Tasks and activities-Discussion

1.     Do you think the fact that the British are islanders has had an effect on the people and their values? 

It may have had a slight effect on their culture, because they are a bit isolated. They have not had too many influences from other countries or cultures. I also think that their values are very similar, no matter in which country in the UK you are. In Europe, the culture in your country may be very different from another country close by.

2. In which part of the UK would you prefer to live? Why?

I would prefer to live somewhere south in England, maybe Brighton. This is because I would have wanted to live somewhat close to the city, preferably London. This way I do not have to live in the middle of a crazy city, but there is not that far to travel if I wanted to go there.

Summary

I have learnt a lot about the United Kingdom. One of the things I have learned is that the UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. I have also learned about some of the rivers and islands that is located in the UK. Lastly, I learned that London has more inhabitants than Norway.

English as a World Language

Summary of the text «English as a world language

According to the text, 1.2 – 1.5 billion people speak English! In this text we learn about how English has become such a widely spoken language. The reason for this is that the British Empire had several colonies all around the world, and therefore many of the countries adopted the language. For example, in Australia and the US, they speak the same language, but their pronunciation is completely different.

Checkpoints p.44

                                                                                                                                                           What is a lingua franca?

1.      A lingua franca is when two people who are not native speakers, use a language as communication.

We say that English is the world’s most important lingua franca. Why is this?

2.      This is because so many people around the world speak it, and are exposed to it every day through television and many other social media platforms. However, the reason why this language became so big in the first place, is all the colonies the British Empire had a long time ago. This way the language spread, and were adopted by many countries. This is also the reason why there is still 52 countries who still has it as one of their official languages

                                                                                                                                                                    Who started to build the English Empire?

3.      The person to start building the English empire was Queen Elizabeth I.                                

                                                                                                                                                                            What were the reasons for its decline?

4.      Britain suffered big losses during the two world wars at the beginning of the twentieth century along with some trouble in Africa and the Indian Sub-continent.                              

                                                                                                                                                                  What is happening to the language today?

5.      Today, the language is developing. It is developing with the help from all English speakers around the world.

Viewpoints p.44                                                                                                                                               

English is the world’s most important lingua franca. Do you believe English threatens the 

position of national languages in small countries such as Norway? Why or why not?

1.      In a longer period of time, I believe that the English language may take over the position of some of the smaller languages. I believe this because we are exposed to English every single day through all types of media. However, I think it is going to take a long time. 

                     

Are there any other languages that can threaten the position of English as a world language?

2.      There are some other languages that are used many places in the world (for example Chinese), but I do not think there are any languages threatening the English language. The reason for this, is that I believe the language has become so big and widely spoken, it has come to stay.

Comprehension questions                                                                                                                                   

How many years have passed since the Romans left Britain? What significance did their withdrawal from Britain have for the development of the English language?

1.      There has been 1500 years since the romans left Britain. Since Romans left, the English language has been able to develop in many different ways. As a result of this, we have gotten many different types of English, for example “Chinglish” or Chinese English

.                                                                                                                                                               Which capabilities did the English language have since it managed to conquer the world?

2.      English has shown some unique abilities to absorb, evolve, invade and steal words from other languages. 

                                                                                                                                                                  How many languages has English adopted words from?

3.      English has adopted words from over 300 languages.   

                                                                                                                                                                 What is the total number of English speakers?

4.      In total, there is about 1.5 billion English speakers around the world.   

                                                                                                                                                                   How many speak it as their mother tongue?

5.      A quarter of 1.5 billion speak it as their mother tongue. 

                                                                                                                                                                  How many speak it as a second language?

6.      Another quarter speak it as their second language.   

                                                                                                                                                                 What problems does English present for a learner?

7.      The spelling can be very difficult sometimes, because a lot of the word are not spelled as they are pronounced.               

                                                                                                                                                                      In which context is Singlish, Hinglish and Chinglish mentioned. Where do you find these accents and why is it necessary to give these accents individual names?

8.      Singlish, Hinglish and Chinglish are different types of English. These three types are from India, Singapore and China. They are given their own name, because they are not the same as American or British English.  They have some of their own words and expressions.          

                                                                                                                                                                   Why do you think the lecturer suggests that if somebody should think up a new word for English, “it should be in Chinese”?

9.      Because English has so little to do with England these days, it might as well get a Chinese name. Also because there is a type of Chinese English as well. 

British vs. American English

Summary of the text

This text tells us about all the differences between British English and American English. They are very similar, but they are also very different.  There are three typical differences. The first one is the way they pronounce the words. For example, in British English they usually do not pronounce the –r if it is at the end of a word. The second difference is spelling and punctuation, and the last difference is the usage. Some words in British English may mean something completely different in American English.

Checkpoints p.41

1. Car, dance, colour and rather are some of the words they pronounce differently.

2. The five main spelling differences between AE and BE

 

a) Some words that end in -ter in AE end in -tre in BE.

b) Some words that end in -og in AE end in -ogue in BE

c) Some words that end in -or in AE end in -our in BE.

d)Verbs that end in -iza/yze in AE end in -ise/yse in BE.

e)In BE, the -l at the end of a word is doubled when a new ending is added. AE the -l is only doubled if the stress is originally on the second syllable.

 

Language work

I am exhausted and I have to go to the bathroom. Are there any bathrooms close by? Do I have to stand in line behind that man?  Is there a chemist anywhere close? I am hungry. At the zebra crossing, the woman directed us to take a detour, but my truck was out of fuel and it was impossible.

 My own sentences in BE

My flat is very close to the underground.

I love autumn beacause the trees change colour.

I ate a lot of sweets at the theatre last night.