Module 5 British and American English Introduction Reading and Speaking 刘俊

1. Module 5 British and American English Introduction Reading and Speaking 刘俊

2. 课时分配

3. Introduction- 1. Reading (3m)Read the quotations and tell whether you agree or disagree. A We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except of course, language. ---Oscar Wilde, 19th century writer B With a century British and American English speakers will not be able to understand each other. ---Henry Sweet, 19th century linguist

4. C America and England are two countries divided by a common language. --George Bernard Shaw, 20th century writer D It doesn’t make much of a difference whether a teacher speaks British or American English. --Dave Sperling, founder of Dave’s ESL Cafe

5. Introduction- 2. Discussion (5m)Read the quotations and answer the questions • Keys • The difference between British and American English • D • B • (open) • D • Henry Sweet 1. What is the topic of the quotations? 2. Which is the most optimistic? 3. Which is the most pessimistic? 4. Which (if any) do you think are funny? 5 Which is good news for students of English? 6. Can you guess which quotations are from British people?

6. Introduction- 3. Imagination (2m)Write down your expectations • What do you expect British and American English to be like? • Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the British and American English?

7. Introduction- 4. Reading (5m)Read the e-mails and decide which writer is American Which is American and which is British? (point out the reason)

8. Key to the answers • The second writer is American. some of the reasons we know are:

9. Reading and Speaking- 1. Warming-up (5m)Check the following statements. • People from Hong Kong can understand people from Beijing. • People from Shanghai sound the same as people from Xi’an. • Chinese characters can be understood by all speakers of Chinese. • American English is very different from British English. • People from Britain can’t understand people from America. Discuss and the answers are open.

10. Reading and Speaking- 2. Skimming (5m)Read the passage and find the differences between British English and American English. • Read the titles and the first sentences of each paragraph and find four ways in which British and American English are different. • Vocabulary • Grammar • Spelling • pronunciation

11. Reading and Speaking- 3. Scanning (10m)Read again paragraph by paragraph and make notes of the differences. • The first two paragraphs: the differences in vocabulary automobiles motorway petrol subway cab flashlight queue up French fries

13. Read the third paragraph • The third paragraph: the differences in grammar Do you have…? My friend has just arrived on the team/ weekend Write to me soon!

14. Read the 4th paragraph • The 4th paragraph: the differences in spelling and pronunciation centre,colour programme center,color program

15. Reading and Speaking- 4. Practice (5m)Read the passage and complete the sentences with the correct words or phrases. B • There are ______ differences between American and British varieties of English. A. no B. a few C. lots of • Americans ____ understand what the British are saying. A. Sometimes B. usually C. never • There are ______ differences between British and American grammar. A. no B. many C. not many B C

16. B 4. American spelling is _______ British spelling. A. the same as B. simpler than C. harder than • For a Londoner, an American accent may be easier to understand than _______. A. a Chinese accent B. some British accents C. a CNN newsreader • Television and the Internet have made it _____ for the British and Americans to understand each other. A. harder B. easier C. impossible B B

17. Notes: • There are hundreds of different words which are not used on the other side of the Atlantic, or which are used with a different meaning. • The other two areas in which the two varieties differ are spelling and pronunciation. • The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. • A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker.

18. at the flick of a switch • But it has also led to lots of American words and structures passing into British English,… • This international dimensionsuggests that in the future, there are going to be many “Englishes”, not just two main varieties.

19. Reading and Speaking- 5. Discussion (5m)Discuss the following questions. • How many main varieties of Chinese are there? • In what ways are they different? • Do Chinese people from different regions have problems understanding each other? • What will happen to Chinese in the future?

20. Homework – Task of the lesson • Try to collect more words or expressions which are different in British English and American English in the 4 ways. (vocabulary, grammar, spelling and pronunciation) • Find some information about the Chinese that people in different regions of China speak .

21. Language points • British English and American English are different in many ways.英式英语和美式英语在很多方面是不同的。 • 1)be different in… 在……方面不同 • They are so different in life style.

