THE TRANSATLANTIC CONNECTION
Do Americans and Englishmen really speak the same language? It isn't only a question of accents. Spelling and vocabulary are different on either side of the Atlantic, too. Some people would say that the differences are getting fewer. The now ‘language’ we call ‘Transatlantic English’ is helping to bridge the gap between our two countries. It's a mixture of British and American characteristics in accent and vocabulary, invented by the increasing number of tourists and businessmen who cross the Atlantic frequently. But wouldn't it be a pity if we all started talking English in exactly the same way? Variety is the spice of life and it's impossible to say that British or American English is wrong or right. Let's hope that we can go on being inventive in our own individual ways on both sides of the Atlantic. The differences in spelling are well known - for instance, words like ‘colour’, ‘honour’ and ‘neighbour’ are spelt without the ‘u’ in the United States. While the British have kept the original spellings of many foreign words now used in the English language, Americans have made a point of simplifying spellings and often change them in ways that seem curious to their more conservative British cousins. ‘Catalogue’ becomes ‘catalog’, and even ‘cigaret’ has been seen for ‘cigarette’. Some of the differences in vocabulary could load to amusing situations. Did you know that American buildings have no ground floor? This does not mean you have to jump up ten feet to get into them, simply that what the British call the ‘ground floor’ is what Americans call the ‘first floor’ and so on - useful to remember in a department store! If an American says he is wearing his new ‘pants’ and ‘vest’ to a party — do not be alarmed. He is not going in his underwear, but ‘pants’ and ‘vest’ are the American words for ‘trousers’ and ‘waistcoat’. On the other hand, if a British person wears his ‘mackintosh’ and ‘Wellingtons’ on a rainy day, he will have to explain to his American cousin that these are his ‘raincoat’ and ‘galoshes’ or ‘rubbers’. In the USA a raincoat is even called a ‘London fog’, something which no longer exists in London. When an Englishman goes on his ‘holidays’, an American will go ‘on vacation’. And whereas an Englishman will be ‘ill in hospital’, an American will be ‘sick in the hospital’. Americans are more ready to accept new ideas and new customs than their British cousins, and the same goes for new words. In some cases the British seem more modern in their use of English than the Americans - some American English dates back to the language of the Pilgrim Fathers and hasn't been used in Britain since the seventeenth century. The word ‘fall’ is considered archaic, in Britain, where we use ‘autumn’ instead, In the USA people use the old-fashioned past participle of ‘get’ and say ‘He has gotten, thin’ or ‘I could have gotten here sooner’ when in Britain we would always use ‘got’. How American or English is either of our languages anyway? We both owe lot to languages from other countries and words that have been absorbed into English tell us much about the histories of Britain and America. Many ‘English’ words used in Britain actually come from countries of the British Empire, such as ‘dinghy’ (a small boat) and ‘bungalow’ (a house on one level), both from India. American English has words taken from all the different nations which have contributed to the formation of North America: ‘hooch’ meaning ‘whisky’, is an American Indian word; ‘cockroach’ (the insect) and ‘tampede’ (when a herd of cattle runs in panic) come from the original Spanish; the Dutch contributed words such as ‘dumb’ (stupid) and ‘boss’' (chief); and it is to the Germans that Americans owe that vital word ‘hamburger’. Laura MILLER From BBC "Modern English"; THE TRANSATLANTIC CONNECTION GUIDE PRE-READING TASK 1. Answer the questions: · What do you know about a number of variants of the English Language? Name as many of them as you can think of and dwell on the most striking differences between them. · Which variant of English do you study (are you interested in)? Why? · Can you guess what the text is about judging exclusively by its title? What sort of ‘Transatlantic connection’ might it associate with? COMPREHENSION 2. Read the text and work through the following exercises. 1. Pick out pairs of words belonging to correspondingly British and American e.g. colour --------- color 2. Label the following statements as true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones and provide extra in formation if necessary. · American English differs from the British variant merely in terms of accents. · The number of language differences is inevitably increasing due to worsening · The author of the article is positive that American English is the wrong one. · Americans have made considerable steps on the way to simplification of spelling. · So far no differences in vocabulary have been spotted. 3. Give detailed answers to the questions that follow: · What is expected to contribute to bridging the gap between the UK and the USA? Does it sound effective enough? · Do you agree that "variety is the spice of life"? What are other things that can · What are the differences in spelling based on? Give examples to support your answer. · What kind of amusing situations can differences in vocabulary lead to? · Which nation of the two is more eager to accept all types of innovations as well as new words? How would you account for it? · Sometimes, however, the British seem more advanced in their use of the language, don't they? · What did the outward influences upon both British and American English consist in? FOLLOW-UP 4. Role-play: Work in pairs. Act out a conversation between an American and an Englishman arguing which language (variant) is the right one. Make a wide use of conversational formulas. 5. Written task: Write an essay (about 200 words) or, alternatively, prepare a speech on either of the given topics: · Variety is the spice of life. · "Transatlantic English": Hopes and Prospects.
