This brochure discusses, in lay terms, how languages change and how English in particular has gone through much alteration over the ages. It explains that languages change because: the needs of its speakers change; individual experience differs, and, therefore, the uses of language differ; new words are brought in from other languages or created within a language; word order shifts; and the sounds of a language shift over time. Specific examples of each are offered. The reader is encouraged to consider some changes clearly occurring in recent decades. The role that dialects and language variation play in language is discussed briefly, and it is noted that "standard" English is simply one dialect of English. (MSE)