British and American English Module 1 British and American English

Listening

Talk about the problems exchange students have. A. understanding the language getting on with people food different school subjects and timetable local customs climate PLease number them in order of importance

Pre-listening reckon 认为，把...看作 make a fuss of sb 过分关怀 prom 学校班级舞会 civics 市政学（有关法律和政府的学科） pick up an American accent 学会了一口美国口音 worn off 消逝

Listen and complete the passage. Hello, and welcome to today’s edition of In the air. As you know, every week on this programme we discuss an aspect of the way we __1____ now, and today’s topic is the language we ___2____-English. So that’s something which affects us all. The question is, what’s going to ___3___ to the way we speak English in the future? Are we all going to speak like Americans? Or will British English continue to __4____? Later on we’re going to _5___ you to phone in and __6___ your views on the subject, but first we’re going to __7___ to two young people, one American, and one British, who have spent time on an educational exchange in the other’s country. We __8___ they will have some interesting ideas on the subject.

Keys: live speak happen exist ask give talk think

Listen to the interview and fill the form below.

found the local accent difficult to understand. Who Do found the local accent difficult to understand. didn’t find the local accent difficult to understand. gets on well with other students. played in a school sports team. discovered a lively music scene. enjoyed the end-of-year dance. thinks everyone will speak American English one day. thinks it’s only natural that there are lots of varieties of English. Samantha Callum Samantha Callum Samantha Callum Callum Samantha

Listen again and discuss the following questions Which part of the country is Samantha staying in? How long did it take her to understand what people were saying? What did she notice about the pronunciation of words like dance and bath? What is the last question the interviewer asked Samantha? How long did Callum spend in the US? What didn’t he like about the place he stayed in? What did he say about the way people spoke? What did girls like about Callum?

Keys: The north of England. Two month They’re the same as in American English. Do you think you’ll go home speaking with a north of England accent? 10 months. The climate It was easy to understand;they spoke rather slowly. His English accent .

Everyday English : Paraphrase the following expressions How are you getting on? I didn’t get what people were saying. get used to So far That’s a good point. made a fuss of him cute a couple of picked up worn off B A

Make up some sentences ,using the phrases you have learned. How are you getting on? I didn’t get what people were saying. get used to So far That ‘s a good point. made a fuss of him cute a couple of picked up worn off Use at least 5 of them to make an oral composition, talking about or making up an interesting story.

Discuss the following questions. 1. Do you think that in the future everyone will speak American English? 2. Which accent do you prefer, American accent or British accent? And why? 3. Do you want to be an exchange student? Why? What problems do you think you will meet?

Listen to the radio programme and check the true statements.(page71)UK 1.Professor Evans is Australian. 2. The radio presenter sounds American. 3.Lili is from Beijing. 4. Her husband is from Shanghai. 5. Her baby is 15 months old. 6. Young children find it hard to learn languages. UK Shanghai American Five months old easy

Listen again, complete the sentences with the words in the box. Australian first language mother perfectly sounds speak Welsh language 1.The title of the radio programme is Speaking of __________. 2.People in Wales have a strong _________ accent. 3.Lili and her husband have just had their _______ baby. 4.If you learn a language when you are very young, you usually speak it_________. 5.Professor's wife has a(n) _________accent. 6.The baby will be able to _________ both Chinese and English. 7.All the babies make the same ________as each other, no matter where they are born. 8.The word "ma"means _________ in almost every language. Welsh first perfectly Australian speak sounds mother

Smart expressions in today’s lesson: at the beginning of how are you getting on now that a couple of get used to remind sb of sth instead of all over the world That's a good point make a fuss of sb pick up an American accent worn off

Homework Get more information about the life of the international exchange students , especially the problems they may meet in their life and prepare for a report.

Bye!