VIP Class Notes (Lily)[S/R]

in the article, the author claims that more than 6000 languages will become extinct, what are the advantages/ disadvantages, is it a good thing?

Vocabulary

1.rare= unusual, uncommon

ex: a rare disease; His visits are rare occasions.

2. dominant= ruling

Mandarin is the dominant language in Shanghai.

3 verge= edge, close to

ex: on the verge of a nervous breakdown

cultural differences

I think in China, different place have different culture. Most North cities, I think they like drinking more, and they have another interesting thing is in North, the relation between people is closer. In South, the relation is not very close.

I come from NorthEast of China, Jilin. In my hometown, people like to have dinner in someone’s home, but in Shanghai, it’s not often, people like have dinner in restaurants, not home. But in North, people always together in home. In winter, North people like food with water (boiled food).

I think North girls, they speak ways is different to South girls. For example, South girls like to say “乱讲“，North will say “胡说”.  In north, if I want to say “excuse me”, someone block me, we will say “借过“， in South “让一下”。 In my feeling, I have been a lot of city, both north and south, they give me the feeling like that.  When I came to Shanghai in 2012, at that time I think 让一让 is make me not comfortable, I think it’s the way they talk. Now I don’t think it is a problem.

Revised

I think in China, different places have different cultures. In most northern cities, I think they like to drinking more, and there is another interesting thing, is in the north, the relationships between people are closer. Whereas in the South, the relation is not as close.

I come from NorthEast of China, Jilin. In my hometown, people like to have dinner in someone else’s home, but in Shanghai, it’s rare, people like to have dinner in restaurants, not at home. But in the north, people always gather together at home. In winter, Northern people like food with water (boiled food).

I think Northern girls, they speak ways is differently in comparison to Southern girls. For example, Southern girls like to say “乱讲“，Northern ones will say “胡说”.  In the north, if I want to say “excuse me” when someone blocks me, I will say “借过“， whereas in the South, people say “让一下”。 In my experiences,  I have been to a lot of city, both north and south, they give me that feeling like that.  When I came to Shanghai in 2012, at that time I thought 让一让 made me uncomfortable, I didn’t like the way they talked. Now I don’t think it is a problem.

Over the past centuries, English has become the dominant world language, mostly because of the British Empire and the rise of the United States as a global political and economic superpower. Many linguists say that Mandarin Chinese will become the new number one language, because it is the mother tongue of over 1 billion people. China is on the verge of becoming a new economic superpower and many international corporations already advise their workers to learn Mandarin.

In the past, some attempts have been made to create a global language for everyone. A Polish scientist, Ludwik Zamenhof, invented Esperanto at the beginning of the 20th century.  His goal was to form a neutral language with easy words and grammar that is not so difficult to learn. Linguists claim that up to a million people use and speak Esperanto today.

Languages that are not actively spoken any more die out over a period. Linguists claim that 90% of the world’s 7000 languages will become extinct within the next 50 years.  Other languages, like Latin or ancient Greek, died out centuries ago, but are still needed in fieldslike medicine, biology, history or archaeology.