20090620 -- English Around the World (2)

English Around the World
SC: Can people who speak different dialects understand each other?
CM: Often people who speak different dialects can understand each other easily. For example, Australian English speakers can generally understand what American English speakers are saying. Within other languages, dialects are comparatively more difficult for speakers of different dialects to understand. Speakers of Mandarin, for example, may not be able to understand speakers of Cantonese even though Mandarin and Cantonese are dialects and not separate languages. For this reason, linguists usually say that the difference between a dialect and a language is not clear-cut.

SC: If you are an English student, does it matter which dialect you study?
CM: People often have differing perspectives on this, but linguist do no believe that any one dialect of English is best. Right now, American English is popular and prestigious. In just a few years, though, non-native English speakers will outnumber native English speakers. As a result, there may be less demand for people to speak a certain type of English, like American English. What may be more important is how well a person can use English to communicate with people from very diverse cultural and international backgrounds.


comparatively adv. 比較上地
comparative adj. 比較上的/相當的
eg: Among the students in my class, Shannon writes comparatively well.
eg: Men are comparatively more skillfull in driving than women.
eg: Comparatively speaking, the price of this software is quite reasonable.

clear-cut adj. 明確的/清楚的
-> clearly distinquish
eg: I'm not sure what to do because the situation is not clear-cut.
eg: This is well-organized company. Each person's job content is quite clear-out.

clear-cut adj. 輪廓鮮明的
eg: This clear-cut fabric design received a lot of praise at the fashion show.

perspective n. 看法/觀點
-> how you fell/veiw something
eg: From the company's perspective, this is a great way to save money.

prestigious adj. 有名望的
-> something has reputation for begin successful or being a high end
eg: Last year, Martin won a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University.

outnumber v. 數量上超過
eg: The Yankees are so popular that their fans always outnumber our fans.
eg: In this school, students who commute outnumber those who live in the dorm.
eg: In our office, male employees outnumber female employees 2 to 1.

//== Chat room ==//

differing perspectives
different adj. 形容兩種不同的東西
differing 現在分詞 不同(只侷限於觀念/思想)
-> usually refer to concept or idea
eg: differing opinions
eg: differing perspectives
eg: different perspectives
different from