22. 2) in … way (s) 在……方面 It is proved in the following ways: politics, economy and culture. 2. Americans drives automobile down freeways and fill up with gas. 美国人开车沿高速公路行驶并加满汽油。 fill up 装满;填满 He filled up the bucket with water. 他把水桶装满水

23. 3. Americans use a flashlight, while for the British it’s a torch. 美国人用的是flashlight(手电筒)而英国人则用torch(手电筒)。 while: 然而;而;而且。此处表对比。 He likes playing basketball, while I likes listen to music. 他喜欢打篮球,而我喜欢听音乐。

24. 4. Prepositions, too, can be different: compare on the end, on the weekend (American) with in the team, at the weekend (British). 介词也不同:把美国的 on the team, on the weekend 与英国的in the team, at the weekend比较一下。

25. compare • 1) compare A with B 把A和B进行比较 • In today’s class, our teacher compared Li Bai with Du Fu. 在今天的课堂上我们的老师比较了李白和杜甫。

26. 2) compare A to B 把A比作B Shakespearecompares the world to status. 莎士比亚把世界比作舞台。 3) compared with/to 与……相比(在句中常作状语) Compared with/to many women, she was indeed very famous.

27. 5. The accent, which is most similar to British English, can be heard on the East Coast of the US. 这种对英国英语来讲非常相似的口音可以在美国的东部沿海一带听到。 is similar to 类似于,与 ……相似

28. My new dress is similar to the one you have. 我的新衣服和你的那件相似。 6. After all, there is probably as much variation of pronunciation within the two countries as between them.毕竟, 两个国家境内的发音的差别可能跟两国之间的发音差别一样多。

29. after all • 毕竟;仍然: • We chose to take a plane after all.我们仍然选择乘飞机。 • 终究;最终: • It has turned out to be a nice day after all. 天气终于转晴了。

30. 2) as much as意思是“多达……, ……之多”, as … as 中间常接形容词或副词原形, 即 as +adj./adv. +as。 The cost of the trip is as much as 50,000 yuan. 这次旅行的费用高达50,000人民币。

31. as…as…在否定句中也可将第一个as换成so。 Mike is not so clever as his sister. 迈克不如他姐姐聪明。

32. 7. A Londoner has more difficulty understanding a Scotsman from Glasgow than understanding a New Yorker. 伦敦的居民听懂来自格拉斯哥的苏格兰人 的话要比听懂一个纽约人的话难得多。

33. in doing sth. have difficulty 干某事有困难 with sth. Do you have any difficulty with English? 你英语上有困难吗？ The government had great difficulty in persuading people to leave their villages. 政府很难说服人们离开他们的村庄。

34. 同样的东西，在美国与英国的称呼不一样。以下举一些最常见的例子:同样的东西，在美国与英国的称呼不一样。以下举一些最常见的例子: 第一个为:American English 美语第二个为:British English 英语公寓apartment flat 洗手间bathroom / restroom toilet 罐头can tin 糖果candy sweets 洋芋片chips crisps 饼干cookie biscuit 玉米corn maize 婴儿床crib cot 尿布diaper nappy 电梯elevator lift

35. 橡皮擦eraser rubber 一楼first floor ground floor 手电筒flashlight torch 薯条French fries chips 垃圾桶garbage can dustbin 汽油gas, gasoline petrol 果酱jelly jam 生气mad angry 数学math maths 餐巾、擦嘴巾napkin serviette 薯片potato chips crisp 手提包purse / pocketbook handbag 足球soccer football 来回票roundtrip return 人行道sidewalk pavement 炉子stove cooker

36. 卡车truck lorry 汽车后面的行李箱trunk boot 假期vacation holiday 拼字的差异比较小，以下是一些例子： 第一个为:American English 美语第二个为:British English 英语目录catalog catalogue 文明civilization civilisation 颜色color colour 抵抗defense defence 草稿draft draught 最爱favorite favourite