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Unit 14C . Countries/Nationalities/Languages, School subjects and Jobs

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In this lesson you study countries, nationalities, languages, school subjects and jobs. You also practise word stress and talking about your abilities, past and present.

1 True (T) or false (F)?
1. In English we use CAPITAL letters for countries, nationalities and languages.
2. The United Kingdom = England, Scotland and Wales.
3. The top four languages spoken in the world are:
1) English 2) Mandarin Chinese 3) Hindi 4) Spanish
4. Two thirds of native speakers of English live in the USA.
5. The biggest English-speaking population in a single country live in the USA.
6. Under a billion people speak English now.
7. Over half the world's population is going to be able to speak English within about 10 years.
8. English uses a wider intonation than almost every language, but intonation in Brazilian Portuguese is wider.

2 Print out Vocabulary Builder 14C. Complete the Countries/Nationalities/Languages chart. Mark the stress on the nationalities and languages. Check with the Key.

Countries		Nationalities	Languages
	The USA	American	English
	Brazil	______________________	______________________
	Great Britain	______________________	______________________
	Argentina	______________________	______________________
	Uruguay	______________________	______________________
	Italy	______________________	______________________
	Peru	______________________	______________________
	Chile	______________________	______________________
	France	______________________	______________________
	Germany	______________________	______________________

3 Do you know or can you see any stress rules for the words in the chart?

Nationalities
a) Most nationalities end in -(i)an: e.g. Argentinian, Australian, Brazilian, German, Italian.
    The stress comes before the -(i)an sound
b) A lot of nationalities end in -ish: e.g. British, English, Irish, Scottish, Spanish
    These are generally 2 syllable and the stress is on the first syllable
c) A few nationalities end in -ese : e.g. Chinese, Portuguese, Japanese
    The stress is always on the -ese sound
d) There are also a few exceptions: e.g. French (from France), Arabic (from many Arabic countries), Hindi and Urdu (from India).
e) The word for the language is often the same as for the nationality.
e.g. You speak: German, Portuguese, Japanese, Spanish.

4 Add another nationality to groups a) to e) above.

School subjects

	A. Art			B. Biolo__
	C. Carpent__			D. Chemist__
	E. Domest__ Scien__			F. Economi__
	G. Geograp__			H. Histo__
	I. Information and Computer Technology (ICT)			J. Lat__
	K. Mat__ (US Math)			L. Philosop__
	M. Physi__			N. Religion

5 Write the last two letters of the school subjects, A to N. Listen, read and check.

6 Study the school subjects and answer the questions.
1. Which ones could your students guess easily from Portuguese?
2. Biology has the stress on the third syllable from the end. Find five more school subjects with the same pattern. Do you think this pattern is worth teaching?
3. What other word stress 'rules' could students work out from the differences between the English and Portuguese forms?

Professional Tip

. Point out similarities between English and Portuguese. It will help your learners pick up language more quickly.
. Use (near) cognates to expand your students vocabulary quickly.
. Comparing patterns between words in the two languages can give students useful insights into word stress and pronunciation in English.

7 Listen and complete these sentences.
1. I'm (quite) good __ Geography.
2. I _____ Chemistry.
3. I (really) _____ Biology.
4. I ______ understand Maths.
5. I ___ speak (a bit of) Latin.
6. Biology was ___ (least) favourite subject.
7. I'm (not) ___ at History.
8. I ____ awful at Economics.

8 Use the phrases in Exercise #7 to describe your ability now and when you were at school at each of the subjects.

Occupations

O P Q R

a (bank) manager                a hairdresser                    a musician               retired
a (self-employed) builder      a housewife                     a nurse                   a secretary
a civil servant                      a (freelance) journalist      a police officer        a shop assistant
an engineer                         a lawyer                          a politician              a waiter
a professional footballer        a mechanic                      a receptionist          unemployed

S T U

Professional Tip

. Try to give students systematic help with word stress. While there are very few 'rules', there are lots of patterns to point out and, when students do find an exception to the pattern you have given them, you should celebrate because it means:
- they are thinking,
- they have understood and are applying your rule, and
- they have the courage to tell you!
Telling (i.e. correcting) you should also help them to remember the word, which is our main aim. So, thank them for improving your English when they do!
. There are some 'rules' which are definitely worth teaching, e.g. the stress is always on the syllable before these endings: -tion, -ic, -ian and -ese.

9 Look first at the Key. Race the computer. Pronounce the occupations before the recording.

10 Match 7 of these occupations with the pictures O to U.

11 Mark the Occupations in 14 C.9 either C (near cognate) or D (different from Portuguese). Which three are not jobs?

12 Which seven occupations have the stress on the third syllable from the end? Listen and check.

13 Update your Portfolio. Record Exercise#8 onto your Portfolio cassette, answering these questions too:
1. Name the two countries you'd most like to visit.
2. Two nationalities that you've met and two that you'd like to meet.
3. Two jobs you've done or would like to do.

à go to Unit 14 D

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