(www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/lang_gallery.shtml)
Grades 3-12, with parental supervision
At this archived website, you can explore an engaging timeline of the history of the English language, how it developed, and why it has changed and evolved.
Through images and text, you’ll discover how English has developed “through invasion, invention and global expansion.”
When you get to the site, explore the eight ages of the English language that include:
- The Anglo Saxon Invasions – 449 AD
- The Viking Raids Begin – 787 AD
- The Norman Conquest – 1066
- The Resurgence of English 1200 – 1400
- The Invention of the Printing Press 1476
- The Renaissance – 1500 to 1650
- The Colonization of the New World – 1600s
- The Industrial Revolution – 1760 to 1830
In each stage, you simply click on images in a colorful drawing to learn various aspects of the history of the language through text. You’ll gain an understanding of the origins of words, and discover what inquiring minds what to know. There are fun facts and explanations of phrases and idioms too.
