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The first languages are the Celtic ones like Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. -
They spoke Latín. They gave Latin names to places and some of these names are still used today. -
The first people who spoke English. These people were the Anglo-Saxons and their language was Old English.
Some words of their period: clan, crag and wraith. -
The Vikings came from countries like Denmark and
Norway and spoke a language that developed
into Norwegian and Danish.
Some words of their period: freckle, leg, skirt, sky... -
They spoke an earlier version of French and this became the language of prestige in England.
Some words of their period: love, live and laugh. -
A number of books were published in Middle English.
The most famous is a book of stories called
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. -
With the invention of the printing press in 1476, publishing books in English became very popular.
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There are many important authors in Modern English, but one of the most famous writers is William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616).