Learning foreign languagesEnglish as a world language

Zuzana Keltnerová, C4A

Content

• Reasons for learning languages• Typical features of English• The history of English• Varieties of English

Reasons for learning languages

WORK AND BUSINESS

TRAVEL EDUCATION

CULTUREDEVELOPMENT OF YOUR LISTENING

SKILLS AND MEMORY

BREAKING DOWN

BARRIERS AMONG PEOPLE

Typical features of English

• Indo-European language family• West Germanic group of languages• the most widely used language• the largest vocabulary → over 500 000 words in the

Oxford English dictionary• 3 groups of English speakers• English as a first language: 375 million people• English as a second language: 380 million people• no declension using different endings• cases differentiated by prepositions• big differences between written and spoken forms

The history of English

THE CELTS• many centuries before the

Christian era• language similar to modern

Welsh (Wales) or Gaelic (Ireland) or Scottish Gaelic (Scotland)

The history of English

THE ROMANS• 55 B.C. → Julius Caesar

invaded Britain• 400 years• Old Latin

The history of English

THE ANGLO-SAXONS• 450 A.D.• northern Germany• Old English → similar to

modern German or Dutch• vocabulary of agriculture

(sheep, ox, earth, dog, swine, field, work)

• the most common words (you, is, the, here, there)

The history of English

THE 6TH CENTURY• Christianity brought Latin

and Greek• vocabulary related to the

Church (angel, devil, mass, shrine, priest, bishop)

• foreign words from the East (orange, pepper, India, ginger)

The history of English

THE VIKINGS• the 9th century • Danish and Norwegian• place names (Derby,

Grimsby, Rugby – those that end in –by)

• originally Danish words (get, leg, skirt, skin, same, want, raise, root, hide)

The history of English

THE NORMANS• 1066• French and Latin• words connected with

government, law, learning and the army (royal, sovereign, ascend)

The history of English

THE 12TH CENTURY• Old English had been

replaced by Middle English• Middle English = the written

version of the previously spoken Old English

• Geoffrey Chaucer • William Shakespeare

The history of English

FROM THE 14TH CENTURY ONWARDS• Ancient Greek (geography,

philosophy) • Latin (submarine,

supersonic)• the invention of the printing

press • the publication of the

authorized version of the Bible by King James in 1611

The history of English

THE ELIZABETHAN ERA(THE GOLDEN AGE)• British expansion into the world• new words from outside Europe: → Arabic (coffee, alcohol) → Indian languages (jungle,

pyjamas)→ Native American languages

(chocolate, tomato) → Chinese (tea)

The history of English

THE 17TH CENTURY• the first settlements in North

America and later in Australia• English as a mother tongue in

all the continents of the world• in each part it developed

differently → many varieties of English now

Varieties of English

STANDARD ENGLISH (BRITISH)

AMERICAN ENGLISH

AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH

CANADIAN ENGLISH

→ the language of educated English speakers which is used by the Government, the BBC or by the universities

→ isolation from the language changes in Britain

→ similar to British English → some differences in vocabulary → influenced by the Aboriginal language

→ something between Am. E. and Brit. E. → influenced by Canadian French and the Native American languages or Eskimo

Varieties of English

STANDARD ENGLISH X AMERICAN ENGLISH• the main differences between Standard English and

American English → pronunciation, intonation, spelling, vocabulary and sometimes in grammar

DIFFERENCES IN GRAMMAR• Have you got? X Do you have?• at the weekend X on the weekend

Varieties of English

STANDARD ENGLISH X AMERICAN ENGLISHDIFFERENCES IN PRONUNCIATION[a:] = [æ] class [klæ:s][o] = [a] hot [hat], not, coffee, doctor [daktə][a] = [ə] hurry [həri], courage [kəridž] [ju:] = [u:] student [stu:dənt], due [du:], new [nu:]

either [ˈiːðə]

Varieties of English

STANDARD ENGLISH X AMERICAN ENGLISHDIFFERENCES IN SPELLING• Am. E. tends to be shorter and simplercolour X colortravelled X traveleddialogueX dialogprogramme X programtheatre X theater

Varieties of EnglishSTANDARD ENGLISH X AMERICAN ENGLISH

DIFFERENCES IN VOCABULARY

STANDARD ENGLISH AMERICAN ENGLISH

rubbish/litter garbage/trash

film movie

holiday vacation

shop store

flat apartment

pavement sidewalk

trousers pants

purse/wallet billfold

lift elevator

Cockney rhyming slang• Cockney = someone born in the East End of London• the underworld of London´s East End• secret language of people on the other side of the lawCOCKNEY DICTIONARY• bread and honey = money → How much bread have you got? • rabbit and pork = talk → He is always rabbiting about his car. • loaf of bread = head → You should try using your loaf a bit

more. • Adam and Eve = believe → Would you Adam and Eve it?• Captain Cook = book• Britney Spears = beers

Resources

• notes and materials from English conversation lessons

Thank you for your attention!