F2F Class Notes (Lily) [R]

Language is what people use to communicate with each other. They can do this by speaking, writing, waving their hands or moving with their body to show others what they mean. Speaking goes back to the first humans; writing emerged about 5,000 years ago.

Elements of language

People learn to speak in a natural way, but they must be taught to write. Spoken language comes from sounds that form words and sentences that have a certain meaning. We use language to express our ideas and feelings.
Words can describe things, objects or actions. Some words are used to connect parts of a sentence. Languages have rules, called grammar. Sometimes grammar is easier, at other times people find it hard to learn all the rules of a language.

Thousands of languages have developed around the world during history. They all use different sounds and different words.  Almost all languages are influenced by other languages and borrow words from them. Kindergarten, for example, is a word borrowed from German.

Written languages use an alphabet to form words and sentences. The Latin alphabet is the most popular, used by many important languages. Other languages, for example Chinese and Arabic use other writing systems.

Pronunciation

show- sh O (letter o sound)

human- h U man (letter u sound)

sound- s AO nd

certain- sir- tain

describe- des- crIbe (letter I sound)

develop- de VE lop (stress on VE)

influence- in FLU- ense

kindergarten- King- der- garten

short vowel: a,e,i,o,u

long vowel: a,e,i,o,u

hat, hate

beg, pete

nit, hike

not, note

bug, hug, puke, nude