The English language has changed considerably during its history. According to the Venerable Bede, northern tribes - Angles, Saxons and Jutes - invaded the British Isles in AD 450. Each of these tribes settled in different areas and spoke different Germanic dialects. However, it is believed that during the ninth and tenth centuries, one of those languages was standardized. We now know this standard as Old English. In 1060, the Normans invaded the island. They spoke a French dialect, which became the language used by the new aristocracy. This change meant that Old English was no longer a prestigious language, and so it broke into multitude of dialects. The language that was spoken and written at this time is referred to as Middle English. Toward the end of fifteenth century, Gutenberg's printing press helped the English dialect used by the London aristocracy to spread throughout the country and to become the standard. In this Modern English, there were more than ten thousand words taken from French. The English language has continued to grow by taking words from other languages whenever they seem suitable, and regularly inventing new words.
Sources: http://es.wikibooks.org/wiki/Inglés/Breve_historia_del_inglés
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