France Gets Tough with “Le Hot Dog”
Increasing numbers of English words are creeping into many other languages as the influence of American culture spreads. The following article discusses the strong efforts of the French government to keep the French language "pure" by prohibiting the use of Franglais. Do you think it's possible for a government to stop the spread of foreign words? Are English words appearing in your language, Hopeful French actors may be dismayed to learn that they will no longer be able to turn up at "le casting" in search of a job. That word and 126 other popular English expressions used in cinema, television and advertising were banned last week by Georges Fillioud, Communications Minister, in the latest stage of France's perennial war on "Franglais." Within six months of official publication of a list of 127 French replacement terms, public establishments, but not newspapers and magazines, will face legal action if they use such words as "drive-in cinema" instead of "cine-parc" or "casting" instead of "distribution artistique." An official of France's High Committee for the French Language, a Government body, said such legal action could include fines of up to 50 francs ($7) for each-banned word, multiplied by the number of times it is used, or such sanctions as state intervention to keep a product off the market if its user instructions include forbidden terms. Other words on the list of Franglais undesirables include "le flashback," "pay TV" (now "television a peage"), "mailing" ("publipostage") and "jingle" ("sonal"). Protecting the French language has been a Government priority since former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing began a crusade against foreign intruders several years ago. But some commentators have questioned the wisdom of trying to legislate language in a country where "le hot dog" is a standard menu item and "le jogging" is fast becoming a national sport. The use of "Franglais" first became punishable by law in 1977, when the Government decided to make pure French compulsory in advertising guarantees and in instructions for the use of machines, bills and receipts. The following year, British Airways became the first big company to fall afoul of the law. The airline was fined 80 francs, a symbolic gesture, for selling tickets for international flights printed only in English. Perhaps the most bizarre case, however, was in 1980, when the Government sued France's state-owned Seita tobacco company for marketing a new brand of cigarettes called "News." Even the military has seen fit to join the war on words, banning such common terms in French as "le jet" (now "I'avion a reaction") and "le blackout" ("le silence radio"). While the Government has insisted that the language law aimed to protect the consumer from possible confusion, it has caused many a befuddled French shopper looking vainly for "le discount" to wonder whether this was really "le fairplay".
FRANCE GETS TOUGH WITH “LE HOT DOG” GUIDE
WORD STUDY 1. Find another word or phrase for the following: · dismayed · banned · perennial · to face legal action · to ba a priority · bizarre · to see (think) smth. fit 2. Pick out from the text words, expressions to do with initiating legal action against smb or smth. 3. Answer the questions: · What measures have been taken and penalties introduced by the French government to replace foreign borrowings in the native language? · Do you think it possible for a government to stop the spread of foreign words? · Are English or any other foreign words appearing in your language and in what areas of life? · What is your attitude to the importation of foreign words in your native language?
ENGLISH, THE LANGUAGE, RECONQUERING POLYGLOT INDIA William K. Steuens After three decades of often bitter squabbling over what the national language of this country of many languages should be, it appears that English is winning. Despite longstanding official attempts to make Hindi the country's chief language at all levels, the language of the British colonizers has become the voluntary, preferred choice of urban Indians aad India's educated, rapidly burgeoning middle class. English is also the language of commerce, finance, science, technology and the social sciences. And, as even a casual look suggests, it is the main language of advertising, the most influential newspapers, the rapidly growing magazines and the budding national television network. No longer a language strictly for the British-educated elite of pre-independence years, authorities say, English is now permeating areas it never reached before. Working-class urban fathers who speak it a little are sending their children to school to learn to speak it fluently in the hope that better jobs will lift them into the middle class. Schools in which English is the medium of instruction are springing up everywhere and cannot seem to keep ahead of demand. In the relatively affluent Punjab, there are said to be 5,000 such schools, although many are of uncertain quality, catering to that state's substantial middle class. "Even the poorest person would like to send his child to a school where the medium is English," said Dr. S. P. Bakhshi, the head of such an institution, Dr. Bakhshi, principal of New Delhi's Modem School, which has 1,100 applicants a year for 200 places, added, "They say, I’ll cut back to only one meal a day to pay for it if you'll let my child in.» Fluency in English greatly enhances the marriageability of middle-class daughters. And a sort of English chic has developed. "It is the fashion to learn English in the same way it is to have stereos and radios and electronic gadgets," Dr. Akhileshwar Jha, a linguist at Delhi University and a recognized authority on the subject, said