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Click image, then click again, to enlarge
Call it counterintuitive clickbait if you must, but Forbes' Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry made an intriguing argument when he granted the title of "Language of the Future" to French, of all tongues. "French isn't mostly spoken by French people and hasn't been for a long time now," he admits," but "the language is growing fast, and growing in the fastest-growing areas of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. The latest projection is that French will be spoken by 750 million people by 2050. One study "even suggests that by that time, French could be the most-spoken language in the world, ahead of English and even Mandarin."

I don't know about you, but I can never believe in any wave of the future without a traceable past. But the French language has one, of course, and a long and storied one at that. You see it visualized in the information graphic above (also available in suitable-for-framing prints!) created by Minna Sundberg, author of the webcomic Stand Still. Stay Silent.

"When linguists talk about the historical relationship between languages, they use a tree metaphor," writes Mental Floss' Arika Okrent. "An ancient source (say, Indo-European) has various branches (e.g., Romance, Germanic), which themselves have branches (West Germanic, North Germanic), which feed into specific languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian)."

Sundberg takes this tree metaphor to a delightfully lavish extreme, tracing, say, how Indo-European linguistic roots sprouted a variety of modern-day living languages including Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Italian - and, of course, our Language of the Future. The size of the branches and bunches of leaves represent the number of speakers of each language at different times: the likes of English and Spanish have sprouted into mighty vegetative clusters, while others, like, Swedish, Dutch, and Punjabi, assert a more local dominance over their own, separately grown regional branches. Will French's now-modest leaves one day cast a shadow over the whole tree? Perhaps - but I'm not canceling my plans to attend Spanish practice group tonight.
Follow Open Culture on If you'd like to support Open Culture and our mission, please consider making a donation to our site. It's hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us provide the best free cultural and educational materials. share intelligent media with your friends. Or better yet, Related Content: Learn 48 Languages Online for Free: Spanish, Chinese, English & More The History of the English Language in Ten Animated Minutes How Languages Evolve: Explained in a Winning TED-Ed Animation Noam Chomsky Talks About How Kids Acquire Language & Ideas in an Animated Video by Michel Gondry Stephen Fry Gets Animated about Language Colin Marshall writes on cities, language, Asia, and men's style. He's at work on a book about Los Angeles, A Los Angeles Primer, and the video series The City in Cinema. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook. sign up for our daily email and get a daily dose of Open Culture in your inbox.
via Mental Floss

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The Tree of Languages Illustrated in a Big, Beautiful Infographic

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Click image, then click again, to enlarge Call it counterintuitive clickbait if you must, but Forbes' Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry made an intriguing argument when he granted the title of "Language of the Future" to French, of all tongues.

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The surprising link between stress & memory

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The surprising link between stress & memory

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyg7lcU4g8E

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Odcinek 1: Wstęp do efektywnego zapamiętywania i mnemotechnik.

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Odcinek 2: Fiszki i flash cards jako dźwignia pamięci

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Odcinek 3: Technika Słów Zastępczych (TSZ), czyli jak wspomóc naukę słówek.

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Odcinek 4: MAPY MYŚLI - metoda inteligentnego notowania, uczenia i zarządzania informacją

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Lera Boroditsky: How language shapes the way we think

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There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures. But do they shape the way we think? Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky shares examples of language -- from an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right to the multiple words for blue in Russian -- that suggest the answer is a resounding yes.

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https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_4_reasons_to_learn_a_new_language

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https://quizlet.com/atenamj/folders/writing/sets?fbclid=IwAR1oDbB1VPsQNiZi5bzjC1_BILydVXLEKEu29-LY7slspzkJ6_G_oZBGt3c

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https://quizlet.com/PearsonCentralEurope/folders/repetytorium-osmoklasisty/sets

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Repetytorium Gimnazjalne Pearson - słownictwo

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Repetytorium Gimnazjalne Pearson - słownictwo

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https://quizlet.com/254777469/repetytorium-gimnazjalne-pearson-flash-cards/

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https://quizlet.com/PearsonCentralEurope/folders/repetytorium-maturalne-z-jezyka-angielskiego-poziom-podstawowy/sets?fbclid=IwAR3CkrCwSx80zOhWpguaHH_rrczXhBn4V4QRmlP2IBnITB4Uthk3ETQhLnM

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http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/

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British Council LearnEnglish Teens | Free resources for teens to help improve your English

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LearnEnglish Teens provides information, tips and resources to help teenagers learn English.

