Учебнометодическое пособие Петрозаводск 2010 ббк 81. 2Англ удк 811. 11 Г 613 Рецензенты
 Скачать 3.75 Mb.
|
1.6 PIDGIN ENGLISH AND CREOLE ENGLISH1) Translate the first passage of the text into Russian. Just as English itself has borrowed words from many different languages over its history, English loanwords now appear in many languages around the world. Several pidgins (simplified languages that develop as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common, in situations such as trade) and Creole languages (stable languages that originate as a pidgin) have been formed on an English base, such as Jamaican Patois, Nigerian Pidgin, and Tok Pisin. Let’s have a look at the emergence of black Creole English. During the early years of American settlement, a highly distinctive form of English was beginning to develop in the islands of the West Indies and the Southern part of the mainland, spoken by the incoming black population. The beginning of the 17th century saw the emergence of the slave trade. Ships from Europe travelled to the West African coast, where they exchanged cheap goods for black slaves. The slaves were shipped in barbarous conditions to the Caribbean islands and the American coast, where they were in turn exchanged for such commodities as sugar, rum, and molasses. The ships then returned to England, completing an “Atlantic triangle” of journeys, and the process began again. Britain and the United States had outlawed the slave trade by 1865, but by that time, nearly 200 years of trading had taken place. By the middle of the 19th century, there were over four million black slaves in America. The policy of the slave-traders was to bring people of different language backgrounds together in the ships, to make it difficult for groups to plot rebellion. The result was the growth of several pidgin forms of communication, and in particular a pidgin between the slaves and the sailors, many of whom spoke English. Once arrived in the Caribbean, this pidgin English continued to act as a major means of communication between the black population and the new landowners, and among the slaves themselves. Then, when children were born, the pidgin became their mother tongue, thus producing the first black Creole speech in the region. This Creole English rapidly came to be used throughout the cotton plantations, and in the coastal towns and islands. Similarly, creolized forms of French, Spanish, and Portuguese emerged in and around the Caribbean. 2) Answer the questions: a) When did the slave trade begin? b) When was the slave trade forbidden in the USA? c) Why did the pidgins develop? d) How did the pidgins turn into Creole languages? 3) Match these synonyms to the words in italics in the text: fast, products, to appear, history, cruel, to plan. 4) Make a summary of the text. 1.7 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICAN AND BRITISH ENGLISH 1) Use the examples from the text and disagree with / prove the statement: “American English and British English are mutually incomprehensible.” Which variety of English do you use: American English (AmE) or British English (BrE)? Whatever your choice is, the most important rule is to be consistent in your usage. For example in the sentence “The color of the orange is also its flavour,” “color” is American spelling and “flavour” is British. The following guide points out the principal differences between these two varieties of English. Present Perfect and Past Simple. In BrE the Present Perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example, “I’ve lost my key. Can you help me look for it?” In AmE the following is also possible: “I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?” In BrE this would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard AmE. Other differences include the use of “already,” “just,” and “yet.” In BrE people say “I’ve just had lunch. I’ve already seen that film. Have you finished your homework yet?” In AmE these sentences can be equally used with these ones: “I just had lunch. I already saw that film. Did you finish your homework yet?” “Have” and “Have got.” There are two forms to express possession in English, and both of them are correct. However, “have got” is generally the preferred form in BrE (Have you got a car? He hasn’t got any friends.), while most speakers of AmE employ the form “have” (Do you have a car? He doesn’t have any friends.) Prepositions. There are also a few differences in the use of prepositions (the first preposition is BrE, the second is AmE): “at / on the weekend,” “in / on a team,” “write to me soon / write me soon.” One Vocabulary – Different Meanings. Probably the major differences between AmE and BrE are in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties, for example:
Spelling. American spelling is often simplified, as can be seen from the examples in which the first word is BrE and the second is AmE: colour / color, favourite / favorite, theatre / theater, realise / realize, dialogue / dialog, traveller / traveler, cheque / check, jewellery / jewelry, tyre / tire, and more. One Meaning – Different Vocabulary. Many words are also used in one form and not in the other. Here are some examples:
Past Simple / Past Participle Verb Forms. Some English verbs have two acceptable forms of the Past Simple / Past Participle. In BrE, however, the irregular form is generally more common: “burnt, dreamt, leant, learnt, smelt, spelt, spilt, spoilt.” The regular verb form is more common to AmE: “burned, dreamed, leaned, learned, smelled, spelled, spilled, spoiled.” “Get.” The Past Participle of the verb “get” is “gotten” in AmE, for example “He’s gotten much better at playing tennis.” In BrE the Past Participle would be “got” as in the example “He’s got much better at playing tennis.” As you can see, there are really very few differences between standard BrE and standard AmE, the largest difference being probably the choice of vocabulary. 2) Find more examples of the differences between American and British English. 1.8 RUSSIAN- ENGLISH “FALSE FRIENDS” 1) What does the title of the article mean? (1) “False friends” are pairs of words in two languages (e.g. Russian and English) or two dialects of the same language (e.g. British and American English) that look and/or sound similar, but differ in meaning. “False friends” can cause difficulty for students learning foreign languages because students can misidentify the words due to their linguistic similarities. The following words represent only a partial sampling of English and Russian “false friends”:
