Now watch the video and complete the tasks.

Source: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/britain-is-great/english-is-great-part-1

 

Task 1. Put what happens in the video in the right order. What topics doRichard and Roger talk about? Choose all the right answers.

a) the number of items in the British Library

b) how English has evolved over time

c) the impact of Shakespeare on English

d) the impact of the Industrial Revolution on English

e) the impact of the Internet on English

f) a famous printer

g) the first dictionary of English

h) the first text message ever sent

i) the versatility of English

 

Task 2. Choose the best answer according to the video. Fill in the missinginformation with words or numbers from the video.

1. The British Library has existed for __________ over years.

2. Every year, they have to add __________ kilometres of shelves to house the new items.

3. The library has __________ items from all over the world.

4. A thousand years ago, English was similar to __________.

5. The first English book was printed about __________ years ago.

6. Chaucer wrote the first __________  in the English language.

7. Caxton spells the word French as both ‘__________’ and ‘Frenshe’ on the same page.

8. A poem which dates from __________ uses 2 for 'to' and 4 instead of 'for', just like modern SMS language.

 

Task 3. The nineteenth century poet wrote "I wrote 2 you b4", instead of 'I wrote to you before'. How good is your SMS English? Translate these messages into 'correct' English, one word in each space.

1. Luv u. C u l8r

I __________ __________. __________ __________ __________.

2. Ru OK? Pls call me asap.

__________ __________ OK? __________ call me __________ __________ __________ __________.

3. 3. My hols wr gr8 - & yrs?

My ______________________________ - __________ __________?

4. Wld u like dnr 2nite?

__________ __________ like __________ __________?

5. I need 2 c u b4 I leave.

I need __________ __________ __________ __________ I leave.

 

Task 4. Richard says 'The British Library's collection just keeps on growing'. 'Keep on' is a phrasal verb that means 'continue'. Choose the best phrasal verb in these sentences - the first six are from the video.

1. Extra shelves have to be __________ every year.

a) built up

b) got in

c) made up

d) put up

 

2. The British Library is a good place to come to __________ about the English language.

a) find out

b) look up

c) pick up

d) sort out

 

3. We have documents here that __________ a thousand years.

a) go back

b) date from

c) take on

d) turn up

 

4. In Shakespeare's period, printing had already __________.

a) come across

b) come in

c) ended up

d) turned out

 

5. William Caxton later __________ to print Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

a) came out

b) got on

c) turned up

d) went on

 

6. William Caxton often had to __________ how to spell words himself.

a) call up

b) get across

c) make up

d) see to

 

7. Texts written in Old English are very hard to __________ read, and it can be difficult to the

meaning.

a) get into

b) work out

c) take on

d) turn out

 

8. Many changes have __________ in the English language since the Internet was invented.

a) broken out

b) come about

c) gone through

d) got on

 

9. You've spelt 'necessary' wrong. You've __________ the second 's'.

a) left over

b) missed out

c) taken off

d) turned out

 

10. SMS language has really __________ in the last ten years - everyone understands the more

common abbreviations now, even my mum!

a) broken out

b) caught on

c) grown up

d) taken up

 

Task 5. Think over the advantages and disadvantages of learning English. Answer the following questions.

1) What are the advantages of having English as a global language?

2) What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning English?

3) Why is English such an important international language?

4) Is it the most popular language nowadays? Can it be replaced in the nearest future?

5) Is it easy for you to study it? Why or why not?

6) Shall we dig into history of the language we are studying and the culture of those nations who have it as an official language?

7) Make a list of spheres where English is most necessary. Provide arguments.

8) The Guardian has hold a debate on the state of language learning and here are the tables on pupils' attitudes. Comment on the charts.

 

Task 6. Read the text and fill the gaps with a proper derivative from the given words.

English is Difficult to Learn The main disadvantage of (1)__________ English is the difficulty often (2)__________ with learning it. Spelling in English is a matter of (3)__________ because various words that sound one way are spelled (4)__________. Many English words have the same or almost the same meaning, making it difficult at times to know which word to use. Words in a sentence can receive different stresses to change the meaning of the sentence, which is not something that occurs commonly in other languages. Conjugating verbs is also a nightmare for English-as-a-second-language (5)__________. Learning how to speak English requires a (6)__________but thanks to online courses and language learning apps that help you study the language and increase (7)__________, access to English learning is easier than ever. The cost associated with the courses and apps could also be another (8)__________to studying English, but since (9)__________English comes with so many advantages, the price of language courses is a worthwhile (10)__________.

study associate memory differ     study commit   fluent   advantage knowledge   investor

 

Task 7. English is spoken by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, but do the development of translation technology and “hybrid” languages threaten its status? Which country boasts the most English speakers, or people learning to speak English? The answer is China. According to a study published by Cambridge University Press, up to 350 million people there have at least some knowledge of English - and at least another 100 million in India. There are probably more people in China who speak English as a second language than there are Americans who speak it as their first. (A fifth of Americans speak a language other than English in their own homes.) But for how much longer will English qualify as the "world's favourite language"?

Fill in the gaps with the words from the box. Be careful as there are two extra words.

English No Longer the World Language? Many children in school (1)_________________ all over America are taking (2)_________________ language courses in Chinese. The concept is easy. On one day they learn everything in English and the next they (3)_________________ to Chinese. It is an (4)_________________ to learn languages when you are young because small children (5)_________________ up the language and use it in (6)______________ situations. Chinese has become so (7)_________________ that some schools even want to (8)_________________ parents Chinese courses. Because of China’s growing economy and (9)_________________, Chinese has become a language many people want to learn. In the United States about 50,000 students from kindergarten to eighth (10)_________________ are taking Chinese, (11)_________________ to only 5,000 in 2004. About 100 million people worldwide are studying Chinese as a second language. The Chinese (12)_________________ has a started a number of Confucius Institutes to (13)_________________ the Chinese language and the country’s culture. Currently there are such institutes in over 60 countries. 2,000 students have (14)_________________ the program in the last two years. In the Philippines people think that learning Chinese will allow them to get better (15)_________________ in the future. As more and more Chinese travel to other countries as tourists or on (16)_________________, people who can speak Chinese have an advantage over others. In Panama one government official has even thought about making Chinese compulsory in (17)_________________ schools, however it is so hard to get enough (18)_________________ teachers to teach Chinese. In the future Mandarin Chinese might not (19)_________________ English as the world’s number one language but because China is (20)_________________ further it will become an important language.

additional advantage attended business change classes compared everyday expanding fluently government grade influence jobs language offer overtake popular public qualified soak spread

 

Unit 2