Are there any native Old English speakers?

Yes, but you'll only find them in a cemetery. Today the only people who speak Old English are the scholars who have studied it. Old English evolved into Middle English after the Norman Conquest and the language then continued to evolve into the Mo... read more

If there had been a population of Old English speakers who had somehow managed to live in isolation for the past 1,000 years they would speak a very different language than we do, but it would still have evolved over time. It would no longer be Old English. Our version of English was impacted by invasion, trade and migration (among other things). read more

Though the English language is the historical language of the English people, there are many societies today in which English is the dominant language. If you mean native by historical and cultural terms, then definitely the English people are native speakers of the language. read more

So I guess I would say there needs to be at least one of two conditions: To grow up exposed to the language of a native English speaking country and/or To have native English speaking parents. But again, on consideration there are problems with this. read more