Page 12. Connect to the Topic. Part B. TUNE IN

Unit two

page 12: connect to the topic

part B: tune in

our topic today is languages.

I’m speaking with Dr. Julia Chimpa, a linguist and expert on bilingualism.

So, Dr. Chimpa, how many people in the world are bilingual?

about half the people in the world are bilingual; meaning they use more than one language in everyday life.

Wow, that’s a lot; why are so many people bilingual?

Well, in some countries there are many different languages spoken.

for example, in Indonesia, which is a huge country, there are over 300 different languages.

So, most people learn a common language, Indonesian, to communicate at school and work and in fact many people speak three or four languages.

Now, around the world which languages are spoken the most?

in terms of native speakers, people who grow up speaking a language, Chinese has the most speakers; about 1.2 billion people.

that means one in six people in the world speaks Chinese.

Interesting.

however English is the most widely used second-language, about 2 billion people use English as a second language.

Now, why is that?

Well, people learn English because it’s used all over the world as a common language; in business, in school and for tourism.

and what about native English speakers? are they bilingual as well?

no unfortunately; maybe they don’t feel the need to learn another language.

for example, only about 10% of native English speakers in the United States, learn a second language and there could be other reasons…