(2) Other Russian-English “false friends” include: “аккуратный” vs. “accurate,” “артист” vs. “artist,” “аудитория” vs. “auditorium,” “декорация” vs. “decoration,” “интеллигентный” vs. “intelligent,” “комплекция” vs. “complexion,” “композитор” vs. “compositor,” “марка” vs. “mark,” “новелла” vs. “novel,” “оператор” vs. “operator,” “проспект” vs. “prospect,” “фамилия” vs. “family,” “физик,” vs. “physique,” and dozens more. (3) Interestingly, it should be noted that the meaning of the Russian word in many of these “false friend” pairs usually has the same meaning as was ascribed to the original word from which both words were borrowed. Of course, blaming English today for linguistic inconsistency is now useless because these “false friends” will remain false friends and nothing is going to change that. 2) Give a definition to the word combination “false friends.” 3) Find English equivalents to the words in commas in the second paragraph. 4) Make a summary of the article. 1.9 CRAZY ENGLISH 1) Do you agree with the title of the text? English is crazy. Part of the problem with learning English can be explained by this fact. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word “misnomer” means the “use of a wrong or inappropriate name” when naming something. In this respect, such words and terms as “driveway” and “parkway,” “eggplant” and “hamburger,” “sweetmeats” and “sweetbreads,” “English muffins” and “French fries,” as well as “boxing ring” and “starfish” are all misnomers. English is strange. In English people “drive cars on parkways” and “park cars on driveways.” There is no “egg” in eggplant just as there is no “ham” in hamburger. “Sweetmeats” are candies and “sweetbreads” are meats. “English muffins” didn’t come from England nor did “French fries” come from France. And should it not be obvious “boxing rings” are square and “starfish” are not fish at all. And should you now be wondering if “Panama hats” come from Panama, “India ink” from India and “Chinese checkers” from China, the answer is “No.” And lest it go unsaid, these are only a few of the hundreds of misnomers in the English language. So how did English become so crazy? Some misnomers are holdovers from an earlier time. Such words as “lead pencil,” “tin can,” “steamroller,” and “clothes iron” are all holdovers from the “good old days.” Essentially, old names were retained for convenience. Truly British examples are the well-known “May balls” (evening parties) and “May Bumps” (boat races) hosted by Cambridge University each year. Neither occurs in May but rather in May week which, by the way, is in the second week of June. Words such as “Kleenex” (in place of “tissue”), “Xerox” (in place of “photocopy”), and “Memory stick” (in place of “flash drive”) are all the result of using well-known product names in place of common generic names. Sometimes misnomers result from popular misconceptions even though there is scientific evidence to the contrary. “Koala bears” are not actually bears; rather they are marsupials and therefore related to kangaroos. And in that sense, “fireflies” are not flies (they’re beetles) and “palm trees” are not really trees (they’re grass). And just to set the record straight, “shooting stars” are actually meteors, not stars. Finally, we have a group of misnomers which almost defy explanation. And how is it possible for our nose “to run” and our feet “to smell?” Is it really true that a shipment is “sent by car” while cargo is “sent by ship.” And in what other language could people “recite at a play” and “play at a recital?” Why do they call food servers “waiters,” when it’s the customers who do the waiting? Why do they call them buildings, when they are already built? And why is it called a TV set when you get only one? Only in English you say that “night falls” but never breaks, and “day breaks” but never falls, and “a slim chance” and “a fat chance” are the same but “a wise man” and “a wise guy” are opposites. English is a truly amazing language. It’s full of misnomers, paradoxes, and verbal contradictions, yet it is loved by millions. What more can I say? The time has come for me to “wind up” this article … and speaking of time, I’d better “wind up” my watch while I’m at it. And if it hasn’t occurred to you, guess which one means “to finish” and which one means “to start.” 2) Find the definition of the word “misnomer” in the text. 3) Translate the words and expressions in commas into Russian. 4) What is the main idea of the article? 1.10 SIMPLIFIED ENGLISH 1) What does the title of the text imply? Since English is so wide-spread, people try to construct its simpler varieties, for example:
