Unit 5 Text 2 Bachillerato Globish

If you can't master English, try Globish
It happens all the time: during an airport delay the man to the left, a Korean perhaps, starts talking to the man
opposite, who might be Colombian, and soon they are chatting away in what seems to be English. But the native
English speaker sitting between them cannot understand a word.
They don't know it, but the Korean and the Colombian are speaking Globish, the latest addition to the 6,800
languages that are said to be spoken across the world. Not that its inventor, Jean-Paul Nerrire, considers it a
proper language. "It is not a language, it is a tool," he says. "A language is the vehicle of a culture. Globish
doesn't want to be that at all. It is a means of communication."
Nerrire doesn't see Globish in the same light as utopian efforts such as Kosmos, Volapuk, Novial or
Esperanto. It is a means of simplifying the language and giving it rules so it can be understood by all.
"The language spoken worldwide, by 88 percent of mankind, is not exactly English," Nerrire says. "I don't
consider that people who think this are right because it's not useful if they cannot be understood by English
speakers."
A retired IBM marketing executive, Nerrire speaks excellent English but switches to Globish if he is not
getting through. "I look at their faces. Lack of understanding is very easy to decipher."
The main principles of Globish are a vocabulary of only 1,500 words in English, gestures and repetition. "In
Globish it would be the target, the goal, the objective. I use three words to reach the point where you would be
understood everywhere." The seeds for Globish came about in the 1980s when Nerrire was working for IBM in
Paris with colleagues of about 40 nationalities. At a meeting where they were to be addressed by two Americans
whose flight had been delayed, they started exchanging shoptalk in what Nerrire calls "une certaine forme
d'anglais perverti" (a certain form of perverted English). Then the Americans arrived and beyond their opening
phrases, "Call me Jim," "Call me Bill," no one understood a word. And Jim and Bill, needless to say, did not
understand perverted English.
With many corporations imposing English as the language for trade, Nerrire sees a great future for Globish.
Learning it by computer and practising it by telephone will make things even easier. "The idea is to increase their
employability by teaching them skills unrelated to their present employment. Why not learn Globish? If it could be
of use in this small grocery shop where I work maybe it will help me in the big hotel where I hope to be."
But the worst thing for the French about this international language is that it isn't French. Nerrire argues
rather subtly that if people learned Globish, the French language would remain pure because Franglais would die
out.
Source: Internet Document (abridged and modified)
A.1. ARE THE STATEMENTS BELOW TRUE OR FALSE? CORRECT THE FALSE
ONES AND JUSTIFY THE TRUE ONES BY QUOTING FROM THE TEXT: (only
both parts correct will count)
T
1) If non native speakers of English talk, native speakers dont understand them.
2) Nerrire considers Globish as a language.
3) English is only spoken in English-speaking countries.
4) The vocabulary of Globish is limited.
5) In many firms English is mandatory.
JUSTIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS: (YOU MUST MENTION THE LINES)
1) _________________________________________________________________
2) _________________________________________________________________
3) _________________________________________________________________
4) _________________________________________________________________
5) _________________________________________________________________
A.3: FIND EQUIVALENTS FOR THE WORDS BELOW IN PARAGRAPH SIX:
a) values ___________________
b) achieve __________________
c) tardy ____________________
d) distorted _________________
e) apart from _______________
A.4: WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING WORDS REFER TO IN THE TEXT?
a) them (l. 3) ________________________
b) who (l. 11) ________________________
c) he (l. 12) _________________________
d) their (l. 19) _______________________
B: REPHRASE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING AS SUGGESTED WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR MEANING:
1) The native speaker of English didnt understand the people at the airport because
they were speaking Globish.
If __________________________________________________________________
2) In some firms employees are obliged to learn Globish.

In some firms ________________________________________________________
3) Sometimes speakers of Globish face problems because they are not understood.
If __________________________________________________________________
4) English road signs are misspelled in India because they are written in Hinglish.
As _________________________________________________________________
5) Although I know how to speak Globish, I prefer to speak pure English.
In spite of ___________________________________________________________
A.: CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS AND WRITE A COMPOSITION

ON IT (100 / 120 WORDS): (Dont forget to signal your choice by crossing
its
number)
(NOT SIGNALING YOUR COMPOSITION, IMPLIES ITS ANNULMENT)
1) What do you think of Global English / Globish? Account for your answer.
KEY
A.1. ARE THE STATEMENTS BELOW TRUE OR FALSE? CORRECT THE FALSE
ONES AND JUSTIFY THE TRUE ONES BY QUOTING FROM THE TEXT: (only
both parts correct will count)
T
x
1) If non native speakers of English talk, native speakers dont understand them.
x
2) Nerrire considers Globish as a language.
3) English is only spoken in English-speaking countries.

4) The vocabulary of Globish is limited.
5) In many firms English is mandatory.
x
x
JUSTIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS: (YOU MUST MENTION THE LINES)

1) But the native ....... a word (ll. 2/3)
2) It is not ....... a tool (ll. 5/6)
3) The language......... English (l. 10)
4) a vocabulary ....... in English (l.14)
5) With many corporations imposing English as the language for trade (l. 21)
A.2: ANSWER THE QUESTIONS USING YOUR OWN WORDS AS FAR AS
POSSIBLE:
a) How did Globish appear?
Opinion answer
b) Why does Nerrire consider that learning Globish would help French?
Opinion answer
A.3: FIND EQUIVALENTS FOR THE WORDS BELOW IN PARAGRAPH SIX:

a) values principles
b) achieve reach
c) tardy delayed
d) distorted preverted
e) apart from beyond
A.4: WHAT DO THE FOLLOWING WORDS REFER TO IN THE TEXT?
a) them (l. 3) Korean and Colombian men
b) who (l. 11) people
c) he (l. 12) Nerrire
d) their (l. 19) Americans
B: REPHRASE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING AS SUGGESTED WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR MEANING:
1) The native speaker of English didnt understand the people at the airport because
they were speaking Globish.
If the people at the airport hadnt been (werent) speaking Globish, the native
speaker of English would have understood (would understand) them,
2) In some firms employees are obliged to learn Globish.
In some firms the bosses oblige the employees to learn Globish.
3) Sometimes speakers of Globish face problems because they are not understood.
If speakers of English were understood they wouldnt face problems
sometimes.
4) English road signs are misspelled in India because they are written in Hinglish.
As English road signs are written in Hinglish in India, they are misspelled.
5) Although I know how to speak Globish, I prefer to speak pure English.
In spite of knowing how to speak Globish, I prefer to speak pure English.
(the fact that I know how to speak Globish, I prefer to speak pure
English.

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If you can't master English, try Globish

B: REPHRASE THE SENTENCES BEGINNING AS SUGGESTED WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR MEANING:

2) In some firms employees are obliged to learn Globish.

A.: CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TOPICS AND WRITE A COMPOSITION

(NOT SIGNALING YOUR COMPOSITION, IMPLIES ITS ANNULMENT)

2) Nerrire considers Globish as a language.

3) English is only spoken in English-speaking countries.

JUSTIFICATIONS/CORRECTIONS: (YOU MUST MENTION THE LINES)

A.3: FIND EQUIVALENTS FOR THE WORDS BELOW IN PARAGRAPH SIX:

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