Summary: English is a language spoken by two billion people, perhaps even more. This classic PBS program examines the prevalence of English in the world today and presents a historical overview of its rise. Focusing on the expansion of the British Empire and the emergence of English-language mass media, the program explains how widespread English usage survived Britain's post-WWII decolonization,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: The making of English is the story of three great invasions and a cultural revolution. This classic PBS program shows how an early form of English was carried to Britain by invading Anglo-Saxons, how that language was all but obliterated by waves of Viking settlers, and how it was reshaped by the French-speaking Normans. The fact that English survived on the lips of people who left no written...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Will standard English, as it was known in the 20th century, disappear? Will English continue as the global tongue, or will its numerous varieties become, as offshoots of Latin did, a host of mutually unintelligible languages? This classic PBS program features new varieties of English that have transcended British and American influence. The program focuses on some of the most successful...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Gullah-the African-influenced dialect of Georgia's Sea Islands-has undergone few changes since the first slave ships landed 300 years ago, and provides a clear window into the shaping of African-American English. This classic PBS program traces that story from the west coast of Africa through the American South, then to large northern cities in the 1920s. Studying the origins of West African...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: In the 19th century, English spread throughout the British Empire-but which English? This classic PBS program traces the roots of white Commonwealth English to Cockney, the language of London's working class. Explaining the influence of Cockney on modern, standardized speech, the program shows how, in fact, the accents of BBC English are gradually becoming modified by Cockney speech...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Scottish tongue is one of the oldest in Britain, a Northern variety of English that, but for the accidents of history, might have become a separate language. This classic PBS program deals with the influence of the Scots in spreading the language of their historic enemies-the Sassenachs of the South-around the world. The program begins in the 15th century, the golden age of the Scottish...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007