TEDで英会話

レラ・ボロディツキー:言語はなかに我々の考えを形作るのか

Part 1 (Comprehension Questions):

  1. According to the speaker, how are tones transformed into thoughts?
  2. How many languages did she say are spoken globally?
  3. Who said this strong statement, “To have a second language is to have a second soul”?
  4. An Aboriginal community in Australia that was mentioned in the speaker’s talk.
  5. Where do they (Kuuk Thaayorre people) live?
  6. What do they (Kuuk Thaayorre people) use instead of words?

 
 

Part 2 (Express Yourself Questions):

  1. How many languages can you speak “well”? How well can you read and write in those languages?
  2. How many languages can you speak “badly”? How well can you read and write in those languages?
  3. Is there any language which you don’t presently speak but which you would like to learn? Why does this language interest you?
  4. Can you think of any languages which you think sound aggressive, musical or have some other notable quality?
  5. How many languages are there in your country?
  6. It seems that languages are disappearing from the world every day and some people want to preserve them. What are your feelings about this?
  7. It is sometimes suggested that certain ideas can only be expressed in particular languages. Do you think this is true? Can you think of any examples?
  8. Do you think the world would be a better or a worse place if everybody spoke the same language? How would the world be better or worse in such a case?
  9. Does your language have many loan words from English? What are they?
  10. Do you know any loan words that English has acquired from your language?
  11. Apart from the vocabulary, in what ways does your language differ from English?
  12. How important is it to be able to speak English in your country?
  13. Why is it so easy for children to learn languages and so difficult for adults?
  14. Do you know anybody who learnt another language as a child? How? Why?
  15. When did you start learning your first foreign language?
  16. Which do you think is most important: thoroughly learning the grammar of a language or trying to use the language in real situations?
  17. Do you think you would be a good teacher of your native language? What skills do you think a language teacher needs?
  18. In your opinion, what is the best way to learn and practice a foreign language?
  19. Accents are very important in English culture. George Bernard Shaw once wrote: “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.” How associated are accents with social status in your country?

Part 3 (Activity):

Vocabulary Match

  1. hiss  2. Puff   3. Bizarre 4. Waltz   5. Quantum
  2. ancient  7. Aboriginal  8. Cognitive  9. Egocentric 10. Quirk

A. quantity or amount
B. to express disapproval or contempt by making this sound
C. a ballroom dance, in moderately fast triple meter, in which the dancers revolvein perpetual circles, taking one step to each beat
D.having or regarding the self or the individual as the center of all things
E.original or earliest known; native; indigenous

F. markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd
G. a peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality; mannerism
H. of or relating to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes.
I. dating from a remote period; of great age
J. an act of inhaling and exhaling, as on a cigarette or pipe; whiff.