Do you know what languages the people in these countries speak? ■ Portugal ■ Argentina • Australia Aloha &od dag ^ Look at the table. It shows how many languages there are in the world and how many people speak them. 1 List four languages that you think have more than 100 million speakers. 2 Which group do you think your language comes in? Skills 1 Predicting what the text is about A Look at the picture opposite. What do you think the article is about? B Read the article and see if you were right. 2 Matching topics to paragraphs Wfuictc Tip? \ When you match topics to paragraphs, don't just look for the same words in the topic and the paragraphs. Instead, think about the meaning of the whole paragraph. Read the article again and match the topics a-f with paragraphs 1-6. The first one has been done for you. 5 Understanding the text Read the article again and answer these questions. Use your own words as much as possible. What does Maluerindi think we can do about his loneliness? What is going to happen in the next 100 years? Why do languages die? What can people do to save a language? Why should we care when languages die? Vocabulary What communities can do The number of languages in danger The last speaker of his language_ The most important reason why languages are dying Languages and natural disasters_ What happens when languages die_ 4 Verbs A Find these verbs in the article and match them to their meanings in this context. You can find one word in each paragraph. 1 change damage something badly 2 disappear become different 3 destroy live after a difficult event 4 survive stop something dying 5 save stop existing 6 care be interested in something B Choose three of the verbs and write three sentences of your own about the reading text. 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 civilisation 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. 5 say, talk, speak or tell? A 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? B Now find the sentences in the text and see if you were right. 6 Words connected with studying A These verbs and nouns are all connected with studying. Fill in the missing words. I Verbs Nouns study revise practise Studtnf repetition memory translation B Use two verbs and two nouns in sentences to talk about your language study. 1 These pictures show different ways of learning a language. Talk about what they show. 2 Say which of these activities you do, or would like to do. 3 Put the activities in order, saying which are the most helpful for learning a language. Grammar csed The present simple and the present continuous A Look at these symbols. Can you say where they are used? M®U ■ B Can you think of any symbols which are recognised around the world? 2 The present simple and the present continuous the 1 A presentation 1 A Tanya is giving a presentation to a class at her school. Listen to the beginning of her presentation and fill in gaps. As part of oUl~ £r>c^/is/l C.oUtSey oje 1- a ptojecl eVe/y tet/>7. l^e Spend one /eSSon a ojeelf k si/.^sn1 <^.~.„-/~„ si different. l/vS tef~s>? •J TV /ecv~ninj a&out So/yjet/lin^ a _ uje. 2_ o/d SySte/yfS of writing, SUC-h OS €j/ptian Jveto^ypJvdS) co/iid/i used S/yja//pictures and sy/yj&o/s. What tense is used in the first gap?- What tense is used in the second gap?- B Now look at the picture, read the rest of Tanya's presentation, and answer the questions. 1 What's Tanya doing in the picture? 2 Why are symbols useful? 3 What's the difference between a symbol and an icon? 4 What change does Tanya mention? Uses Look again at verbs 1-7 in the presentation. Read the five uses below. Write present simple or present continuous and the number of an example from the presentation next to each one. 1 something that happens regularly Present simple Q) 2 something that is permanent or always true 3 something that is happening at the moment of speaking- 4 something that is only temporary- 5 a change that takes place over a period of time Form Complete 1 and 2 with the forms of the present simple and present continuous. 1 Present simple Positive--- Negative Tftsy don't do a project every term. Question---■? 2 Present continuous She'* doing a pro\tct this term._ Positive Negative Question •cons ^ co^u^at* om !d a /oc of syjoney /yiafcmj Sure tfiat youna 4» What do they mean? Match 1-6 to a-f. 1 Petra comes from Hungary. a She's the manager there. 2 Petra is coming from b He's doing his Hungary. homework. 3 Joanna works at c He prefers reading McDonald's. books. 4 Joanna is working at d She was born McDonald's. there. 5 My brother doesn't e She has a job watch TV. there for a month. 6 My brother isn't f She's on the watching TV. train right now. The present simple or the present continuous? Circle the correct form of the verb. 1 Let's go to Phonelond, they sell I are selling mobiles really cheaply at the moment. 2 My computer's broken so I use I am using my brother's until I get it fixed. 3 Ela is Polish. She comes I is coming from Warsaw. 4 I get I am getting more and more worried about giving my presentation tomorrow. 5 Every summer McDonald's spend/ are spending extra money on advertising ice cream. 6 My friends design I are designing their own website. It looks great. Questions and negatives Put the words into the correct order to make questions and negative sentences. 1 Symbols / more / are / common / becoming? Are symbols becoming more common? 2 don't/ symbols / like / people / some. 3 am not / a project /1 / this term / doing. 