Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Page 1
May 2011
Level Advanced
Style Individual or group activities
Welcome to the Guardian Weeklys special news-based materials to support learners and teachers of
English. Each month, the Guardian Weekly newspaper selects topical news articles that can be used to
practise English language skills. The materials are graded for two levels: Advanced and Lower Intermediate.
These worksheets can be downloaded free from guardian.co.uk/weekly/. You can also find more advice
for teachers and learners from the Guardian Weeklys Learning English section on the site.
Materials prepared by Janet Hardy-Gould
Before reading
1
Page 2
May 2011
3 Vocabulary from the article. Complete the sentences
with the verbs below. What do the words in bold
mean?
converse, ensure, pass on, revitalise, take hold
a Manuel Segovia plans to
his native tongue to the
younger generation.
Article
Last two speakers of dying
language wont converse
1
Page 3
May 2011
Glossary
to see off (phrasal verb) to force someone to leave a
place
animosity (noun) a strong feeling of anger or hatred
prickly (adjective) when someone is easily annoyed or
offended
reputedly (adverb) when someone is thought to have
done something
advent (noun) the coming or start of an important event
While reading
1
Page 4
May 2011
After reading
1
Activity discussion
Work in groups of three. Each person thinks of
a different minority language that they have a
connection with or are interested in. For example,
perhaps a grandparent spoke the language or it is
spoken in a region they have visited. For homework,
each person finds out the information below about
the language:
a the region where it is traditionally spoken
b the history/background of the language
c the current number of speakers
d examples of some words and phrases
e the possible future of the language
In the following lesson the students work in their
groups and present their information in turns. They
decide which language has the strongest future.
Answers
c Segovia still uses it with his son and wife (para 5).
Before reading
2 a die out/disappear.
b two speakers of the language.
c they wont converse/talk to each other.
d sad/melancholy/lonely.
3 a pass on; a language that you first learnt as a child
b revitalise; a language that originally comes from that place and not from
elsewhere
c converse; easily and without stopping
d ensure; the end of something e take hold; the main body
e The classes would start off full and then the pupils
would stop coming (para 8)
While reading
1 a For centuries. It has survived wars, revolutions etc.
b They wont talk to each other and they have never enjoyed each others
company.
c Segovia is a little prickly and Velazquez is stoic.
d Segovia speaks Ayapaneco every day to his family. Velazquez never speaks it.
e The forced use of Spanish. Also, urbanisation and migration.
f A new dictionary of the language. New classes for locals with the last two
speakers.
g The classes have failed because of a lack of enthusiasm and funding.
2a7b6 c1d3e4 f2gh8i5
After reading
1 a Present perfect (passive); used to indicate an event which started in the past
and continues now
b Past simple; used to indicate a finished past event
c Present simple; used to describe a daily habit
d Present continuous; used to refer to an ongoing situation. e Would; used to talk
about repeated past habits