The Adventure of English

The history of the English language presented by Melvyn Bragg; from its modest beginnings around 500 AD as a minor Germanic dialect to its rise as a global language.

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Created By
Status	Ended
Original Name	The Adventure of English
First Air Date	November 6, 2003
Last Air Date	November 27, 2003
Seasons	1
Episodes	8
Episode Runtime	1h 5min
Language	English
Original Language	English
Production Countries	—
Production Companies
Networks	ITV1

S01E08

Many Tongues Called English, One World Language

The concluding episode looks at how in the 20th century the rise of America as an industrial power has made it the driving force behind the global spread of English. The English language is now used by more people than ever before in history. As cultural influences affect the way people use English and new words come into everyday use, how does the Oxford English dictionary – the greatest repository of the language – keep up with developments.

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