Planet English

professor and was enrolled in public school. Antonio came back to Spain every summer. The little spaniard grew up and learnt English in the U.S.A. At that time ...
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Planet English. I. Starter: 1. Answer the following question in your own words. "English, an industrial tool now as basic as the screwdriver." Do you agree with this statement? Insister sur "industrial tool" Word bank: I agree with this sentence... I disagree with this sentence... I think ... /I believe.... According to me... In my opinion... to earn/make one's living... to land/find a job... autres questions: Do you believe that without English you won't be able to find/ land a decent job? Laisser répondre. Ne pas relever . Laisser libre. II. Languages in the world. 1. Fill in the chart below with the words given and complete it where necessary. Madrid, Cairo, Berlin, Portuguese, Paris, Finnish, Japanese, Beijing, The U.S.A, Milan CITIES

COUNTRIES

INHABITANTS

LANGUAGES

LONDON

ENGLAND

THE ENGLISH

ENGLISH

Madrid

Spain

The Spaniards/spanish

Spanish

Cairo

Egypt

The Egyptians

Arabic

Berlin

Germany

The Germans

German

Lisbon

Portugal

The Portuguese

Portuguese

Paris

France

The French

French

Helsinki

Finland

The Finns

Finnish

Tokyo

Japan

The Japanese

Japanese

Beijing

China

The Chinese

Chinese

Washington

The U.S.A

The americans

English

Milan

Italy

The Italians

Italian

2. Use the chart above to make out sentences like these: London is in England. English is the language which is spoken in England. England is inhabited by the English. Among the listeddifferent languagesn Which one would you like to speak? – The only language I speak is... – My mother tongue is... – my second language is... – I would like to speak.... III. The great english divide. 1. General comprehension. Read the text once and collect basic information: type of document, date, people, places, times and main topic. The document is a news article which was published in 2001. It is extracted from Businessweek. It deals with the place of the English language in Europe. The main character is Antonio Sanz.

2.Detailed comprehension. a. Read the text once again from line 1 to 49. Collect information to write down the biography of the main person. Antonio Sanz was born in 1955. At the age of ten, in 1965, he was taken to the U.S.A by an American professor and was enrolled in public school. Antonio came back to Spain every summer. The little spaniard grew up and learnt English in the U.S.A At that time English was unusual. When he came back to Spain, Antonio would be stopped in the streets and asked to say a few sentences. He graduated from hamilton college in clinton.N.Y. When he went back to spain he landed a job at Procter and Gamble company. At the time when the the article was published, Antonio was 46 and had three children. He was an executive at Vodafone plc in Madrid. b. What changes did English Bring in his life? Use a chart like this to help you... Without English With English He would have become....

He studied....

he would have stayed....

He became...

he wouldn't have....

He found a job...

c. Read from line 50 to 92 and say if the following statements are right or wrong. 1. English is only used by a few learned people. Wrong ."It is spreading far beyond the elites." 2. English is tearing European countries apart Wrong. "linking finns to french and portuguese.." 3. Europe has no common language. Wrong. "English, in short, is europe's language." 4. Only old people are willing to use English as a European language. Wrong. "It's as clear as day for European children." 5. New technologies and globalization make it necessary to share a common tongue. Right. Line 82: globalize. Line 88: e-mailing. d. Read from line 93 to the end. What does the expression "one fly on the ointment" mean: a. a bonus b. A problem c. Something strange. e. The great divide. What gap is created in European modern societies? Use the grid below to help you... The haves The have-nots past

Present

"Those who spoke the national language."

"Peasants."

Those who master Europe's international language

Those who don't.

3. Conclusion. What advantages does English give to workers? Those who master english land better job, they are better paid(25 to 35% better than those who don't speak english. Moreover, those who don't master english(monolinguists) hit a glass ceiling more quickly in their career.

Do you agree with this conclusion? Would you still give the same question to the first question of this lesson?

IV. follow up work. Sum the different arguments we saw in this lesson. Then write down a conversation in which you have to convince a friend of yours that English is necessary to succeed in life. Arguments:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

English is deeply rooted in europe. It is the only way of communicating with other Europeans. Because of globalisation, it is becoming a basic tool in corporate companies. Without it you may fall far behind. Better paid jobs. Better career opportunities.

Beginning of the conversation. Your friend: I'm really fed up with English. I don' t mind living without a second language. I don't need it to speak to those I love and to my close friends... You: Don't be stupid! Of course, English is not necessary to talk to your friends or to your family. That is not the point. We live in a world which is in constant change... is english a language killer? 1. this programme will deal with english predominance over other languages. 2.a. English is changing and becoming something else. You will get swedish english, brazilian english. Users shape english to their mother tongue. b. English is the dominant language in intercultural communication,commerce, science and technology, but in everyday life mother tongues remain safe and are not threatened by english. 3. In fact English is a language dominator, but not a language terminator. Nearly 90% of all languages will disappear in the future(over the next century). But english is not(the culprit) Those "smaller" languages for the same reasons that enable English to spread around the world: the globalization.