recently. English commands respect, as Rama Jha, a university English teacher and the wife of Dr. Jha, finds when she rides on city buses. "The conductor is very polite when you use English," she said, "but unpleasant and uncooperative otherwise." Many authorities cite more substantial and possibly more durable causes for the resurgence of English. One is that to the extent that English is becoming the language of the world and, particularly, of world commerce, science and technology, it is to the advantage of Indians to speak it. Some authorities say further that the structure, vocabulary and flexibility of English give it an innate advantage over Hindi, which, according to Dr. Jha, "is not able to cope with the experiences of the modem world." Finally, English is widely and increasingly viewed as a vital key to good jobs, financial success and personal advancement. "Some of the people believe now that if you don't study English you're going to be a nobody, an ordinary person," Dr, Bakhshi said. For urban jobs in the private sector. Dr. Jha said flatly, "English is a must." Whatever the reasons, English is spoken the length and breadth of the land by many in India's modern sectors. "Infinitely more than Hindi," Dr. Iha wrote recently, English "has quietly established itself in India as its de facto national language". Not all experts agree with that conclusion. Some point out that even though English may be the premier language of emerging India, it is still spoken by only 15 million to 20 million of the country's 700 million people. Furthermore, linguists say, Hindi has spread rapidly in the traditional largely rural world in which most Indians live. As many as 150 million Indians may now speak Hindi, far more than those who speak any other language. It is being more widely accepted in non-Hindi regions, authorities say, not least because it dominates the movies. "Only 10 to 20 percent of the people in all of India cannot understand Hindi at all," B. N. Tiwari, another Delhi Uaiversily linguist, maintained. He and others believe that Hindi therefore has a better claim to be the "link language" in a country with at least 50 major regional languages, 14 of which are officially recognized. Some analysts see the strong emergence of English in India's modern sectors, and the parallel establishment and spread of Hindi, as one expression of a deeper conflict between modem India and traditional India. Unless -and until this conflict is resolved, they speculate, India will probably never have a truly national language - and it may not have one in any case. Some who favor English as the single national language argue that democracy demands it. Since the decisions that affect the lives of the most Indians are now primarily made in English, they argue, and the most trenchant discussions about what is going on in the country' are carried on in the English news media, most Indians are increasingly cut off from public life. Hindi and English are both established as official national languages for governmental use. Originally, Hindi was to stand alone. But opposition over, the years from states where Hindi is not spoken, particularly in the south, has enabled English to hold its own in central Government use. Analysts oh both sides of the argument concur that, for all the new vigor and popularity of English, it faces a quality problem: although the use of English is increasing, authorities say, it is frequently spoken badly, and is even more frequently read and written with poor fluency. Indian English has adopted many local words and expressions, as is the case in many other countries where the use of English has expanded. Conversely, in a kind of cross-fertilization that may be producing a sort of '"Hindish," Hindi has incorporated many English words. Some authorities place the proportion of English in Hindi as high as 30 percent. ENGLISH, THE LANGUAGE, RECONQUERING POLYGLOT INDIA GUIDE
WORD STUDY 1. Fill in the gaps with pre- and postpositions where necessary. 1) Working class urban fathers who speak it (English) a little are sending their children... school to learn to speak it fluently... the hope that better jobs will lift them... the middle class. 2) Schools are springing... everywhere and cannot seem to keep … … demand. 3) They say, "I'll cut … … only one meal a day to pay... it if you'll let my child... 4) Some point... that it (English) is still spoken... only 15 million... 20 million... the country’s 700 million people. 5) The most trenchant discussions … what is going … … the country are carried … the English news media. 2. Match the following words with their definitions:
COMPREHENSION 3. Explain the following: a) Fluecny in English greatly enchances the marriageability of middle-class daughters. b) … English is spoken the length and breadth of the land … c) Despite longstanding official attempts …
4. Answer the questions: · What does the role of English in modern India consist in? · Why are parents interested in their children learning English at school? · For what reason might young girls and public transport users be encouraged to learn English? · What are the reasons for the upsurge of interest in English according to some authorities? · What are the visible perspectives for Hindi and English in India? Is it possible that one of the languages is going to be “driveb out” by the other?
FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY 5. Role-Play Work in pairs to act out the following situation: Two linguists are discussing the resurgence of English in India, its causes and consequences. Having opposite points of view on the problem they cannot arrive at a common conclusion on whether it is a bless or a curse.
TEST LANGUAGES
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