Question

Jake (USA)

Global English is definitely a good thing. Communication is much easier when everyone speaks

the same language. I don’t understand what the fuss is about. Nowadays you find almost

everything on computers is in English, it’s used in business, travel and in medicine.

Cairan (Eire)

I’m 18 and I live in a small village in the west of Ireland. I speak Irish Gaelic, but many people of

my age only speak English. It’s a pity because it’s part of our heritage and if we lose our

language then we’ll lose part of our culture. I think there are only about 250,000 people who

speak Irish Gaelic!

Franz (Germany)

Languages have been disappearing for thousands of years, it’s just a natural thing. For

example, people in ancient Egypt used hieroglyphs but nobody uses these now. I’ve heard

there are almost 7,000 languages in the world and that about half of these will disappear in the

next 20 years! Well, you can’t stop progress, can you?

Raul (USA)

Although I live in the USA and I use English at school my mother tongue is Spanish. My parents

were immigrants from Mexico and so at home we speak Spanish. For me language is part of my

cultural identity.

Moira (England)

My grandparents came here from Russia in 1945 and when they arrived they spoke no English.

To get jobs they had to learn and I think this is part of integrating into a new country. I think it’s

silly when people insist on keeping their own language when they move to a new country.

Ravi (India)

One of the consequences of global English is that some languages are disappearing. In my

country there are 415 different languages, but many of these are endangered. If you want a

good job, you usually have to learn English.

2)De acordo com o texto, indique a quem se refere estas informações:

Example Ravi comes from India.

a) ___________ doesn’t think there’s any problem with English as a Global Language.

b) ___________speaks one language with his family and another when he is at school.

c) ___________ and ___________ think that language is an important part of who they are.

d) ___________ and ___________ mention learning English because of work.

e) ___________ says that about 50% of the languages in the world now will soon disappear.

f) ___________ lives in a country where there are lots of language​

Answer 1

a) Jake doesn’t think there’s any problem with English as Global Language.

b) Raul speaks one language with his family and another when he is at school.

c) Cairan and Raul think that language is an important part of who they are.

d) Moira and Ravi mention learning English because of work.

e) Franz says that about 50% of the languages in the world now will son disappear.

f) Ravi lives in a country where there are lots of language.