Introduction & Chapter 1 for The Future of Oil

Jack S.

AP Human Geography 

12/18/15

The Future of Oil

Per. 6

In the intro to The Future of Oil, by Sanjay Patel, the basic ideas of the book are introduced. Going into chapter 1, Patel explains why we have an oil problem in our world today and what we can do to fix it. Patel believes the Canadian oil sands are our solution to the world's oil problem.

Thoughts and Ruminations on Chapter 6: Language and Where Languages Go to Die, Where English Words Come From, and How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language

Jack S.

AP Human Geography 

12/7/15

Where Languages Go to Die

Where English Words Come From

How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language 

                                                    Thoughts and Ruminations 

Essay Question: How do the terms Dialect, Language Families, and Sub Families used in chapter 6 relate to Where Languages Go to Die, Where English Words Come From, and How Americas Wars Have Changed the English Language?

In today's world, language is one of the most diverse parts of human culture. According to BBC News there are over 7,000 languages spoken all around the world. At first glance language might seem like a quite simple topic, but in reality it is quite complicated. To break it down, there are 15 Language Families in the world which include, Indo-European, Uro-Altaic, and Basque to name a few. Within the language families there are Sub Families. For example, within the Indo-European Language Family there are Sub Families which include Germanic, Romantic, and Baltic. There are more Sub Families, but Germanic is the family for today's Lingua Franca, English. 

English is a spoken world wide in many countries. Because of that it is spoken in different dialects. This means that the way phrases are pieced together and the sound of certain words will be slightly different than in a place where English is the main language such as the U.S. English also got many of its words from other languages. According to the article English Words From Around the World, by Brittany Ross, English gets words from folklore of Haiti and the West Indies. Ross writes, "We can thank the folklore of Haiti and the West Indies for contributing one of the most terrifying and popular creatures in the modern horror genre: the zombie. But the origins of zombie may not have been so scary. The word can be traced back to West Africa, and possibly derives from a Kongo word meaning 'god.'" This is a prime example of how languages from all over the world have been intertwined and connected throughout time. 

         Over the years, new words have been added and altered in the English language. There are many ways that this can happen, but a surprisingly large way this happens is through war. Many terms have been created in war, but their meanings have also been changed from war to war. In the article How America's Wars Have Changed the English Language, by Sara Sicard, there are multiple examples of this. Sicard writes, "Through wars, some words have changed or garnered new meanings while others were newly coined for specific places and things. During the Civil War, “skedaddle” became “skeet” or “scoot.” In World War I, the word “lousy,” which was intended to describe lice infestations, came to mean weary." Sicard gives great examples of how new words can be created in war and then have there meaning altered in a completely different place. While this process can be seen on the battlefield it can also be seen in our everyday lives. Many new words are introduced to us every day whether it's from music, movies, social media, or just random people we talk. People take new words that they hear and use them in their everyday life of even give them a whole new meaning. This is very similar in what Sicard writes about in her article. 

While history shows that languages rise and fall over time, some believe that English will be around and stay popular for a much longer time than any other language. In the article Where Languages Go to Die, by John McWhorter, some of the reasons why English will be around longer than any other language are given. McWhorter writes, "I suspect that English will hold on harder and longer than any language in history. It happened to rise to its current position at a time when three things had happened, profoundly transformative enough to stop the music, as it were: print, widespread literacy, and an omnipresent media." The overall point being made is that English will be around for longer than any other language because it has been documented and distributed the most of any other language in history. This is due to music, literature, and things like social media which are all areas that McWhorter touches on. 

English is a language rich in history and it continues to grow everyday. While it might not be the Lingua Franca forever, it will always be one of the most popular and wide spoken languages in the world. 

Projects Abroad wanted to give teachers a chance to teach children in other countries with subjects such as English but it is hard to seek out and find people willing and capable of teaching especially overseas so they created a website where teachers looking for that type of work can go for opportunities and then they sent over 50 teachers to South Africa to teach English to children there.

http://www.projects-abroad.org/volunteer-projects/teaching/teach-english-and-other-subjects/volunteer-south-africa/

This is a map of Australia where a certain dialect of English is spoken. It is called Australian English. It is noticeably different from American English due to the pronunciation of the words and the addition of new words to their dialect.