English Around The World ThinkFC1

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English Around the World
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THERE'S NO STOPPING
1 º' H
A few centuries ago, English was hardly
FIRST THOUGHTS spoken by anybody outside the British Isles.
Yet nowadays, millions ofpeople around the world
Look at these reasons for studying English and use it in their everyday lives. In many countries it
number them in order ofimportance for you. has become a political issue. In sorne places, laws
discourage people from using English instead of
•
the mother tongue. However, it is the behaviour of
To get a goodjob.
••
individuals which mostly concerns us here. Today,
To pass an examination. we are going to look at sorne ofthose people and
For travel.
•
find out who they are, why they use it, and how
To speak to foreign visitors. they feel about it.
To understand the culture of a
foreign country better. •
To study abroad. •
To please someone else. • I'm Kurt Thommen from
Zurich in Switzerland. I'm
READING a photographer for a wildlife
magazine. I need English
because lots ofhandbooks are
1 written in it and I travel a
"You are going to read an article about why different lot. N ext month I'm going to
people around the world use English. Choose the most visit South East Asia. I hope l'11 be able to make
suitable heading A-H for each part ofthe article (1-6). myselfunderstood. I've found it is often easier to
There is one extra heading which you do not have to speak English to other foreigners than to native
use. There is an example at the beginning (O)." speakers! One American colleague doesn't speak
slowly enough for me to understand him. It is
useful to know English, but I don't approve of
foreigners using English expressions in their own
language.
A There's no stopping it.
B Foreigners are clearer.
C We are victims ofnecessity.
D It was all so different.
E Ashamed of my mother.
F You'll need it at conferences.
G Songs are best!
H English around the world.
B Foreigners are clearer.
Interpretation: The paragraph this heads is
2 Let's take the headings A, B and C as examples. obviously going to mention that it is easier to
We need to interpret each heading and then find understand other foreigners than native speakers.
evidence which supports its use. Evidence: Kurt Thommen says the same thing but
in a different way: "I've found it is often easier to
A There's no stopping it! speak English to other foreigners than to native
Interpretation: This shows that the person seems speakers."
to have a negative attitude towards English. They
believe that nothing can be done to stop its growth. C We are victims of necessity.
Evidence: Veronique Arnaud says: "1 don't like the Interpretation: This seems to say that the person
way English seems to be taking over." So this heading uses English because they have been forced to. It
fits best with paragraph 2. suggests that it is an unwelcome choice.
Evidence: These ideas seem to summarise best whai
Adebayo Omere has to say in the whole ofhis
paragraph.
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hHp:llww Cam m
English Around the World
Hi! My name's Veronique I'm Adebayo Omere from

Arnaud and I come from Nigeria and I'm an
Quebec, which is in the agricultura! engineer.
French-speaking part o f English is the official
Canada. I'm an accountant in language because there are
a big paper mill. I take care so many different languages
offoreign customers, so most and dialects spoken in
ofthe time I have to use English. In Canada Nigeria. I have to travel all round the country and
everything's supposed to be bilingual but I don't often English is the only way to communicate.
like the way English seems to be taking over. W e This is a pity because it used to be the colonial
had a real fight here, you know, to keep hold o f language. I'd rather not use English all the time.
our French past and identity. This is why I voted However, ifwe had chosen a tribal language, it
for independence. would have caused political problems. So we will
j u s t have to put up with it!
I'm Cathy Wong and I'm

from Singapore. I've been Good day. My name is Rob
studying business Giuliani. I'm fifteen years
administration in London for old and I come from
the past two years. I felt Melbourne, in Australia. I'm
really homesick to begin with second generation Italian. My
because I'd never been away parents carne over about
from home. It took me time to get used to living twenty years ago. I'm
on my own and I still miss my parents. They bilingual because we still speak Italian at home.
brought me up to speak English and I was sent to Dad speaks much better than Mum. Sometimes
an English-speaking school. When I got here, her mistakes are really embarrassing and her
though, I still had a few problems with people's accent is so strong that sorne people find it
accents and the slang that lots ofthe other impossible to understand her. l'm still studying
students used. Sorne o f t h e lecturers were hard to but I always spend my spare time out on the
understand at first, and there was lots ofbusiness tennis court. I've won a few local tournaments
jargon to pick up too. Living in London is and I'd really like to turn professional.
expensive and I almost ran out ofmoney but
luckily I got a part-time job and now I get by.
I'm Ana Gonzales from

Sao Paulo in Brazil. It is
3 Do the rest o f t h e exercise. Remember: first eight years since I started to
interpret the heading then find evidence. learn English. My biggest
problem is pronunciation. I
love listening to English pop
WRITING music which is a great way o f
learning new vocabulary. My dad's a businessman
and he uses English all the time. He speaks it
4.U sing the texts as a guide, write a
fluently. He managed to pick it up while he was
paragraph about yourself. Explain:
working in the States. That's no surprise because
• who you are and where you come from. living in the country is supposed to be the best
• what you do. way to learn. Perhaps l'11 study there. He wants
• why you are studying English. me to speak English well enough so that I canjoin
• what your biggest problems are with the language. his company. I'd rather work in advertising.
• how you feel about English.
• what your ambitions are.

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Hi! My name's Veronique I'm Adebayo Omere from

I'm Cathy Wong and I'm

I'm Ana Gonzales from

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