Think of it like this:
* Old English (roughly 450-1150 AD) is like a grandparent.
* Middle English (roughly 1150-1500 AD) is like a parent.
* Modern English (roughly 1500 AD to present) is like a child.
So, Modern English is a direct descendant of Old English.
However, Old English did influence other languages in a few ways:
* Dialects of English: Many regional dialects of English still retain Old English words and grammatical structures.
* Other Germanic languages: Old English shared a common ancestor with other Germanic languages like German, Dutch, and Swedish. Some vocabulary and grammatical features are shared between these languages, though they've evolved differently over time.
* Loanwords in other languages: English words have been borrowed into other languages throughout history. For example, the word "hamburger" originated from German, but ultimately came from "Hamburg," a city in Germany, and was likely influenced by Old English.
It's important to remember that languages are always changing and evolving. Old English is a fascinating snapshot of our linguistic past, and it's crucial to understand how it contributed to the development of the English we speak today.