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https://engly.pl/tasks/listing/23

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https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time?language=en

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https://engly.pl/index.php/tasks/listing/55

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuDcJeX8Iog

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LearnEnglish Kids is brought to you by the British Council, the world's English teaching experts. We have lots of free online games, songs, stories and activities for children. For parents, we have articles on supporting children in learning English, videos on using English at home and information about English courses for your child.

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http://www.engly.pl/

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Platforma z ćwiczeniami z języka angielskiego

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVTXtrMtt7A

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The United Kingdom is a state made up of the historic countries of England, Wales and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland. It is known as the home of both modern parliamentary democracy and the Industrial Revolution.

Two world wars and the end of empire diminished its role in the 20th century, and the 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union has raised significant questions about the country's global role.

Nonetheless, the United Kingdom remains an economic and military power with great political and cultural influence around the world.

Read full overview

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

FACTS

LEADERS
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1952 upon the death of her father, George VI.

In September 2015, she became Britain's longest-reigning monarch, surpassing the record of her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.

She is also head of state of 16 independent countries including Canada and Australia.

As a constitutional monarch, her role in the legislative process is largely ceremonial.
Prime minister: Boris Johnson
Boris Johnson became prime minister in July 2019 after he beat Jeremy Hunt in the race to become leader of the Conservative Party.

He took over from the previous prime minister, Theresa May, who stood down as Conservative Party leader in June 2019 after failing to get Parliament to agree a way forward on Brexit.

Mr Johnson went on to win a convincing majority at a snap general election in December 2019, paving the way for Britain to leave the European Union in 2020.

MEDIA

The UK has a strong tradition of public service broadcasting and an international reputation for creative programme-making.

The BBC began daily radio broadcasts in 1922 and quickly came to play a pivotal role in national life. The corporation is funded by a licence fee, which every household with a TV set must pay.

Hundreds of privately-owned radio and TV stations now compete with the BBC for listeners and viewers.

There are many national and local newspapers, but print circulations have been sliding while online readership has surged.

There are more than 60 million internet users, and most British people have a social media presence.

Read full media profile

TIMELINE
Some key dates in British history:
1914 - Outbreak of World War I. UK enters hostilities against Germany.

1918 - War ends in November with armistice. The number of UK war dead runs to several hundred thousand.

1921 - UK agrees to the foundation of the Irish Free State. Northern Ireland remains part of the UK.

1924 - First UK government led by the Labour party under Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.

1939 - Germany invades Poland. UK declares war on Germany.

1940 - Winston Churchill becomes prime minister.

1944 - Allied troops invade France from Britain on D-Day (6th June) and begin to fight their way towards Germany.

1945 - Germany surrenders. Labour leader Clement Atlee is elected prime minister to replace Winston Churchill. The new Labour government introduces the welfare state.

1945 - The UK becomes a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

1948 - National Health Service is established.

1949 - The UK becomes a founder member of Nato.

1960s - Decolonisation of former British-controlled territories gathers pace.

1969-1998 - British troops quell communal unrest in Northern Ireland.

1973 - The UK joins the European Economic Community.

1979 - Conservative Margaret Thatcher begins move towards deregulation of economy.

2020 - Britain leaves the European Union after a referendum vote four years earlier.

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The United Kingdom is a state made up of the historic countries of England, Wales and Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland. It is known as the home of both modern parliamentary democracy and the Industrial Revolution.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxZaqaQO8hg

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6WlQiaJeM

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMSyznq7Kns