American Corner Jericho hosts “A History of English” Presentation:

Do you know what percent of English words stem from Anglo-Saxon?

According to English teacher Jeff Hobbs just 25%, but it is a vital 25% for you cannot build a sentence in English without this vocabulary!  Mr. Hobbs went on to explain how the English language has evolved over time, with students literally giggling in delight as they answered the many riddles that Mr. Hobbs posed.  Mr. Hobbs concluded his presentation with the gift of a reference book, “The Story of English” which will become part of the permanent collection of the Jericho Public Library American Corner.  The 23 students who attended the presentation were from special English enrichment classes that are funded by the U.S. Consulate General.  Mr. Hobbs is the spouse of a Consulate staff member who generously donated his time to kick off the first in a series of presentations by Consulate staff and their families.

Which of the following English words originally came from Arabic?

1) flute 2) guitar 3) ginger 4) jasmine 5) cumin 6) saffron 7) orange 8) banana 9) salt 10) sugar 11) spinach  12) broccoli 13) book 14) magazine 15) zero 16) algebra

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