Unit 5 English and English-speaking Countries
Expansion 5
Exercise 2
Last month, we asked you to write about
the ways that you like to learn English
and about the things that have helped you.
Here are some of your letters:
I have learned English in school.
I have a very good English teacher
who speaks beautiful English
and who makes us all love to learn English.
But I do not have any one to talk to in English
after class because we all speak Chinese
when class is over.
All I have done is to try to speak some English
to myself at home.
I read aloud, make dialogues, prepare short
speeches,and also read English newspapers.
I find all these helpful.
Tammy
I don't like to speak
in front of the whole class.
When we need to repeat words-
some new vocabulary, for example-
I prefer to say them as a whole class,
all together and not just me on my own!
Mike
I like watching movies in English.
But I don't like to see the subtitles
in my native language.
When you watch a video,
you can't take the subtitles away,
but with a DVD there are different choices.
You can have the subtitles in your language
or you can have them in English
or you can choose to watch the movie
without any subtitles at all
DVDs are really good for learners.
Alan
I like to read books.
If you read a lot in English,
your vocabulary improves.
I like to read stories
that I know from my native language
or stories that I have seen at the movies.
For example, at the moment
I am reading the second Harry Potter story.
It's really good! Liz.
Exercise 5
The world's language syetem is at the crossroads
According to one new student,
the percentage of people who use English
as their first language is becoming less.
In the mid-20th centry,
nearly 9 percent of the world population
grew up speaking English as their first language
In 2050,the number is expected to be 5 percent.
In the future,more and more people will speak
more than one language.
The major language will possibly be Chinese,
English,Spanish,Urdu,and Arabic.
Many people believe that Mandar in Chinese will
probably be the next must-learn language,
especially in Asia.