节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-06-21
难易度:Medium
关键字:dialect, fascinating, intrigue, queue, living language
Welcome, everybody, to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
Well, this month's LANGUAGE feature focuses on one of the three most spoken
languages in the world - English.
Now don't worry, we're not going to talk about any of the boring stuff like
English rules, spelling and grammar.
Instead, we're going to focus on some fun stuff.
You know, in a sense, languages are like families.
And when you look into a language's family tree, you are sure to find some
mystery, some surprises and some fun facts.
So everyone, let's turn to page 42 and begin reading about some fun English
language facts.
Fun Language Facts.
You may be surprised to learn some of these things about language.
Most people speak at least one language.
Without language it would be nearly impossible to communicate.
It is difficult, however, to count the exact number of languages in the world.
This is because the difference between a language and a dialect is not always
clear.
But according to the language reference book Enthnologue, there are 6,909 living
languages in the world.
Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English have the most speakers.
Language is quite fascinating.
Here are some intriguing facts about the English language:
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are talking about LANGUAGE.
Now we know every month in our Studio Classroom magazine, we share some sort of
fun facts about the English language.
And that's exactly what this month is.
Exactly. This is all about Fun Language Facts.
We're going give you a lot of very interesting and some funny facts about
English.
Now it's not always fun to study a language.
And sometimes you may be thinking: Well, why is that word there?
Why do I have to learn that word?
This doesn't make any sense at all.
So we thought it would be more fun to put a little bit of fun into learning.
So you may be surprised to learn how some of these things came about.
OK. Now if something comes about, that means how it became.
So you might be surprised with some of these language facts.
So let's get started.
Most people speak at least one language.
Right? You speak one language, maybe more.
Most of us do.
We have at least one way of communicating.
Now without language it would be nearly impossible to communicate.
Now "nearly impossible" because you can communicate without language abilities,
we know because if we ever visit a foreign country,
you can communicate just a little bit but not enough to have like really good
friends.
Yeah. You usually end up making a lot of weird noises and moving in strange
ways.
But you can sometimes communicate without using a language.
That's right.
And you know, Ryan, we need to make sure that sign language, we do consider a
language.
So using your hands to communicate as... as uh, signing, like a deaf person
would.
Now it is difficult, however, to count the exact number of languages in the
world.
That's right, because there're so many differences.
There are so many languages in the world.
We don't speak just one everywhere.
And of course, a lot of people speak certain languages.
Chinese is the number one spoken language.
And English is the second.
But that doesn't include all the languages in the world.
Right. And there are sometimes different styles, or as we'll learn the word
"dialects" of languages as well.
We know that there are different parts of languages.
And so because of these different parts and these different dialects, it isn't
always clear.
That's right.
It's... it's hard to put a number on how many languages there are because of the
differences between a language and a dialect.
And that's not always clear either.
So there's a difference in language.
We know Spanish, French, English, German, all different languages.
But when is a language... different language versus a different dialect?
Ah. Well, a "dialect" is the same language.
There can be, for example, English can have one language; but there can be two
different dialects in English.
That means each dialect is a same language but spoken slightly differently
depending on where you live.
For example, you might be studying... with Studio Classroom, we study American
English.
You can also study British English, or you can study Australian English.
So depending on where you're from, those would be the different dialects.
Exactly.
And so that's why it's kind of difficult to be able to count all the different
languages in the world.
Because sometimes it's hard to know is that a dialect or a completely new
language.
Well, that's interesting.
OK. So it's difficult to count the number of languages on Earth.
But we do have a number.
That's because the language reference book... Enthnolog has a number that says
there are 6,909 living languages in the world.
Now we say "living language." That may sound a little strange to you.
That means a language that is still spoken today.
So for example, Latin is an old language that is no longer spoken as a Sanskrit.
They're not spoken very often.
You study them, but we don't use them as an official language.
Right. No one is actually speaking in them anymore.
Even though people might still know how to, they don't actually communicate with
those languages anymore.
So they're not considered living languages.
Exactly. Now it is good to study some of these older languages so we have an
understanding of where we come from.
But it's not their... we would call them a dead language, so.
That's what living languages are.
OK. So we know living languages.
Madarin Chinese is a living language as well as Spanish and English.
And they have the most speakers.
That's right.
"The most speakers" meaning all over the world, the most number of people can
speak these three languages: Mandarin Chinese, English and Spanish.
Now language is quite fascinating.
Yeah. If something is "fascinating," that means it's very interesting.
It's something that you enjoy learning.
Now when we say "quite fascinating," that means it is really actually very
fascinating.
It's almost a way of saying it's very, very fascinating.
It's quite... very interesting.
Exactly. Well, here are some intriguing facts about the English language.
OK. If something is "intriguing," that means you want to learn more about it
maybe because it's unusual or mysterious.
That's right.
It's something that you don't understand yet, so you're curious to figure out
what it might be.
Well, we often find new things intriguing as well as new people.
And I hope you're intrigued to learn these facts.
All right. We're going to learn more about these facts after the skit.
May I sit here?
Sure.
Good.
You know, I know a lot of language facts.
Really?
Yes.
Most people speak at least one language.
Do you?
Yes, of course! I speak English.
Hey, me too.
Language is a good way to communicate.
Yes, it is.
So how many languages are there?
I have no idea.
Well, it's difficult to count them all.
But according to my reference book, there are 6,909 languages.
Oh. That's a lot.
And that's a fact.
Mandarin, Spanish and English have the most speakers.
I didn't know that.
Now you do.
Language is quite fascinating.
You may be surprised at some language facts.
Hmm.
Go.
Go?
Yes. "Go" is the shortest complete sentence.
"Go" is a short sentence?
Mmhm.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
That sentence uses every letter in the alphabet.
Does it?
Yes.
The word "set" has more definitions than any other word.
Is that a fact?
It is.
And "e" is the most commonly used letter in the English language.
"E" is even in English.
That's easy.
Yeah. See? I know a lot of intriguing language facts.
Any questions?
Yes.
Could you please sit somewhereelse?