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TalkingpointWarmingupSkimmingDiggingCriticalthinkingLanguageinuseUnfamiliarwordsInterpretingWatchthevideoclipaboutMichaelPhelpslearningChinese,supposedyouarehisteacher,trytofindouthisproblemandgivesomesuggestion.WarmingupWarmingup➊Matchthescriptswiththelanguages.MoreMoreAnswer:1(a)2(c)3(e)4(b)5(f)6(d)Warmingup➋Workinpairsanddiscussthequestions.1WhichofthelanguagesinActivity1doyouthinkwouldbetheeasiesttolearn?Why?2Whichdoyouthinkwouldbethemostdifficult?3WhatistheeasiestthingaboutlearningEnglish?4WhatisthemostdifficultthingaboutlearningEnglish?Warmingup➊Workinpairsanddiscussthequestions.1WhywouldspeakersofEnglishwanttolearnChinese?2Whatdifficultiesdoyouthinktheymighthave?3Whatmighttheyfindeasy?4HowmanycharactersdoyouthinkaforeignerneedstoknowtobeabletoreadChinese?5DoyouthinkChinesegrammarismoreorlessdifficultthanEnglishgrammar?Nowreadthepassageandcompareyouranswerswiththewriter’s.Skimming◇Browsethepassagewithin8minutestogetaroughideaaboutit.◇AnswerthequestionsofActivity2and3onpage137.TaskSkimming➋Matchthefactswiththecorrectnumbers.Answer:(d)2(c)3(h)4(b)5(g)6(a)7(e)8(f)(a)aboutseven(b)nomorethan20(c)40(d)over500(e)about480(f)about2,200(g)about5,000(h)1.3billionNowworkinpairsanddiscusswhichfactyoufindmostsurprising,andwhy.1numberofschoolsintheUKnowteachingChinese2numberofyearsinwhichEnglishwillstarttodeclineasagloballanguage3numberofpeopleinChina4numberofChinesecharactersSkimming➌Answerthequestions.1WhyisthewriterlearningChinese?2WhatisgoingtohappentoEnglishinthefuture?3WhatmakeslearningChinesedifficultforEnglishspeakers?ForherworkinBeijing.Englishwilldeclineasaworldlanguage.Havingtolearnthousandsofcharacters,andthetonesystem.Skimming4Whydoesthewritersaythatherteachermakesthingsdifficult?5HowdoesChinesedifferfromEnglishinitsrepresentationofmeaning?Shedoesnotadequatelyunderstandherstudents’difficultiesinlearningChinese.Inwrittenform,aword/characterprimarilyrepresentsameaninginChinese,butinEnglishaseriesofsounds.Lessonstobelearnt译文DiggingMP3MP31I’vebeenspendingseveralyearslearningChineseformyworkhereinBeijing,sothelatestnewsthatthere’stobeanewcampaigntointroducethelanguageintoUSschools,andarecentreportestimatingthatover500schoolsintheUKareteachingitpromptsmetotellyousomethingwhichyoumaynotwanttohear:LearningChineseisreally,reallytough.BackgroundinformationDigging译文译文MP3MP32AfterCanadaandMexico,ChinaistheUS’biggesttradingpartner.UKexportstoChinaareexpectedtomultiplybyfourtimesbytheendofthedecade,anditsgovernmentwantseveryschool,collegeanduniversitytobetwinnedwithanequivalentinstitutioninChina.WiththeimportanceofEnglishasaninternationallanguagesettodeclineoverthenext40years,it’snotsurprisingthatthisfallismatchedbyariseofinterestinlearningChinese.译文DiggingMP3MP33Chinesecultureisoneofthegreatwondersoftheworld.Itsphilosophy,art,foodandliteratureshowbothdelicateappealandhumanityinequalmeasure.译文DiggingMP3MP34ButIhavetosaythatiflearningisajourney,it’ssometimeshardtokeepyoureyeonyourdestinationwhentherearesomanyothersightstoseewhichslowyoudownonthepathtowardsfluency.Andnoonesaiditwouldbeanendurancetest.译文DiggingMP3MP35You’veheardoftheLongMarch?Well,thatwasastrollinthepark,comparedtowhatit’sliketolearnChinese.译文DiggingMP3MP36So,if1.3billionChinesedon’thaveaproblemwiththeirownlanguage,whydodumbforeignerslikemefinditsohardtolearn?译文DiggingMP3MP37Firstofall,learningthousandsofcharactersisachore,andthere’snothingforitbuttolearnthembyheart.Evenusingadictionaryhasitsownsetofproblems.Forexample,howdoyoulookupthemeaningofacharacter?I’vespenthourstryingtomatchwhatIthinkistheradicalwiththelistinthemiddleofmyChinese-Englishdictionary,thenhuntingdownthecharactermatchedwithitspinyin(Romanalphabet)equivalent,thenturningtothedictionaryentryitself,andlookingforthecharacterandeliminatingallthosewithwrongmeaningsuntilIfindtherightone.Ittakesalotofpatience,itcanbeverydisappointing,andmydisgracefulstrikerateisscarcely20charactersanhour.译文DiggingMP3MP38Languageexpertsestimatethatyou“only”needtolearnabout5,000characterstohaveaworkingknowledgeofChinese.(Ijustlovethat“only”!)Theyalsosayit’sdesirabletoseeandreviseacharacteraboutseventimesindifferentcontextsinordertoretainitanduseitproductively.9Soyoudothemaths.译文DiggingMP3MP310LearningChineseisalreadytough,butlearningwithanunqualifiedteachermakesitevenmoredifficult.Inourfirstlesson,welearntourfirstChinesecharacter家.OurteachertoldusthatChinesepeopleareabletoseetheoriginalrepresentationofmeaninginthecharacter.Shedrewitonthewhiteboard.Itmeanshome.Good.Shethenexplainedthatit’smeanttoillustrateapigunderaroof.That’sgoodtoo.Thensheasked,“Canyouseethepig?”11No?译文DiggingMP3MP312“Thereitis,can’tyousee?”sheenquired.13Iseenopig.14“Andcanyouseetheroof?”15Well,Isupposeso,butonlyifIhadlostmyglassesor,possibly,wasdrunk.ButtopleasemyteacherIsaid,yesIcanseetheroof,justabitofablur,that’sall.16“That’sthepigundertheroof.Thatmeanshome!”saidmyteacher,inavoicecelebratingthegloryofChinese.DiggingMP3MP3译文译文17HaveIfinishedwiththebadnews?18Notyet.Thetonesystemmeansthatasinglecharactercanhavedifferentmeaningsaccordingtotheto