knew it was bad.

[WWWXXXZZZ81]

@gyforget The documentary is more than 20 years old. I guess URSS still existed while they were talking about it. If you didn't like it, why did you even make this irrelevant comment? That's a lost of your time

[TastyThailand]

@gyforget Wow- you're as dumb as a rock. English is spoken more in Russia than any other language other than Russia. But you wouldn't know that as you've probably never left the United States. Oh and "speek" - no such word. And "Mexican" - no such language. Some people are just ignorant.

[civwar054]

@gyforget You are an idiot. This documentary was made in 1986, you moron.

[alexmurlz]

What is the opening song called?

[alexmurlz]

What is this song called?

[SinjoroEng]

Do you know that 30% of the air tragedy is because the pilots and the control tower officers cannot understand English. You want to place your life in English or Esperanto.

[ginboxer]

At 2:37, the narrator says "so an Italian pilot flying an Italian jet into Italian airspace contacts ground control speaking only English", but at 2:26 the controller is clearly heard speaking to the pilot in Italian. Funny how as an Anglophone it's easy to overlook these things… we hear what we want to.

[TheAquaman22]

and to think that doesn't even count INTERNET!

[adcashmo]

posh c u next tuesdays

[rosciusameria]

omg...how retro.... little did they know how not impressive images of computers would be in 2011... it's almost cute...

[CARLITOSYO]

Open your mind and learn other languages and discover others cultures...

[pucksterz12]

English rules> I need no other.

[GaeilgeSpraoi]

@pucksterz12 Well judging by how the world is rapidly changing, we may all need Chinese soon! :P

[Tasarte]

Guy at 8:48 is a vampire.

[Aleeacerix]

Ah, Scottish Gaelic!

[GaeilgeSpraoi]

@Aleeacerix I actually speak Irish Gaelic! :)

[inenglishwithseries]

Very informative for a a non-english listener like my(French speaking listener exactely).

I am trying to improve my knowledge through UK/US series, but it is not a really natural English, this is an actors English.

[thejoymonster]

@inenglishwithseries Not necessarily. I speak English in exactly the accent of the narrator, and it´s natural to me. It´s simply depends on where you´re from.

[ARMORISTS]

if anyone needs the dvd of this complete series, msg me.

[Zaro7]

This video is rather old, BUT it doesn't matter since it's about English history. I really love these kind of videos. This is what I was looking for. Thanks so much!

[alexross8]

@EMPIRE01233

But what did Normans speak?

They spoke Old French.

[SuperTopTutor]

Propaganda.

[tomsega]

I hate it when people list things and finally say "and even.." when the last thing was no more surprising than the previous.

[RadioFreeWisconsin]

How times have changed, nowadays people speaking "proper" English are the ones ridiuled and ostracized. Everybody wants to speek ebonics now.

[blueguitarblue]

@RadioFreeWisconsin I think it's a pity. I speak some German and there is "proper" German, referred to as "Hoch Deutsch" which is used by journalists, news reporters. and documentaries, schools, etc. It is unifying amonst the huge amounts of dialects. It unifies people and when I travelled in Austria, Switzerland, and Liechenstein, my "Hoch Deustch was understood everywhere. It may have seemed snooty for a native, but worked for a foreigner. Screw Ebonics. Love Wisconsin accent! Family there!

[dustbunnieboo]

Thanks so much for sharing this. TSOE is one of my favorite series. You rock!

:-)

[alexross8]

@EMPIRE01233

English didn't mix with the celtic languages. There were hardly any words that came from them. In fact, English was English before they even met the celts/britons.

Normans are French. Norman means "Old French".

[alexross8]

@EMPIRE01233

Yes, they are in the English dictionary.

But England was invaded by the French, and since then, has implemented FRENCH words into English dictionaries.

Read an etymology dictionary, they will tell you the truth.

[alexross8]

Rofl... they think that English words are influencing other languages.

Wake up people, it's the french words that are mostly being spread across the world. "I love air traffic control" only two of those words are English.

English numbers are mutually intelligable among most germanic languages.

The only real English words, are usually the basic words that we use in a small sentence. in fact, last sentence i wrote has 5 words of non-English origin.

[blueguitarblue]

@alexross8 You do know that English is a Germanic language, as opposed to French, which a Romance language? No sarcasm intended. :)

[alexross8]

@blueguitarblue

Of course I know that.

Who wouldn't?

People keep saying that English words are making a large impact on people, which is obviously not true. Read an etmology dictionary. Of the words in the last sentence, only about 15 were of Old English origin, which is a Germanic language. The rest are from Norman or Latin.

[blueguitarblue]

@alexross8 I don't know how to take your comment. I was trying to be kind and share something. You come across as arrogant and condescending, when all I was doing was making conversation. I don't get the feeling you're open minded. You even think you know more than the doctors who are interviewed and telling the story. Maybe you're right. Perhaps you should make a documentary and set the world straight. But, with an attitude like your's, I wouldn't watch it. Geez, try to be nice...for not. :(

[alexross8]

@blueguitarblue

Well you replied to me in a way that also seemed condescending.

You said something that would most likely be obvious to me, which makes it seem like you were dumbing me down. I apologize..

