September 21, 2010

First step...

Hello everybody!

Bom, em nossa primeira aula, veremos um diálogo entre o Professor Don Williams, Ph. D. em Sociolinguística, e  algumas pessoas ao redor do mundo. Leia-o com atenção:


M. Maru (New Zeland): Hello, Prof. Williams! An obvious question to start: Is really English the global language?


Don Williams: Absolutely! It dominates professional, sciemtific, artistic and academic activities. It's all over the internet, on your radio and television with songs, films and shows. People from different countries and different language use English to communicate with each other.


Mariana Santos (Brazil): When did this begin?


D. W.: Not a long time ago. Before the 19th century English was just one more European language, and with the expansion of the British Empire and then the empowerment of the USA, it gained a lot of momentum.


Luci Aranda (Spain): But are the other languages going to disappear?


D. W.: Oh no! Languages are part of the cultural heritage of a nation and people need them to preserve their national identity.


Buddi (Indonesia): Do you think Chinese will soon substitute English?


D. W.: No, I don't think the status of English as a global language is going to change in the near future. China is growing fast and the US may be losing popularity in some parts of the world, but it still has tremendous economic, cultural and military power. Other English-speaking countries like Canada and England are also very influential in global politics, as you know.

http://wordsmith.org/chat/dc.html

Agora, responda essa perguntas:
1. Which of these sentences are correct according to the text?

a) O Inglês continuará a ser a língua de comunicação mundial por muito tempo.
b) Atualmente, os Estados Unidos tem pouco poder cultural e econômico.
c) O Inglês será a língua de comunicação mundial no futuro.
d) O Inglês era um língua universal há 200 anos atrás.
e) Ninguém sabe se o Inglês é uma língua mundial.
f) Ninguém sabe como o Inglês surgiu.
g) O Inglês predomina somente nos rádios e televisões.
h) O Inglês predomina somente na internet.
i) O Inglês é usado como língua de comunicação entre pessoas de diferentes nacionalidades.

2. According to the text, what is the meaning of these words?

a) próximo
b) perdendo
c) mudar
d) ainda
e) atrás (no tempo)
f) músicas
g) crescendo
h) império
i) legado, herança
j) antes
k) também
l) século

Se precisar, use um dicionário...
Por hoje é só, mas não deixe de ler as próximas postagens.

See you!
____________________


Hello everybody!

Well, in our first lesson, we're going to read a dialogue between Professor Don Williams, Ph. D. in Sociolinguistic, and some people around the world. Read it carefully:



M. Maru (New Zeland): Hello, Prof. Williams! An obvious question to start: Is really English the global language?


Don Williams: Absolutely! It dominates professional, sciemtific, artistic and academic activities. It's all over the internet, on your radio and television with songs, films and shows. People from different countries and different language use English to communicate with each other.


Mariana Santos (Brazil): When did this begin?


D. W.: Not a long time ago. Before the 19th century English was just one more European language, and with the expansion of the British Empire and then the empowerment of the USA, it gained a lot of momentum.


Luci Aranda (Spain): But are the other languages going to disappear?


D. W.: Oh no! Languages are part of the cultural heritage of a nation and people need them to preserve their national identity.


Buddi (Indonesia): Do you think Chinese will soon substitute English?


D. W.: No, I don't think the status of English as a global language is going to change in the near future. China is growing fast and the US may be losing popularity in some parts of the world, but it still has tremendous economic, cultural and military power. Other English-speaking countries like Canada and England are also very influential in global politics, as you know.

http://wordsmith.org/chat/dc.html

(Those questions can only be answered by portuguese speakers. Text interpretation.)

See you!

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