2) Share your opinion on the simplification of a language. 1.11 REASONS FOR LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES 1) What are possible reasons for learning foreign languages? Why do you learn languages? You may have relatives living in Japan, or you want to visit China. Perhaps you have a life-long desire to see Italy or you are planning a vacation in Argentina or retirement in Costa Rica. All of them are valid reasons for learning a foreign language. Learning for travel is one of the most common reasons to learn a language. There are more opportunities to travel today than there have ever been before, and they are likely to increase in the 21st century Global Village. Many people learn a language to connect with their roots. You may still have relatives living in the US, or you may just want to define yourself a little bit. Learning the language of your ancestors can open up a whole new understanding of yourself and how you got to be who and where you are now. The reasons for students to learn languages are many, and not just because you need it to graduate. Learning a language gives insights into other cultures. It creates a more positive attitude toward people who are culturally different and gives us a better understanding of what it’s like to be an immigrant. Accomplishing this life skill will give you increased prestige in your own culture and a markedly increased status in other cultures. It’s a required skill to become a World Citizen. Do you have a new addition to the family by marriage? Learning even a little of your new family members’ language can bring both families closer together. Or maybe you’re looking for love yourself. Think of the possibilities when you learn another language. The increase in possible social contacts is tremendous! To learn a language for career advancement is one of the best ways to get ahead in the job market. Surprisingly, language learners improve their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in their mother tongue as well as in the new language they are learning. Overall communication skills improve, and that is a boon to any potential employer. For the business owner or entrepreneur, it is even more important for you to maximize your ability to communicate with employees, clients, or potential business contacts. Learning a language also develops analytical skills, improves problem solving ability and increases flexible thinking and creativity. If you have your own business, there is an even greater need for you to cultivate these abilities in yourself. Learning a foreign language improves your overall job skills, and makes you more valuable as an employee. It also broadens your potential career options, should you decide on a different career path. Knowledge of a foreign language can make you more valuable to your company, giving you a better chance for promotion, reassignment, relocation or pay raise. Obviously, learning a second language could get you a possible assignment in another country. The potential experience you gain could lead to a whole new plateau in your career, or a new career opportunity altogether. The current climate of globalization is most likely to stay. More and more businesses are becoming internationalized by mergers and acquisitions. Multinational businesses, global corporations, conglomerates, and joint ventures are increasingly common. This means that learning another language is essential if you are going to be involved in any international business. Fewer employers are looking for specialized skills and abilities nowadays. Prospective employers are increasingly looking for more adaptable workers with wide ranging abilities and flexible skill sets. General business skills, communication abilities and foreign language skills are the type more employers are seeking today. The opportunities here are tremendous. From your employer’s or clients’ point of view, you double your potential list of business contacts when you add a new language to your arsenal. It’s a way to gain a powerful advantage over your competitors. We could probably add many more examples to this short list, but the point is made. When you learn another language, you add important skills to your repertoire and increase your value and you make an investment in yourself. When you leverage that investment in your private or business life, you can profit from the rewards for the rest of your life. Lots of the reasons above pertain to me, but my reason for learning English is much simpler – because I enjoy learning foreign languages! 2) Generalize the reasons for learning foreign languages based on the text examples. 3) Explain the expressions: “the 21st century Global Village,” “a World Citizen.” 4) Prove that “If you learn a foreign language, you make an investment in yourself.” 5) Find the author’s major reason for learning foreign languages and talk about your own reasons for learning English and other foreign languages. 1.12 HOW MANY LANGUAGES CAN A PERSON SPEAK? 1) Answer the question asked in the title of the text. Multilingualism is the use of two or more languages, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. Multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world’s population. “A multilingual person,” in a broad definition, is a person who can communicate in more than one language, be it actively (through speaking or writing) or passively (through listening or reading). More specifically, the terms “bilingual” and “trilingual” are used to describe comparable situations in which two or three languages are involved. Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language. The first language (sometimes also referred to as “the mother tongue”) is acquired without formal education. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals. Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals one language usually dominates over the other. This kind of bilingualism is most likely to occur when a child is raised by bilingual parents in a predominantly monolingual environment. It can also occur when the parents are monolingual but have raised their child in two different countries. As a legend goes, Buda spoke 150 languages, and Mahomet knew all the languages of the world. Among the other famous polyglots are Sir John Bowring (100 languages, with knowledge of 200+), Emil Krebs (68 languages), Uku Masing (65 languages), and not so many more. Such multilingual persons are “polyglots” (in Greek “poly” means “many,” and “glot” means “language”). But how many foreign languages should a person know to be considered a polyglot? More than two. Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and archaeologist, and an advocate of the historical reality of places mentioned in the works of Homer. Schliemann was an important archaeological excavator of Troy, along with the Mycenaean sites Mycenae and Tiryns. His successes lent material weight to the idea that Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid reflect actual historical events. He spoke 13 languages, including his mother tongue and wrote his diary in the language of whatever country he happened to be in. By the end of his life, he could converse in English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Latin, Russian, Arabic, and Turkish as well as German. Schliemann’s ability with languages was an important part of his career as a businessman in the importing trade. Kató Lomb was a Hungarian interpreter, translator, language genius and one of the first simultaneous interpreters of the world. Originally she graduated in physics and chemistry, but her interest soon led her to languages. Native in Hungarian, she was able to interpret fluently in nine or ten languages, and she translated technical literature and read belles-lettres in six languages. She was able to understand journalism in further eleven languages. As she put it, altogether she earned money with sixteen languages – Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Ukrainian. She learned these languages mostly by self-effort. Her aims to acquire these languages were most of all practical, to satisfy her interest. According to her own account, her long life was highlighted not primarily by the command of languages but the actual study of them. Through her books, interviews, and conversations, she tried to share this joy of studying languages with generations. As an interpreter, she visited all five continents, saw forty countries, and reported about her experiences and adventures in a separate book “An interpreter around the world.” Harold Williams was a New Zealand journalist, foreign editor of The Times and polyglot who is considered to have been one of the most accomplished polyglots in history, said to have known over 60 languages and other related dialects. He taught himself Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Māori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, and other Polynesian languages when he was only eleven years old! He sat for his BA at Auckland University, but failed because of an inability to sufficiently master mathematics. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works “The Hobbit,” “The Lord of the Rings,” and “The Silmarillion.” Both Tolkien’s academic career and his literary production are inseparable from his love of language and philology. He was fluent in 13, yet knew 12 other languages, not including his self-constructed languages. Ziad Youssef Fazah is a Lebanese polyglot who claims to speak 59 languages and maintains that he has proved this in several television shows, where he has successfully communicated with native speakers of a large number of foreign languages. He is considered the world’s greatest polyglot by the 1993 UK edition of the Guinness Book of Records. He works as a private teacher of languages in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Polyglots claim that any person with average abilities can master 5-6 languages during the lifetime. One only needs motivation, strong will, and courage. The tips that can help polyglot-beginners are the following: study regularly, always carry a pad and a pen with you, practice whenever possible, read as much as possible even if you don’t understand everything, and use every spare minute for revising the language. At one of the linguistic congresses he greeted the audience in 50 languages. 2) Scan the names typed in bold and say who of them you would like to read about. 3) Find the terms relating to the topic “languages” in the text. 4) Debate the statement “Any person with average abilities can master 5-6 languages during the lifetime.” 5) Develop the tips for polyglot-beginners suggested in the last paragraph of the text. 1.13 TRICKS FOR LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES 1) Paraphrase the title of the text. Before reading the text, discuss the possible ways of learning foreign languages. 2) Would you read the text further if you were interested in the topic “Language learning”? When you start learning English you acquire a new mode of life. You start doing crazy things, like speaking to yourself aloud, spending your evening reading a dictionary, hunting for interesting phrases with the purpose of accumulating your vocabulary, trying to recollect them all at once or jotting them down in your diary not to forget. It is an exciting feeling of a new start and of future perspectives that a good command of English opens before you. By setting out on a journey to new and exciting achievements a learner has to distinguish what ways will be better to choose for reaching his/her goal relatively quickly and efficiently. Linguists and methodologists described many efficient strategies of English language learning. Many of them proved to be highly efficient and brought really amazing results in testing. A starting point which will push you up in all the course of your English studying is your motivation to learn. You should be specific with the goal of your studying and reflect on benefits a good command of English can bring you. You are aimed at getting smarter, assimilating new culture and meeting new people or your primary goal of English learning is to earn more money and succeed in your career. A sure-fire way to master English is to go to America or England and communicate with native speakers. It means to penetrate into English environment