Can a dying language be saved?

Answer each question with 2–3 sentences.

1. Do you speak a minority language or dialect?
2. Do you think small languages are worth saving?
3. Which languages are spoken in your region?
4. Have you ever heard a language that is almost gone?
5. Would you take a course in a rare language?
6. Do your grandparents speak differently from you?

Read each word and the example. Then say a sentence about languages.

Choose the word that fits.

1. Linguists warn that thousands of languages are .
2. When the last speaker of a language dies, the language is .
3. Hebrew was in the twentieth century after centuries without native speakers.
4. Language is an important part of a nation's cultural .
5. In schools, all lessons are taught in the minority language.
6. Each new spoke the old language less than their parents.
7. Researchers rare languages by recording elders.
8. The government introduced a to support local languages.

Choose the right answer, then press Check answers.

1. endangered = at risk of
   being copiedgrowingdisappearing
2. extinct = no longer
   existingpopularuseful
3. to revive = to bring something
   back to lifeto an endto another city
4. heritage = traditions from the
   shopfuturepast
5. a generation is people of about the same
   agejobheight
6. to transmit = to
   losehidepass on

Use these phrases to concede a point and then argue your case.

• Although..., I still think...Хоча..., я все одно вважаю...Although it is costly, I still think it is worth it.
• Despite the difficulties,...Попри труднощі,...Despite the difficulties, many languages have recovered.
• That said,...Проте...That said, revival needs real speakers.
• Even so,...Попри це...Even so, the effort is worth making.
• It's true that..., but...Це правда, що..., але...It's true that it is expensive, but culture is priceless.
• Having said that,...Утім...Having said that, success is not guaranteed.
• Whatever the cost,...Яка б не була ціна,...Whatever the cost, we should try.
• On balance,...Загалом,...On balance, I think revival is possible.

Read the text. Hover over the dotted words for help.

1. Around forty per cent of the world's languages are said to be at risk.
   TrueFalse
2. Hebrew was never used again as an everyday language.
   TrueFalse
3. Welsh-language schools helped Welsh to recover.
   TrueFalse
4. A language needs only a museum to survive.
   TrueFalse
5. The text says success is guaranteed if there is money.
   TrueFalse

1. Is it worth spending money to save a language?
2. What would be lost if your language disappeared?
3. Why do young people sometimes drop a minority language?
4. Would you take part in a language revival?

Common mistakes: although / even though + clause, despite / in spite of + noun or -ing, and however with commas. ✗ Despite it is difficult → Despite being difficult / Although it is difficult. ✗ Although it is difficult, but we can try → Although it is difficult, we can try. ✗ In spite the cost → In spite of the cost.

1. DespiteAlthough
   it is difficult, we can try.
2. DespiteAlthough
   the cost, it is worthwhile.
3. In spite
   being ofof being
   small, the community is active.
4. It is hard.
   That said,Because,
   it is possible.
5. What matters
   isit is
   that children hear the language.
6. If more families
   spokehad spoken
   it, it would be stronger now.
7. It
   may wellmay be well
   survive.
8. It was the schools
   thatwhat
   made the difference.

Each sentence has one mistake. Type the correct words.

1. Despite of the cost, they try. →
2. Despite it is expensive, it is worth it. →
3. In spite the cost, people try. →
4. She is happy in spite she is tired. →
5. What matters it is the children. →
6. If more people spoke it, it would have survived. →

Answer in detail. Use concession and the grammar of Block 1.

1. Do you think a small language is worth saving? Why, or why not?
2. What makes a revival succeed?
3. How would you feel if your language had no young speakers?
4. What can schools and governments do?
5. What can individuals do?
6. If you had to choose one language to save, which would it be?

Three people discuss endangered languages. Compare them. Who is the most hopeful? Who is the most sceptical? Whose view is closest to yours?

This is the final speaking task of Block 1. Your teacher will time you.

1. Plan for one minute, then speak for two minutes.
2. Part 1: say whether a dying language can be saved and why (use concession).
3. Part 2: give one example and one piece of evidence, with careful language.
4. Part 3: use a mixed conditional and a cleft sentence to give your own view.

1. Do you speak a language or a dialect that is not widely used?
2. Which language in your country needs more support?
3. Would you like to learn a rare language?
4. How would you feel if your language disappeared?
5. What do you do to keep your language alive?
6. Do you speak your mother tongue with your children?
7. Do you use social media in your own language?
8. What would be the best way to protect a language?

1. Who in your family speaks an old dialect?
2. Who taught you songs or sayings in your language?
3. Who is likely to pass on your language to children?
4. Who should pay for language schools?
5. Who has helped you keep a language alive?
6. Who do you know who has learned an endangered language?

1. Is it right to spend public money on small languages?
2. Should every child learn the regional language?
3. Does a language need prestige to survive?
4. Is it more important to speak a global language?
5. Could technology save a language?