4 companies / spend / do / a lot of money / on advertising? 5 looking/you / are/at/the chart? Ifememlper? We use the present simple, not the present continuous, with adverbs of frequency {always, often, usually, sometimes, rarely, never). I always use symbols in my text messages. John never uses them. '. There are a number of verbs that we do not normally use in the continuous form. Here are some of the most common ones: believe, belong to, dislike, hate, have, know, like, love, own, need, think, understand. I don't understand what you mean. Which tense? Write the present simple or continuous form of the verbs in brackets. 1 My sister often friends. send) text messages to her _(learn) to use a new computer At the moment, I_ program. Symbols_(become) more and more common in advertising. I_(not / own) a mobile phone at the moment. I usually_(understand) the symbols I see in other countries. How many symbols_(you have) on your mobile? John never_(send) me emails or text messages. metimes_(mean) 'danger' or 'stop'. .(You know) what this symbol L means? Activate 7 Interviewing your partner A You are going to interview your partner. Use the topics below to help you and write some questions about things that are always true for your partner, and some questions about things that are true at the moment. Cxample languages • Do you speak any languages? • Are you studying any languages at the moment? • family e friendsr books - music sport B Interview your partner. •I Listening Speaking TAT hi at are you saying? The meaning of words American English has some words which are different from the British English words with the same meaning. Do you know which of these words are American and which are British? You will hear people giving or taking three different messages. As you listen for the first time, match the messages (1-3) to what each one is about a-d. There is one answer you do not need. a a party_ b an evening out_ c homework_ d an apology_ 2 Note-taking Job Application Post applied for: Reference: Surname: first name: Jenny Chan Jenny Chan is 16 and she comes from She | . Sto - English, Malay and Chinese. ■There are five people in W fami| brother, a3ed ,9, + „ ^ .. H^We pro3_e „ Steps to better writing 2 Asking and answering questions Match the questions with the answers. How often do you play football? £ How many of you are there in your family?_ 3 When do you start school in the morning?_ 4 Where do you go to school?_ 5 What does your father do?_ 6 Why are you learning English?_ 7 Have you got any brothers or sisters?_ 8 Can you speak Polish?_ 9 Are you the oldest in the family?_ 10 Do you like travel ling?_ 11 Who is your best friend? a Alison Smith. b No, I'm the youngest. c Eight o'clock. d He's an engineer. e Yes, quite well. f St Martin's College. g Because it's a really useful language. h Four. i Yes, one of each. j Yes, I love it. k Once a week. 3 Question words A Look at the questions in 2 again. How many of them: 1 are formed using a question word? 2 are direct questions using do I does, am I is I are, have I has or a modal? Which questions can be answered with 'yes' or 'no'? Which questions need a longer answer? B Read the answers to the following questionnaire. Write in the questions. How old are you? í am 16. I am 1 mfe-tré. 70 CÉ.n-tvm£.t-re.s. hlo, I dovvt drlr>\C alcohol. YéS, I exdrcxse. regularly. I plavj tévynis and football. Mo í dovvt Viavř amj Üln£SS£S. In an emercje-nq •fou should contact mother, Mrs A, Milne on 02-112- 44? 2-2-2-. C What do you think the reason for the questionnaire was? Writing questionnaires and descriptions 4 Planning A You are going to write a questionnaire to find out about the lifestyle or personality of one of the other students in your class. Decide what information you would like to find out about them. You can use the ideas in the questionnaires to help you. B Write five or six questions for your questionnaire. Use the ideas in the model to help you. Name: ..................................................................... What do you do in your free time? How often do you play sport? 5 Answering questionnaires Give your questionnaire to another student in the class and take theirs. Complete their questionnaire witp your answers. 6 Writing a description Give the questionnaire back to the person who wrote it. Use the information they put in your questionnaire to write a description of the person, like the one for Jenny Chan in 1. Use complete sentences. Example _has one brother and two sisters. She plays football twice a week. She likes chocolate and ice cream ... 7 Reading Work in groups. Take it in turns to read out your descriptions. II ID Word focus Communication 1 Verbs Circle the correct verb in these newspaper headlines. 0 We must save / survive small languages now! Earthquakes and volcanos destroy / disappear seven languages a year D Do you care / change what is happening to small languages? Clan languages with only ten ^ speakers save / survive? , i — 2 saf, talK, speaK and tell Choose the correct verb in each of these sentences. 1 • He said I told 'I want to dance!' 2 I said I told him that it was too late. 3 What did she say I tell to him? 4 He speaks I talks three languages, French, English and Czech. 