Temas variados

* Language
Countries where English has official status or is widely spoken.
English people traditionally speak the English language, a member of the West Germanic language family. The modern English language evolved from Old English, with lexical influence from Norman-French, Latin, and Old Norse. Cornish, a Celtic language originating in Cornwall, is currently spoken by about 3,500 people.Historically, another Brythonic Celtic language, Cumbric, was spoken in Cumbria in North West England, but it died out in the 11th century although traces of it can still be found in the Cumbrian dialect. Because of the 19th century geopolitical dominance of the British Empire and the post-World War II hegemony of the United States, English has become the international language of business, science,communications, aviation, and diplomacy.
• Idioma
Los países donde el Inglés tiene un estatus oficial o está muy extendido.
Las personas hablan Inglés tradicionalmente el idioma Inglés, un miembro de la familia de lenguas germánicas occidentales. El idioma Inglés moderno evolucionó de Inglés Antiguo, con influencia léxica de los franco-normando, el latín y nórdico antiguo. Cornualles, unalengua céltica originaria de Cornwall, es hablado actualmente por unas 3.500 personas. Históricamente, otro idioma bretón celta, cúmbrico, se hablaba en Cumbria en el noroeste de Inglaterra, pero se extinguió en el siglo 11 a pesar de los rastros de él todavía se pueden encontrar en el dialecto de Cumbria. Por el siglo 19 el dominio geopolítico del Imperio Británico y la post-II Guerra Mundial lahegemonía de los Estados Unidos, Inglés se ha convertido en el lenguaje internacional de los negocios, la ciencia, las comunicaciones, la aviación, y la diplomacia.
* Sport and leisure
Celebrations at Trafalgar Square after England's 2003 World Cup victory.
There are many sports which have been codified by the English, and then spread worldwide, including badminton, cricket, croquet, football,field hockey, lawn tennis, rugby league, rugby union, table tennis and thoroughbred horse racing. In the late 18th century, the English game of rounders was transported to the American Colonies, where it evolved into baseball. Association football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league are considered to be the national sports of England.
England, and the other countries of the United Kingdom,competes as separate nations in some international sporting events, especially in football, cricket and rugby union. The England cricket team actually represents England and Wales. However, in the Olympic Games, England competes as part of the Great Britain team. Supporters are nowadays more likely to carry the Cross of Saint George flag whereas twenty years ago the British Union Flag would have beenthe more prominent. In an article in the Daily Mirror on 17 September 2005, Billy Bragg said "Watching the crowd in Trafalgar Square celebrating The Ashes win, I couldn't help but be amazed at how quickly the flag of St. George has replaced the Union Flag in the affections of England fans. A generation ago, England games looked a lot like Last Night of the Proms, with the red, white and bluefirmly to the fore. Now, it seems, the English have begun to remember who they are."
Football maintains a consistent popularity across the country and is often indicative of trends across wider culture in England, such as in clothing and music. The increase in hooliganism amongst football fans in the 1970s and 1980s can in part be attributed to a parallel rise in unemployment. As England, and theUnited Kingdom as a whole, returned to a more affluent and stable financial position in the late 1990s, violent football culture was transformed into a culture where families were welcome, and nationalism lost its aggressive edge.
Different sports directly represent the different social classes within England. Rugby league, for instance, was traditionally associated with the old mill towns of...