Today’s students
will surely see the need for learning English. If they want to
“see the world”, English will take them everywhere.
Communicating with
people of other countries can be enriching and bring us closer
to understanding their origins, customs and their way of
thinking.
A lesson regarding
countries and their native languages can be very interesting if
we do not limit ourselves to the countries that we all know so
well.
Apart from the
European countries, let’s add the following:
Argentina Afghanistan
Iran Canada Australia
India Brazil Mexico Turkey
Egypt
Iceland Philippines Peru Samoa Israel
Give them a list of
languages (they can be written on the blackboard) and then a
photocopy with a list of countries. They have to write the
appropriate language that’s spoken in each country.
The list of
languages includes Hindi, Farsi, Arabic as well as French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian,
Greek, etc.
*Remember it’s
up to the teacher to do a little research so she’s not left
without information!!
The English
language has an enormous amount of words that are “borrowed”
from other languages. It would be interesting to learn the
origins of some of them.
Examples:
Dutch…………boss,
cookie, lottery , yacht
Greek…………athlete,
democracy, museum
Spanish……….guitar,
patio, tornado
Norwegian…….ski,
iceberg
Farsi……….......lemon, checkmate, shawl
Turkish…….......caviar, tulip, yoghurt
Danish………....fog,
kidnap
Italian………......bankrupt, opera, umbrella
French………....diplomat, ambulance, parachute, sauce
Of course, there
are still many more, but these can suffice for a beginning.
Maybe some students would like to do more research on these
“borrowed” words and they can present them to the class.
I would make a game
of it. Have a photocopy of the “borrowed” words and a list of
the languages. (Use my above suggestions to get started!) Have
the students try to match a language to a word. It won’t be as
easy as it looks!
Here’s something
fun to read.
Where can you speak English??
… in an American
city, while you're spending your $$$$$.
… in French
taxis, if you don’t mind getting lost!
… in Viennese
coffee-shops, while you’re sipping coffee!
… in English
pubs, when there’s a fight!
… on Swiss
trains, when you can’t find a seat!
… at Irish
weddings , when you feel sentimental!
… at Greek
Post Offices, when you need to buy stamps!
… on Portuguese
fishing boats, when you get seasick!
… at Spanish
bullfights, when you faint!
… on an African
safari, when you lose your guide!
…. During your
English lessons, when you can laugh about your mistakes!
…. At home
when nobody’s listening!!!
….
Anywhere ….
Anytime
A Nice
Thought:
“Life has
no limitations, except the ones you make.”