Match the paragraphs with their titles
| A | Which are the hardest languages to learn? |
| B | Artificial languages |
| C | Alphabets from A to Z |
| D | Languages in the world |
| E | A native language |
| F | How many languages are there in the world? |
| G | Endangered languages |
| H | What are the most spoken foreign languages? |
Project work
Split into groups. Make up presentation about different languages. Browse the Internet to find some more data related to languages.
Here are some more facts and statistics about languages we speak. Enjoy reading them!
ü There are only two living speakers of the Ayapaneco language, spoken in the state of Tabasco in Mexico. The two speakers refuse to speak to one another!
ü In nearly every language around the world, the word for "mother" begins with an m sound. Some exceptions can be found in the Uralic language group.
ü China has more English speakers than the United States.
ü In some Inuit (Eskimo) languages, a noun can have over 1,000 forms.
ü In order to read intelligently books in their native language, Chinese pupils must be familiar with 1,000 different signs.
ü The language of the Khoi-Khoin tribe in South Africa consists of clicks, clacks, and kissing sounds, and is spoken by breathing in instead of out.
ü Beware of bottles labelled "Gift" in Germany. In German, Gift means poison!
ü In most languages, just 200 words comprise are enough for an average conversation.
ü In the Inuktitut language, spoken by the Inuit (Eskimo), there are 14 words for snow: anuigaviniq (very hard, compressed, or frozen snow), apijaq (snow covered by bad weather), apigiannagaut (the first snowfall of autumn), katakartanaq (snow with a hard crust that yields when stepped upon), kavisilaq (snow roughened by rain or frost), kinirtaq (damp, compact snow), mannguq (melting snow),masak (wet, falling snow), matsaaq (partially-melted snow), natiruvaaq (drifting snow), pukak (crystalline snow that breaks down and separates like salt), qannialaaq (light-falling snow), qiasuqaq (snow that has thawed and refrozen with an icy surface), and qiqumaaq(snow whose surface has frozen after a spring thaw). Of course, the English language has many words for snow as well, such as "snow", "slush", "powder", "flakes", and the like.
ü The Guinness Book of Records lists Harold Williams – the foreign editor of The Times – as the world’s greatest linguist, speaking 58 languages. He was born in Christchurch on April 6, 1876 and died November 18, 1928.
STATISTICS
ü How long have languages existed: Since about 100,000 BC
ü First language ever written: Sumerian or Egyptian (about 3200 BC)
ü Oldest written language still in existence: Chinese or Greek(about 1500 BC)
ü Language with the most words: English, approx. 250,000 distinct words
ü Language with the fewest words: Taki Taki(also called Sranan), 340 words.
ü Language with the largest alphabet: Khmer (74 letters).
ü Language with the shortest alphabet: Rotokas (12 letters) spoken in Papua New Guinea.
ü Language with the fewest consonant sounds: Rotokas (6 consonants)
ü Language with the most consonant sounds: Ubyx (81 consonants). This language of the North Causasian
ü Language family, once spoken in the Haci Osman village near Istanbul, has been extinct since 1992. Among living languages, !Xóõ has the most consonants (77).
ü Language with the fewest vowel sounds: Ubyx (2 vowels). The related language Abkhaz also has 2 vowels in some dialects. There are approximately 106,000 Abkhaz speakers living primarily in Georgia.
ü Language with the most vowel sounds: !Xóõ (31 vowels)
ü The most widely published language: English
ü Language with the fewest irregular verbs: Esperanto (none)
ü Language which has won the most Oscars: Italian (12 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film)
ü The most translated document: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written by the United Nations in 1948, has been translated into 321 languages and dialects.
ü The most common consonant sounds in the world's languages:/p/, /t/, /k/, /m/, /n/
ü Longest word in the English language: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters)
ü
If you know some more exciting facts or amusing statistics about languages, share them with your group mates.
Unit 2. Being Multilingual
Lead-in
Ø What do we call a person who knows many languages?
Ø How many languages is it possible to learn?
Ø Why people should learn foreign languages and become bilingual, trilingual, etc.
Enumerate the reasons.
1. Watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfH3BtWR-tA which is called “The importance of being bilingual”. Enjoy the joke. Make some comment.
Reading and Vocabulary