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Introductions
2.
A. Hello, Joan! Where……………………(you/go)
B. I ……………………(go) to my evening class. I ……………….(learn)
Italian.
A. Really I………………..(go) to an Italian class once a week too.
3.
A. ……………………….(you/normally/go) on holiday in the summer
B. Yes, we ………………..(usually/spend) a month in France, but this year we
……………………..(stay) here.
A. We ………………………..(not/go) on holiday this year, either.
4.
A. Where ……………………..(your brother/work)
B. He…………………..(work) for a big computer company. And your sister
A. She…………………..(not/work) at the moment. She’s unemployed.
Cultural Background
Engels mag dan de voertaal zijn in de internationale zakenwereld, maar het zijn
niet alleen de niet-Engelstaligen die moeten leren om de Engelse taal effectief
te gebruiken. Vaak is een non-native speaker makkelijker te verstaan en te
begrijpen dan een native speaker van de Engelse taal. Lees de volgende tekst met
behulp van de gegeven vocabulary en beantwoord de vragen over de tekst bij
key exercise 15.
English, the simplified way
Ask a Swedish Ericsson executive ”Talar du Svenska” and he may well reply
”Yes, but only at home. At work I speak English.” Ericsson is one of the growing
number of European companies that use English as their official corporate
language. These companies recognise and, at the same time, increase the
dominance of English as the language of international communication. Soon,
the number of speakers of English as a second language will exceed that of
native English speakers.
Although a company might use English as its official language, its employees
are unlikely to be bilingual. Language trainer Jacquie Reed thinks we consistently
overestimate the fluency of non-native speakers. ”We always assume that
because their language skills are better than ours, they understand everything
we say.”
How should we adapt our use of language and what are the common problems
”Simplify it,” is Reid’s advice. ”Don’t over-complicate the message. Reduce
what you’re saying to manageable chunks.” Reid always tells people to limit
themselves to one idea per sentence. ”It’s also important to slow down and not
to raise your voice.”
Dr Jasmine Patel, a language consultant at Europhone, says different languages
all have their own approach to dialogue. ”The British start with idiomatic
expressions So, should we get down to it meaning let’s start and understate
important issues with phrases such as There could be a slight problem meaning
there is an enormous problem. They also say That’s a good idea, but…when they
mean No. The British will also say that’s interesting when they mean I really
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