[blueguitarblue]

@alexross8 Forgive me too. How old are you? You obviously like language. Are you into Noam Chomsky? He's one of my heroes. Technically, the Normandy Conquest, 1066, made by William, was really Norwegian and Viking.

[alexross8]

@blueguitarblue

I am pretty sure William was Old French. And yes, I love language, only Germanic languages though.

[bigfriendlyben]

oh god that kid was totally acting just like woody allen

[blueguitarblue]

@bigfriendlyben LOL! You mean a neurotic sex-obsessed Freudian geek?

[bigfriendlyben]

britain is funny in that many people there say they're more liberal than americans when infact there's far greater social restrictions there and a more rigid class system in place

[blueguitarblue]

@bigfriendlyben Absolutely. This country is epic in size. And you must travel thousands of miles to come across the stereotyped Ozark inbred idiot accent, or to Savannah, Georgia to hear a southern accent of a wealthy family with a debutante daughter. And in Wisconsin, there is an accent, that you can tell is influenced by being close to Canada and the farming Midwest. Of course, New York has its share of accents. So does Boston, where there is an "Ivory tower" elite group comparable to England.

[IExposeMormonism]

When McNeil lists off all the "correct English" like "Queens English, PBC English......" he left out McNeil English, which is pretty much Queens PBC English. It all sounds self righteous smarmy smug prissy and prim and this from a people that would be the smallest county in the German Empire if it wasn't for us! And they eat boiled meat and potato's.. and they eat limes too.... I'll tell ya.....

[frantic1971]

So glad that someone posted this great documentary on YouTube.  It was fascinating to listen to it on PBS back in the 80's, and now it is only available as an outrageously over-priced item at Amazon.

[kingmatix]

I love YouTube!!! Thank you for posting... got an essay due tomorrow and you just saved my ass ;)

[jposh707]

"Public school English?"

I call it "Rich People English."

[isokessu]

Hahaaaaaah what's with the Harry Potter!? O_o This is older than Harry Potter movies so maybe this video was inspiration for the Harry's nerd style.

[foxmolder1985]

I needed it fot university exam.. So, a big thank you!

[Sogwa]

I LOVE languages & linguistics. Picked it up from my dad. & l love documentaries. l 1st saw this in some English class my freshman yr. in college. Forgot all about it but l REALLY LOVED the documentary. I googled every title l could to find this.

THANKS A MILLION 4 POSTING THIS SERIES!!!

[jradetzky]

do you know on which year this video was made?

[Sogwa]

@jradetzky

1985 l think.

The CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY & super popular TV shows that r about 2 premier (3 decades ago) help confirm this. 

[hannahskm]

boogie woogie!

[Jimmyblonde1979]

OMFG HARRY POTTER @ 8:30

[Saruman38]

English has never been a "language of choice". It's been imposed upon the world because of the Americans' leadership in both economical and political fields. That's what's called imperialism. It has little to do with the inherent qualities of the English language.

[MultiUniv3rsal]

@Saruman38 The US has nothing to do with it. You're thinking of Britain.

It's also widely used as an expressive language, since it has about 3x as many words as any other language.

But uh, yeah. The USA hasn't ever had a colonial holding so imperialist, not really.

[Drazhenko]

@Saruman38

Yeah but it doesn't matter if it's English,Spanish, French, Russian...unless you are a huge drama queen you get used to any language.

[Suolperos]

Wow, I finally get to watch this! I've been wanting to watch this ever since I read the book a few years ago, but it's almost impossible to find - and I didn't even know there was a DVD release of it! The series BEGS a re-release!

What I don't get is, the book form of this is still in print and commonly found in bookstores, and the 'sequel' - Do You Speak American - is available on PBS's website in both book and DVD form. But not this video series. Why the hell not??

[SossarHatarSverige]

酷い...

[Ozone429]

I want to say thanks also. I watched this when it originally aired (yikes, now 30 years ago, let's say 25) and I remember some stories so vividly wanted so see them again. the series is very hard to come by. thank you, quite a process for you to post this.

[dadominate]

thanks for posting these videos

[nkear5]

Brilliant!

[ryko26]

this is arse

[robbie159]

The kid at 8:42 looks like Harry Potter.

[mapleleafs182]

@robbie159 I dunno, he reminds me more of a young Austin Powers

[brunoscarface]

@robbie159 lool he really does

[ex0rdium]

@robbie159 that's exactly what I thought! hah!

[prakar]

I watched this sprawling documentary when my wife rented the VHS from a library in west lafayette. The programme was so well made, i watched it at a stretch! The DVDs are very hard to come by...its very sad for such an outstanding work. So...thanks for posting the entire series here. This is gold.

[beswerved247]

@prakar do you mean west lafayette in? i live there and would love to rent it if they have it

[OoYesIKnowOoYesIKnow]

@prakar try civilisation by kenneth Clark.



[zzebowa]

@prakar I quite agree. It is an excellent series on the history of English, detailed, profound, and accurate. It should be known as the benchmark for such programs and should be on DVD.

And thanks too for uploading these, DesparaisAsin, theyreally are a seminal work.