community open college (4)

Today I had the fourth English lesson
at 'community open college 2010.'

I heard a lecture about the history of the English language.

First, the professor asked us if we knew where the Japanese
word イギリス came from.

The word イギリス came from the Portuguese word 'Inglez.'
The 漢字 of イギリス is 英吉利.

So English is called 英語.
英国 is the abbreviation of 英吉利.

Then the professor asked us if we knew the formal name
for イギリス--- the United kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland.

She also explained about the Union Jack.

She told us about the history of the English language.

I heard many English words I had forgotten--Anglo-Saxons.
Celts, Indo-European Language Family, Norman French,
Black Death, Norman Conquest, etc.

Oh, I've forgotten everything I learned about the history
of the English when I was a college student.

Anyway, it is good to attend a lecture as a student.

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memorandum

R and R = Renaissance and Reformation
Salad Bowl and Melting Pot
passive vocabulary(知っている単語）
active vocabulary（使える単語）