5 She likes to speak I talk about herself a lot. 3 Learning a language A Complete these tips about language learning with the correct verb. The first letter or letters are given to help you. Reading for pleasure ^ How to 1st_a language 2P_your English as much as possible - write to a penfriend, watch TV and films in English, listen to pop music and read magazines in English. Try to 3I_l about ten new words each week. If you don't hear what your teacher says, ask her to 4r_it. Sometimes it can help to 5t_ new words into your own language. Always 6r_before a test. B Can you think of ways these things might help you learn a language? Extension 4 Languages and nationalities A Work in pairs to answer these questions as quickly as possible. 1 What countries are the closest neighbours to your country? 2 What nationalities are the people who live in these countries? 3 What languages do they speak? B Now answer these questions. 1 What nationality are the people who live in the countries below? 2 What languages are spoken in these countries? • The Netherlands • Brazil • The United Kingdom • Belgium • The United States of America ■ Switzerland - Austria *> Canada ■ New Zealand • Ireland 5 Messages and notes Complete the gaps in this story with these words. For two gaps more than one answer is possible. • dialled • phone call • make • left • answerphone • phone ■ ring Someone1 yesterday while I was out. It said, 'Hello. I've got some good news for you. You've won the lottery. 3_ 0800 454545 to get your prize. Congratulations!' I couldn't remember buying a ticket, but I decided to 4_.the phone call anyway. 15_the number carefully. No one answered, but there was a message. 'Welcome to the Lottery-line,' it said. 'Follow these instructions to claim your prize.' The voice went on and on, with long instructions about different numbers to 6_for different names. I suddenly realised. It was a hoax - there weren't any prizes, just a long7_that I had to pay for. And when I got my phone bill, I was right - it cost £1 per minute! Lett it Aysha had never met a woman doctor. And in England, she had never met anyone who spoke Bengali and had such a good job. She talked to Doctor 5 Choudhury every time they visited and one day she asked. Is it hard to be a doctor?' 'It's impossible to be a doctor unless you work hard, really hard, every day. But you're a clever girl. If you want to be a 10 doctor you can do it. You just have to work. You're not afraid of hard work, are you?' 'But I can't speak English,' said Aysha. 'Not very much, anyway. They all laugh at me.' 15 'How old are you?' Thirteen.' Doctor Choudhury smiled. 'Listen. I was fourteen when I came here. I couldn't speak a word of English. But I'd started my 20 science back home. Science was always my favourite subject. I couldn't bear to be left out of things. They put me with the children who couldn't read, just because I couldn't speak English, and they didn't let 25 me do science. So I had to leam to read quickly. I couldn't bear to be left out.' Aysha was happy. 'It's the same with me. They treat me as if I'm stupid. Everyone speaks slowly to me and acts as if I can't 30 hear properly.' She was scared that Doctor Choudhury might think she was too big-headed. 'So, do you really think I could be a doctor, then?' You'll have to work hard - much harder 35 than you can imagine. Just look what a wreck* I am!' Doctor Choudhury had to dash away, past the rows of beds, to the end of the ward and Aysha went slowly over to join her mother and father at her 40 grandfather's bed. 'She's a lovely woman,' Grandfather said, nodding over to where Doctor Choudhury was talking to a patient at the far end of the ward. 'The kindest, nicest doctor I've 45 ever had.' Tou know what I think?' Grandfather patted Aysha's hand and winked at her. 'I think Aysha should become a doctor.' He spoke faster as he grew to like the idea 50 more and more. 'Her grandmother was always saying she had to get a good education so she could be a secretary in Dhaka. Why does she have to be a secretary? Why can't she be a doctor?' 55 Father shook his head. "We've got to be realistic,' he said. 'Don't go putting stupid ideas into her head. She can't even speak English yet.' 'I can' Aysha stood up. At school I speak 60 English to everyone.' Her father looked weary. 'Listen, I can speak English, too. But there's English and English. It's just not possible when it's not your own language. She might be 65 able to get a machine job, sewing or something, where she doesn't have to speak that much.' 'But I don't want a machine job.' Aysha moved round to the other side of the bed, 70 so she was close to Grandfather. 'Doctor Choudhury couldn't speak English when she came to England. I'm going to be a doctor like her.' 'Right,' said her grandfather. 'But you've 75 got to start by going to school every day.' He raised himself up on his elbow and smiled and shook his finger at her. 'I don't want to see you here tomorrow or any other day unless you've been to so school first.' * a person or thing that is in a very bad condition Written by Elizabeth Lutzeier Understanding the story Read the story and then answer these questions. 1 What problem did Aysha have? 2 Why did Doctor Choudhury have to learn to read quickly? 3 Why was Aysha at the hospital? 4 What did Aysha's grandfather want her to do? 5 What did her father think she could do? 6 What do you think happened to her in the end? Vocabulary Find these adjectives in the story. Who do they refer to, Aysha's father, Doctor Choudhury or Aysha? • kindest • clever • happy • stupid • weary • scared • big-headed * lovely Your reactions Do you think if people try hard enough they get what they want? Why? Why not? ®