TEDTalks: English Mania and The Importance of Multiple Languages

Watch the following TED talks and think about your own opinion. You can put English subtitles on to help your comprehension.

TED Talk - English Mania

TED Talk - Importance of Multiple Languages

Answer the following questions in your notebooks (Justify and develop your answers):
a) What is your opinion of the English Mania TED talk? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this attitude?
b) Do you agree of disagree with the speaker in the talk, "The Importance of multiple langauges"? Explain and justify your opinions.

Useful expressions:

As far as i´m concerned ..

According to this video, it seems that ...

Many people may claim that …, but others argue that …

Some people refuse to accept that …

We’re always told that …

We should ask whether …

We can’t always blame … on/for …

While there are ….

It’s true to say that

In some ways, … / In many ways, …

This doesn’t necessarily mean that…

It’s not necessarily true to say

Even if there are some occasions when …

Personally

In my eyes

I´m not expert but ..

…says we tend to associate…. With the words…

It is true that we tend to associate… with…

My personal attitude to this is…

His/her personal attitude to this seems to be

His/ her belief appears to be that

For me, it is difficult to understand where the writer is coming from

It would be difficult to envisage change in this respect

The idea of…. Is used to highlight…

True that he does make some legitimate points

This proves to us…

The author challenges the norm by saying

He errs on the side of caution

Her stance with regard to this matter is rather…

Multilingual Identity: IB Text Review

TASK ONE
Read the text carefully and answer the following questions:

1. Why do you think she was able to understand four different varieties of Chinese?
2. Under what circumstances did she learn English?
3. How did she feel towards the English language while she was at school?
4. What does she mean by 'linguistic schizophrenia' (lines 75-76)?
5. What does she mean by the phrase, 'sometimes I am made to feel like a kind of cultural Frankenstein' (lines 118-119)?

TASK TWO 

Find synonyms for the following words and phrases that appear in the text:

1. in an easy conspiracy (line 8)
2. aloof (line 9)
3. evoking (line l0)
4. sibilant (line l3)
5. unquestioningly (line 15)
6. resonance (line 20)
7. wallowing (line 50)
8. nuanced (line 53)

TASK THREE
Copy and paste the following table into a Word document, and then complete it, using information from the text:

	CHINESE	THAI		ENGLISH
In which social domains of the author´s life was each language used?
Who did Minfong Ho learn each language from?
How did she learn this language?
To which part of the body does the writer relate each language?
What problems did she have with each language?
What expressions might she use to describe her relationship with each language?
What does the writer wish to convey by these expressions?

Downloading and Using 'Pocket'

In Year 11, you will be given far greater responsibility for finding your own resources and information. Pocket is a great tool for enabling you to instantly save articles of interest that you might find online.

1. Download Pocket via the following link: https://getpocket.com/.
2. Click on ‘Sign up’ at the top of the screen and follow the instructions.
3. Make sure you select ‘Add extension’, and verify your account via the email that you receive.
4. You are now ready to start saving items into your ‘Pocket’. Simply find an article that you want to save and then click on the Pocket icon, which is located in the top right hand corner of your screen. The article can then be located in the 'My List' folder within pocket.

Reviewing the themes and ideas in Me Talk Pretty One Day

1. How is the teacher presented in the story? Use quotes to support your ideas. (Point, Evidence, Explanation)

      e.g.

      P: I think that the teacher in the story is presented...

      E: In the text, it/she says, '...'

      E: The word/phrase '...' suggests that...

   2. Do you think these teaching methods are useful for foreign language learning?

   3. Have you ever felt like this in a language classroom?   Describe the anecdote trying to use humour and reported speech.

