Answers to Immerso's Lingua Trivia

Lingua Trivia no.1

English at work: according to a survey of employers across 38 countries, what percentage assess candidates’ English competency?

a) 49%

b) 75.5%

c) 88%

d) 98.5%

A global report titled "English at Work: global analysis of language skills in the workplace" by Cambridge English and QS, based on data from 5,373 employers across 38 countries, highlights how widely English competency is assessed and valued by employers globally, especially showing that about 50% of employers offer better starting salaries or packages to candidates with strong English skills.

Lingua Trivia no.2

English and the UK economy: according to a research, deficient language skills are estimated to cost the UK up to how much per year?

a) £800 million

b) £35 billion

c) £45 billion

d) £48 billion

According to The Guardian a research done in 2013 in the UK, the lack of language skills is hurting about 70% of businesses especially in the export sector. The research shows that the country is losing £48 billion every year which works out to about 3.5% of the GDP, mostly by limiting export potential, business deals, and job growth. The most affected are small and medium sized exporters. Language skills contribute billions of pounds annually to the UK economy through both increased trade and job opportunities.

Lingua Trivia no.3

The roots of the English language: English has taken words from different languages, including gendered nouns (masculine and feminine). Why didn't English keep the gender?

a) Because English never had gendered nouns

b) Because the different languages had a different gender for the same nouns

c) Because gendered nouns were difficult to pronounce

English originally had grammatical gender, similar to modern German, with masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns. However, during the transition from Old English to Middle English (roughly 1100-1500 AD), the language lost most of these gender distinctions. This change is primarily attributed to the influence of contact with Old Norse, spoken by Viking settlers, which had a different gender system. To simplify communication between Old English and Old Norse speakers, English gradually reduced and finally lost grammatical gender in most nouns.

Lingua Trivia no.4

Why does English contain so many silent letters?

a) Because they were pronounced in earlier forms of the language

b) Because of influence from French and other languages

c) English spelling did not evolve alongside pronunciation

d) All of the above

Many silent letters existed because they were once fully pronounced. Over time, English pronunciation changed, while spelling remained largely unchanged. In addition, English borrowed extensively from languages such as French, often preserving original spellings.

The result is a language with historically rich and, occasionally, confusing spelling patterns.

E.g.: knife, debt, island