Choose the correct word.

1. ________ can use the internet for research when you write your term paper.

Choose the correct word.

2. ________ say it’s harder to learn languages after you’re 12.

Choose the correct word.

3. ________ need to remember that we’re very lucky to have good food on the table for each meal.

Choose the correct word.

4. Alex talks to ________ when he’s writing. It’s pretty annoying!

Choose the correct word.

5. Bruce and I built the shed in the garden ________.

Choose the correct word.

6. Do you and your parents talk to ________ every weekend?

Choose the correct word.

7. ________ was a pleasure to meet your fiancée at the party last night.

Choose the correct word.

8. The meeting didn’t go too well; the managers kept interrupting ________

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

Choose the correct word(s).

1. We used / would to make ice cream every summer.

Choose the correct word(s).

2. When I was at school, my friends and I were always gone / going for long bike rides in the afternoon.

Choose the correct word(s).

3. My dad would never complain / to complain even when we made a lot of noise.

Choose the correct word(s).

4. When I was small, my cousins and I would / used to run around the neighbourhood.

Choose the correct word(s).

5. I was always getting / always used get into trouble for bothering my brother.

Choose the correct word(s).

6. His grandparents used to give / giving him presents when he was little.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Complete the words in the sentences with one word.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Make abstract nouns from the words below.

Match the words to the same sound.

1. awful   ________

Match the words to the same sound.

2. jealous   ________, ________

Match the words to the same sound.

3. hurt        ________

Match the words to the same sound.

4. corner    ________

Choose the stressed syllable.

1. part|ner|ship

Choose the stressed syllable.

2. a|fraid

Choose the stressed syllable.

3. a|shamed

Choose the stressed syllable.

4. com|pe|ti|tion

Choose the stressed syllable.

5. con|se|quent|ly

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Read the article about endangered languages and choose the correct answer.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Global experts discuss threatened languages

Some of the world’s most endangered languages are the focus of an international conference being held in Wales for the first time.

A   Dr Hywel Lewis

Many languages are on the verge of extinction. Their fate can be compared to that of many animals facing extinction, but they probably receive less global attention than the fate of many animals. As a foundation, we are very concerned with highlighting the part language plays in cultural variety and diversification. It’s also important to consider the economic repercussions of promoting different languages; they can play a massive part in the identity and profile of various parts of the globe and they can be powerful economic factors. But it’s not all doom and gloom as there are languages in Russia which are making a comeback after years of oppression.

B   Conchur O’Giollagain

Many threatened languages find themselves in a complex situation. Gaeilge, the Irish language, spoken in the Irish-speaking region of Ireland (the Gaeltacht) provides a good example of this. It is spoken by just under half the population of the Gaeltacht. The number of people learning the language is growing and great progress is also being made in terms of educational provision. But the number of learners does not necessarily help the number of native speakers; for a language to succeed you have to have a high population of active language speakers concentrated in a given geographical area. Based on existing trends, there is a strong threat to the communal use of Irish and, if these trends continue, Irish will not exist as a language in 20 years’ time.

C   Nicholas Ostler

Different languages have their quirks which tell us something about being human, and when languages are lost, most of the knowledge that went with them gets lost. People do care about identity as they want to be different. Nowadays, we want access to everything but we don’t want to be thought of as no more than people on the other side of the world. Apart from English, the United Kingdom has a number of other languages; half a million people speak Welsh, several thousand Scots are fluent in Gaelic, the Scottish language, about 400 people speak Cornish while the number of Manx speakers – the language of the Isle of Man – is perhaps as small as 100. And I do think it’s a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx. I value continuity in a community.

D   Kenan Malik

It is irrational to try to preserve all the world’s languages. Earlier this year, the Bo language died out when an 85-year-old member of the Bo tribe in the India-owned Andaman Islands died. While it may seem sad that the language expired, cultural change is driving the process. In one sense you could call it a cultural loss. But that makes no sense because cultural forms are lost all the time. To say every cultural form should exist forever is ridiculous, and when governments try to prop languages up it shows a desire to cling to the past rather than move forwards. To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. I don’t see why it’s in the public good to preserve Manx or Cornish or any other language for that matter. In the end, whether or not a language is viable is very simple; if a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore.

Listen to five people talking about childhood memories. Match the speakers (1–5) to what they remember (A–H).

Listen to two friends talking about learning languages. Then choose the correct answer.