Globish_and_possible_answers

Per gentile concessione della Proof.ssa A.M.

READING COMPREHENSION – CLASSWORK – December 2008


IF YOU CAN'T LEARN ENGLISH, TRY GLOBISH



It happens all the time: during an airport delay the man to the left, a Korean, starts talking to the man opposite, who is perhaps Colombian. Soon they start chatting in a language that seems to be English. But the native English speaker who is sitting between them can't understand a word.

They don't know it, but the Korean and the Colombian are speaking a form of Globish, the latest addition to the 6,800 languages that are spoken around the world. Globish was invented by a French man, Jean Paul Nerrière. Nerrière is quick to point out that it is not a proper language. “it's not a language. It's a tool”, he says. “A language is the vehicle of a culture. Globish doesn't want to be that. It is just a means of communication, a means of simplifying the language and giving it rules so it can be understood by all”.

The main principles of Globish are a vocabulary of only 1,500 words in English ( the Oxford English Dictionary lists 615,000), plus gestures and repetitions. “The point”, says Narrière “is to reach the threshold of understanding”.

The idea for Globish came from the 1980s when Narrière worked for IBM in Paris with collegues of about 40 nationalities. At a meeting where they were waiting to be addressed by two Americans, they started talking in what Narrière calls “une certaine forme d'anglais perverti”. Then the Americans arrived and after their opening phrases “Call me Bill”, “Call me Jim” no one understood a word. Neither did Jim or Bill understand the perverted English.

Narrière sees a great future for Globish, which he has trademarked. He has written a book Parlez Globish and, since its publication, his website has had many thousands of visitors.


(source: Herald Tribune)


Answer the following questions


1.

Read the title of the article. What do you think the origin of the word “Globish” is?
2.

Why does the inventor of Globish say that it is not a proper language?
3.

How many words are there in Globish? Is it formed only by words?
4.

What is the target of a Globish speaker?
5.

What gave Nerrière the idea for Globish?


Possible answers


1.

The word “Globish” comes from the combination of the words Global and English. Global refers to the fact that this language is spoken all over the world and English refers to the most popular language spoken in the world, in particular English as the international business language.


2.

A language has got its own rules and it's the vehicle of the culture of a country; a language helps to create the identity of a country. Globish doesn't belong to any country in particular, it's simply a means of communication. It's a simplified language with few rules so that it can be understood by people.


3.

Globish has got a vocabulary of about 1,500 words in English and it is formed by gestures and repetitions, which help in the understanding of what people say.


4.

The target of the Globish speaker is to “reach the threshold of understanding”. Since Globish is a common means of communication and a simplified language with few words and with lots of repetitions and gestures, the speaker wants to be able to communicate easily with other people and to understand what the others say.


5.

He had the idea of Globish when he was working at IBM with collegues of about 40 different nationalities. They all spoke an imperfect and “strange” form of English, and apparently no one could understand a word. But Narrière thought that all the peolpe at that IBM meeting were able to communicate in a certain way and he decided to study Globish as a new means of communication.