and practice both speaking and listening. Going to an English-speaking country is a great opportunity to perfect your listening skills, enrich your vocabulary with new words. And what is the most important is that you are forced to speak on a daily basis and perceive colloquial speech, the samples of it you are not likely to find in a textbook. A good, safe and cheap way to master English is to stimulate a foreign language environment in your home. It means to bring an English-speaking country to your house, surrounding yourself with everything that is connected with English. Try everything that comes in hand. Speak English as much as possible. Speaking is exciting and motivates you to keep learning. It helps you to uncover the gaps in your vocabulary and grammar. But if you don’t have an opportunity to go to an English-speaking country, it doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to speak English fluently and naturally. It only means that you’ll have to exert more efforts to find English language environment in your surroundings. In the supermarket, in the park, a restaurant or a convenience store – almost anywhere you happen to meet or run into a native speaker of English. Don’t just stay there mum – say something! People are generally flattered when you’re trying to meet them on their own terms or in their own language and are usually more than happy to chat. In any case, you can look for good English language courses. Flashcards are the single best and most efficient use of your time when learning a language. Ten seconds of free time becomes a quick quiz – take card #1 out of your pocket: “What is the English for ... еда? Food?” Flip the card over: “Correct!” Two minutes is a major review session. Look at it this way – if you spend ten seconds on one word, for two minutes – that’s twelve words in two minutes. Twelve words a day for five days a week is 3000 words in one year. All the words you need to be conversational in just two minutes a day. That doesn’t account for grammar and pronunciation, but still – one year to learn all the vocabulary you need. Don’t say you don’t have time to learn a language. Remember this the next time you are staying in line at the bank or the grocery store, doctor’s office, or waiting at a red light. Once you have some basic understanding of the language, get some reading material – a newspaper, a general interest magazine, a brochure, even comics can help you along. Short articles are best at first. Here’s the important part – something you are interested in. If you’re into gardening then get a magazine or print out an online article on gardening in English. You’ll be learning vocabulary and phrases that you are really interested in, and that will help you pick it up much quicker. One of the most effective language-learning tricks is to read aloud to yourself. Hearing the language is the most important aspect of learning if you intend to speak it. Give yourself opportunities to use it during otherwise non-productive times like while driving or just relaxing. Following the above advice, give yourself more opportunities to hear English. Internet and radio can expose you to new vocabulary and fresh content daily. The more sources you hear from, the better. Use the power of the Internet to hook up with other people around the world who speak the language you are learning. They can help you immeasurably. There are plenty of free Internet sites and forums to find people who will be happy to work with you. Try lip-syncing. The procedure is simple, you repeat exactly, word-for-word, everything your model says. That model can be a newscaster, a character on a soap opera, a documentary narrator or the voice coming from your tape player or radio. Start by trying to get your tongue around the words. You’ll acquire speed and ease with practice. In Japan, English students karaoke the Beatles. In Africa, the Backstreet Boys rule the airwaves. Lip-syncing popular songs is all the rage for English language learners, so use it to your advantage. Check at music shops and bookstores for song CDs and tapes. Ask around for recommendations. Lyrics to literally thousands of songs are available online. Watch TV. Programs to watch are the news, soap operas and documentaries. Do you have a DVD? Play a couple of programs over and over to accustom yourself to the flow of the language. Studying and practicing with other people can give you instant feedback and interactivity that you just can’t get from a book, audio, or software. Even if you only know very little, you will absorb the language quicker and with more enjoyment than just by studying alone. Ultimately, that’s the purpose of learning a foreign language anyway – to communicate with other people. This is probably the cardinal rule when it comes to learning languages – you must expose yourself to the language every day if possible. Studying ten minutes a day is better than cramming for an hour once or twice a week. Frequent review, even if only for a few minutes, is essential. English learning is a great opportunity for you to unleash your inner genius. Knowing what you really want to get from your learning will zap your cherished dream to develop good English skills in a flash. The main thing is to find a set of effective learning ways and tools which will help you to boost your results and have a motivation to study. Once you are armed with a desire and winning techniques, be sure to sort out the methods that suit you and you can consider that the first step to your success in English learning has already been made. Starting on this merry and energetic note continue your way in the same spirit and yield to the temptation of giving in to difficulties. 3) Support or decline the tricks suggested by the author of the text. Are they modern or out-of-date? Share your own tricks for learning foreign languages with the classmates. |