21._STUDYING_FOREIGN_LANGUAGE

STUDYING FOREIGN LANGUAGE

* THE MOST WIDELY-SPOKEN LANGUAGES, THE OLDEST / ARTIFICIAL / DEAD LANGUAGES

- the most widespread language is Mandarin Chinese

- the most widely-spoken languages are: Chinese, English, Hindu, Spanish and Russian

- the oldest language is Egyptian (5000 years old)

- the artificial language is Esperanto

- the dead language is Latin

* ENGLISH AS A GLOBAL LANGUAGE, ITS INFLUENCE OF CZECH LANGUAGE

- the British empire: English was taken around the world by the sailors, soldiers, pilgrims, traders and missionaries of the British Empire.

- it is the language of science and technology

- some people suggest that English has become a global language because it is “easy to learn” or especially flexible

- reasons, why English is a world language: it is business and finance language, worldwide domination of Hollywood blockbusters, simplicity of the English language, it is a language of travel

- nowadays, there are many “English” words in Czech language which used to have their Czech equivalent like

kopaná - fotbal, rozhlas - radio,

- and now words are constantly being accommodated as people do not even bother to create national equivalents:

hardware, laser, mobil, internet

* BRITISH / AMERICAN/ AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH, SLANG, ACCENT

=> British and American English

- in not the only special variety of English, each area of the English-speaking world has developed its own special characteristic -> it is usually mainly a matter of vocabulary and pronunciation

- people in Britain and America understand each other, but there are differences in grammar, vocabulary, spelling (colour/color, harbour/harbor, centre/center) and pronunciation (somebody)

- the British English has a dialect called Cockney dialect, which we can hear th the famous musical My Fair Lady

- new words in English: monoboarding, snowsurfing, tummytuck, eco-friendy, couch potato

- the British English word comes first in each case

- examples (BrE /AmE): petrol/gase main road/highway underground/subway

lorry/truck car part/parking lot autumn/fall

secondary school/high school holiday/vacation

toilet/bathroom wardrobe/closet flat/apartment

=> Scottish English

- uses a number of special dialect words like:

aye - yes loch - lake ben - mountain janitor - caretaker

bonny - beautiful glen - valley lassie - girl kirk [ko:k] - church

=> Australian English (Strine)

- in American slang Down Under ( = Australia)

- is particularly interesting for its rich store of highly colloquial words and expressions

- Australian colloquialism often involve shortening a word

- examples: ta (thank you) Oz (Australia) Aussie (Australian) [oisi]

footy (football) postie (postman) surfie (a person who goes surfing)

G’day, mate (“ahoj, kámo”)

=> Indian English

- is characterised by sounding more formal than British English

- example: “The bereaved are condoled and Prime minister is felicitated on his or her birthday.”

- bosom (chest), miscreant (“ničema”)

=> Black English

- is the term used to refer to the English which originated in the Caribbean islands and has now spread to many parts of the UK, Canada and the USA