第13章 Lesson 13: English—A Worldwide Language

Languages change over time. New words are invented (like "mouse pad" or "blogging") based on new inventions. Other new words come from other languages. For example, when you tell your mother you are going to serve her a special Mother's Day breakfast of coffee and croissants with marmalade, and a side order of yogurt, you are using words from at least three other languages ("coffee" and "yogurt" are Turkish words, "croissant" is a French word, and "marmalade" is a Portuguese word!)

Of course, it is easy to know when some words we use come from other languages. For example, most of the names of Australian animals are from that country's aboriginal languages: kangaroo, kookaburra, koala, and wombat. Japanese foods, such as sushi and tempura are familiar to us, and so are their Japanese names. This is the same with many Chinese food words, such as dim sum and chow mein.

However, you might be surprised to learn that some words you have been using for a long time are not originally English words. For example, "kindergarten" is a German word, "mosquito" is a Spanish word, "cinema" is a Greek word, "robot" is a Czech word, "orangutan" is a Malay word, and "sauna" is a Finnish word.

Even though these words came from other languages, they are now certainly a part of the ever-growing English language.

Words are very interesting, don't you think?

I. Word List

croissant: a kind of French bread

aboriginal: the first people to live in a specific part of the world

II. Match the words with the language they came from.

yogurt Greek

dim sum German

tempura Spanish

mosquito Chinese

cinema Turkish

kindergarten Japanese

III. Answer the following questions.

1. What are some new words in English?

___________________________________________________________.

2. Where does the word "kangaroo" come from?

___________________________________________________________.

3. Does your language use some words from other languages? Give some examples.

___________________________________________________________.

4. Do you agree that words are very interesting? Why or why not?

___________________________________________________________.

5. What is your favourite English word? Why do you like it?

___________________________________________________________.

IV. Circle the sentences that are true.

1. Sushi comes from Australia.

2. Languages stay the same.

3. Many people in the world speak English.

4. English has many words from other languages.

5. Some new words are based on new inventions.