THE WORLD'S ENGLISH MANIA

Jay Walker, an entrepreneur fascinated by intellectual property, explains why two billion people
around the world are trying to learn English. He shares photos and spine-tingling audio of Chinese
students rehearsing English the worlds second language by the thousands.
(Recorded at TED2009, February 2009, in Long Beach, California. Duration: 4:35.)

1/ Match the words with their definitions:

Poverty (n.)
Opportunity (n.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Worldwide (adv.) Witness (n.)

Climate change (n.) Mania (n.)

Solve (v.) Gruelling (adj.)

Disease (n.)
Determine (v.)

the state of not having enough of anything that is necessary _______________

extreme enthusiasm for something shared by many people _______________
to find the answer or explanation for something _____________
very difficult ____________
a person who is present at an event (such as a wedding/crime) and can say that it happened ____
everywhere in the world ____________
to influence, to decide ___________
an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant ___________
a situation that is favorable for achieving a goal ____________
the difference in the Earth's global climate ____________

2/ Watch the video and mark the sentences T-true or F- false.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Chinese students start learning English in the fifth grade, by law.

Chinese students learn English to have better opportunities.
A Chinese student has to prepare 4 hours a day for one year to take the Gaokao test.
This test lasts three full days.
English is the world's first language.
English is becoming the language of problem-solving.

.........
.........
.........
.........
.........
.........

4/ Complete the sentences based on what you can remember from the video. Check your answers with your partner.

The world has a new ___________ for learning English. Listen as Chinese students practice their English by screaming it.
How many people are trying to learn English ______________? Two billion of them.
Why do Chinese students learn English? In a single word: _______________. For a better life, a job, to be able to pay for
school, or put better food on the table.
Imagine a student taking a giant test for days. Her score on this one test literally _____________her future.
The test is called Gaokao, and 80 million high school Chinese students have already taken this _____________ test.
The intensity to learn English in China is almost unimaginable, unless you ___________ it.
With English you can become part of a wider conversation: a global conversation about global problems, like __________
__________ or ____________, or hunger or __________.
English represents hope for a better future -- a future where the world has a common language to ___________ its
common problems.

5/ Do you agree or disagree? Give arguments.

People's mania for English threatens the study of mother tongues worldwide.
It is inevitable to speak English if you want to find a good job in Slovakia.
Diversity is important and that's why English should not be the the world language.

6/ Complete the following sentence. Use the words in the box if you like.
For me, learning English is ..
a pleasure
a hobby
an opportunity
an investment
a necessity
an effort a problem
a pain
a nightmare