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Unit 8
Languages and Communication
In this module you will:
Read about
fate of languages
Talk about
your
native language, ways of learning languages
Test your
knowledge about world languages
Practise
using modals (can, be able to) and their equivalents
Listen
to an interview
Write
a letter to a friend
Learn
about nonverbal communiaction
Useful vocabulary:
Nouns
community, effect on smth, texting, posture, bow, slouching,
insult, rudeness
Verbs
to disappear, to save, to survive, to destroy, to care, to say, to talk,
to speak, to tell, to study, to revise, to practise, to improve, to
socialize, to communicate, to prevent from, to decipher, to affect,
to express oneself, to quaver, to facilitate
Adjectives
rare, unique, old-fashioned, close to, offensive,
Phrases and
collocations
native speakers, spoken language, first language, official
language, to have a proper conversation, correct English, means of
communication, facial expression, to transmit information,
nonverbal communication,
Linkers
because of, all in all, according to, reason why
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1. Lead-in
1a Do you know what languages the people in these countries speak? Choose
from the table on the right.
1 official
language
2 or more official
languages
France→
China→
Portugal→
Spain→
Australia→
Canada→
Switzerland→
Belgium→
India→
Belarus→
French Chinese Portuguese
Spanish Hindi English
Italian Russian German
Flemish(Dutch) Hungarian
Belarussian Japanese Ukrainian
Bengali Arabic
1b How much do you know about the world’s major languages? Try the quiz
below.
2. Reading
Pre-reading activities
2a Look at the picture in the text below and guess who the person might be.
Look at the key words below and guess the topic of the text.
lonely(adj) die (v) language (n) disappear (v) speaker (n) save (v) rare (adj)
While-reading activities
2b Read the article and match the topic a-f with paragraphs 1-6.
a What communities can do .
b The number of languages in danger .
c The last speaker of his language .
d The most important reason why languages are dying .
e Languages and natural disasters .
f What happens when languages die .
Test your knowledge
1. Approximately how many languages are there in the world?
a 6,500 b 16,500 c 1,500
2. Order the world’s top 5 languages according to the number of native speakers.
Chinese English Spanish Japanese Bengali
Russian Hindi Arabic Portuguese German
3. How many people speak English as a first, second or third language?
a 0.5 billion b 2 billion c 1.5 billion
4. How much of the world’s e-mail is written in English?
a 60% b 70% c 80%
5. How many Languages disappear every year?
a 5 b 20 c 15
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1
Maluerindi (a name which means
'Running Water') is lonely because he has
nobody to talk to, but his loneliness won't
change - he is the last person in the world
who can speak his Aboriginal language.
'It's sad,' he says, 'but there's nothing we
can do about it now.'
2
Experts who study languages say that
there are 51 other languages with just one
speaker left - 28 of them in Australia.
These languages are so close to dying that
nobody can save them. The experts tell us
that out of the world's 6,000 languages,
3,000 will disappear in the next 100 years.
3
There are many reasons why languages die. Sometimes natural disasters such as
earthquakes, floods or hurricanes suddenly destroy small groups of people who
live in far away places. Sometimes the weather changes and there isn't enough
food, and sometimes strangers bring new diseases.
4
But disasters like these are not the biggest danger, and do not tell us why
languages are disappearing faster than ever before. The real problem comes from
the big world languages such as English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Today,
mainly because of America, English is the first world language, and it is very hard
for smaller languages to survive.
5
There are things that small communities can do to save a language, but they
need time and money. First, people need to record the language and write it down.
Then they need to train teachers, and write grammar books, dictionaries and books
for schools.
6
We should care about languages that are in danger just as we should care
about rare plants and animals. When a language dies it is not like when a
civilization such as the ancient Greeks or Egyptians die. They leave behind
buildings like the pyramids in Egypt and Parthenon in Greece - there is always
something to show that they were there. But a spoken language leaves nothing
behind - when it dies, there is only silence.
Post-reading activities
2c Read the article again and answer these questions using your own words.
1
What does Maluerindi think we can do about his loneliness?
2
What is going to happen in the next 100 years?
3
Why do languages die?
4
What can people do to save a language?
5
Why should we care when languages die?
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3. Language skills
Vocabulary
3a Find these verbs in the article
and match them to their meanings
in this context.
1 change damage something badly
2 disappear stop existing
3 destroy live after a difficult event
4 survive stop something dying
5 save be interested in something
6 care become different
Choose three of the verbs and write
three sentences about the problem
of dying languages.
3b Complete these sentences with
the correct form of say, talk, speak
or tell.
1 He is lonely because he has nobody
to to.
2 He is the last and only person in
Australia who can his
Aboriginal language.
3 ‘It’s sad,’ he , ‘but there’s
nothing we can do about it now.’
4 The experts us that out of
the world’s 6,000 languages, 3,000 will
disappear in the next 100 years.
Which word means to know a
language?
Which word means to have a
conversation with?
Which word means to give
information to someone?
Which word is used to describe
someone’s actual words?
3c Fill in the missing words.
Verbs
Nouns
study→
revise→
practise→
student
←
repetition
←
memory
←
translation
3d Complete the following sentences. Use the words in the box.
1
‘For me, learning English
is .’
a pleasure a
nightmare an
opportunity a pain
an investment a
necessity an effort
a problem a hobby
2
In general, I want to:
learn write read
improve feel make
a more confident
when I speak.
b my listening
skills.
c lots of new
vocabulary.
d fewer grammar
mistakes.
3
In particular, I need
English for:
taking writing giving
socialising travelling
g on business and
holidays.
h e-mails, letters and
faxes.
i with friends and
colleagues.
j part in
conferences.
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e better, clearer
English.
f without using a
dictionary so much.
k short
presentations.
3e These pictures show different ways of learning a language. In pairs
discuss what they show.
decide together which ways are the most helpful for learning a language
say which activities you do, or would like to do
ask about your partner’s experience
discuss your reasons for learning a language
3f Look at two columns below. In which column is it possible to use can or be
able to after the words? Finish the sentences using your own ideas about
learning languages.
My brother _____________.
I _____________.
A lot of people _____________.
Not many English people __.
I want to _______________.
One day I will _______________.
He might _______________.
I’d like to _______________.