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple forms
Simple Present	Simple Past
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
will	would
Progressive forms
am/are/is	was/were
was/were	had been
has been
had been

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
this evening	that evening
today/this day	that day
these days	those days
now	then
a week ago	a week before
last weekend	the weekend before / the previous weekend
next week	the following week
tomorrow	the next/following day
here	there

Aim to incorporate some of the following words and phrases into your responses:

Key vocabulary:

•Shame

•Belittle/mock

•A comeback

•Intimidate

•Rusty

•Fluent

•To pick up

•To be completely thrown

•Sink or swim

Useful phrases:

Throughout the story, the teacher is presented as …

The teacher seems/is portrayed as  ..

As far as i´m concerned … /in my opinion

In my experience, these type of teaching methods ….

Detrimental/damaging

To affect/ruin self-esteem/ self-confidence

Me Talk Pretty One Day

Key Vocabulary

1)       To describe how something happened

2)       To say something quickly

3)       surprising

4)       A feeling of regret/ humiliation

5)       A quick reply/ response - usually as a joke or in an argument

6)       To bend low

7)       To make someone feel small and stupid

8)       Red in the face

9)       To write a small amount

10)   To consider something carefully

11)   To remove unwanted plants from the garden (literal meaning)

12)   To move out of the way of something/someone

13)   Perfect

14)   To be specifically selected

15)   Not even considered to be an option

16)   To have no sense of hearing

17)   Not close  to being the case

18)   Out of practice with a skill

19)   Something that makes you feel excited or emotional

Language Learning

1. Do we know and learn our first language(s) in the same way as we learn additional languages?
2. When we learn additional languages, do we learn more than 'just' vocabulary and grammar?
3. The concept of intercultural understanding means the ability to demonstrate an understanding of cultural diversity and/or similarity between the target cultures and one's own. To what extent is this definition true?
4. "Those who know nothing of an additional language know nothing of their own" (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, playwright, poet, novelist, dramatist, 1749-1842). By learning another culture are we able to enrich our own?
5. We can learn grammar intuitively, without conscious thought, or formally, by stating rules. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Are these the same for learning in other parts of the curriculum?
6. To what extent does membership of a group (a cultural group, a gender group or another group) affect how we come to linguistic knowledge?

Create a Symbaloo

Go to:
http://www.symbaloo.com/

Create an account

1.                  In the top hand corner put it in 'English (UK)'

2.                  Click on 'Create Free Account'

3.                  Enter your details and click 'Create Account'

Create a tile for your symbaloo

1.                  Click on the '+' symbol in the middle of an empty box

2.                  Click on an empty tile

3.                  Click on 'Create a tile'

4.                  Enter http://www.wordreference.com/ in the box called 'Add the address of the website'

5.                  Click on 'Save'

6.                  Note: In order to make your Symbaloo page more visually appealing, you can add an image that corresponds to your weblink. At the bottom of the ‘Edit tile’ box, you can either select ‘Choose icon’ or ‘Upload an image’. For some weblinks, Symbaloo will have images that you can select. However, you can also upload your own saved image.

Create more tiles for your symbaloo. Use all the following websites to start off with.

• http://www.studyblue.com/
• http://headmagnet.com/
• http://quizlet.com/
• http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/
• http://popplet.com/
• http://animoto.com/
• http://goanimate.com/
• http://www.youtube.com
• http://www.listen-to-english.com/index.php
• http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/
• http://www.podcastsinenglish.com/index.shtml
• http://lingro.com/
• http://www.linguee.com/
• http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises_list/alle_grammar.htm
• http://www.guardian.co.uk
• http://www.bbc.co.uk

There will be other weblinks that we will add to your Symbaloo page throughout the year.

Once you have create a number Symbaloo links, you should save Symbaloo as your homepage. You do this by following these steps:

1.    Click on the menu button to the right of the browser

2.    Select ‘Settings’

3.    Underneath the heading ‘On startup’, click ‘Set pages’

4.    In the box to the right  of ‘Add new page’, type http://www.symbaloo.com

5.    Finally, click ‘Ok’

6.    Once you restart your computer, Symbaloo should be saved as your internet homepage