Why English Took Over The World (It's Not What You Think)

Every word you've ever spoken carries a 300,000-year history you've never heard. This video traces how a single group of early humans in Africa gave rise to thousands of languages — through migration, trade, empires, and writing — and how one family of languages ended up spoken by nearly half the planet. Along the way: why "mother" sounds almost the same in a dozen languages, how Latin quietly became five different tongues, and why English — spoken on a small island — became the closest thing the world has to a global language. If you've ever wondered why the world doesn't speak one language, or why it almost does, this is that story.