Speakeasy June Issue 2009

JUNE 2009

SPEAKEASY MAGAZINE, JUNE 2009

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Welcome to this first edition of Speakeasy, the English lan-guage magazine of UTPL.

When three students from our English major pro-gramme approached me with the idea of creating an Eng-lish language newspaper I was both excited and terrified by the prospect.

I was excited because I was pleased that the students themselves had initiated the idea. I was interested in what they had in mind and what they would come up with for features and articles. However, I also had some trepidation as I knew the project would mean a lot of work; I wasn’t sure if the end product would reflect the initial enthusiasm once pen was put to paper!

Over the period of time since then I’ve been pleasantly surprised and deeply impressed by the quality and vari-ety of the articles, alongside the hard work put in by the students in order to create the newspaper you are reading today.

Within these pages you can find out about some of the fascinating events that helped to form the English lan-guage we speak today, alongside learning how to let go and lambada the night away. You will also find out what the future has in store for you, according to the stars, together with games and valuable advice to help you learn English more effectively.

There really is something in these pages for everybody so…

Happy reading!

Mathew French

[email protected]

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

3THIS MONTH IN HISTORYA list of important events that happened in history in this month.

4THE ORACLEYour future foretold by our resident fortune-teller, Fernanda.

5STEPS TO LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE QUICKERFrustrated with your English classes? Read these tips to get quicker results.

6THE GAME CORNERWho said that learning English could not be fun?

7FEATURE: WE ALMOST LOST IT The story of how English conquered the Conquerors.

11DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DANCE LAMBADA?Learn how to outshine everybody on the dance floor.

contents

The battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings lead to the end of Anglo-Saxon England

ON THE COVEROf all the animals that have walked on English soil, perhaps the most respected in Anglo-Saxon times was the wolf. A sign of power, loyalty and freedom, the wolf often appeared engraved on helmets, swords and shields.The wolf was often an inspiration for names in Anglo-Saxon England. Bardawulf (Bright Wolf), Randwulf (Shield Wolf), Wulfric (Wolf Power/Ruler), Æthelwulf, Wuffa were all names used in Anglo-Saxon England. The White Wolfshead is a design created by Saxon North.


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June is the sixth month of the year, although it was originally the fourth in the Roman calendar. It has 30 days.

The name of the month of June originated from the Roman goddess Juno, who was the queen of the Gods and is the protecting and guardian spirit of females.In this month around the world...

This month in history

From May 25th to 27th, RESEC faculty partici-pated in End of Program Seminar for the School of Educational Sciences: 7 RESEC professors ob-served and coached students graduating from the English major during 3 days of teaching practice sessions.

On June 3rd, RESEC professors and students from the English major participated in a videoconference entitled “What teachers do next” from the UTPL Regional Center in the city of Quito. It was given by Jeremy Harmer, author of The Practice of Eng-lish Language Teaching and the “How to” series.

Dr. George Iber, Ph.D. of Nova Southeastern Uni-versity, Florida visited the UTPL this month to work with RESEC teachers enrolled in the Master of Science, Teaching of English as Foreign Lan-guage program.

RESEC represented the UTPL at the annual TEFL Conference in the city of Riobamba: 7 students from the English major participated and 3 profes-sors gave workshops at the event.

RESEC welcomes three new volunteers: Harpreet Ahuja from the University of Guelph and David Axelson from the University of Michigan are both with the AIESEC program and Rachel Lipson, a student at Harvard University, is a volunteer with WorldTeach.

RECENT RESEC ACTIVITIES

June 6, 1944: D-Day began in the early hours of the morning as Allied forces landed on the north coast of France. At a great loss of life they managed to push back the German forces and some people consider this to be the decisive turning point in the Second World War.

June 4, 1989: The Chinese government massacred over 3000 unarmed protesters in Tiananmen Square in Beijng.

June 11, 1994: After 49 years, the Soviet military occupation of East Germany end-ed.

June 30, 1997: In Hong Kong, the flag of the British Crown Colony was officially lowered at midnight and replaced by a new flag representing China’s sovereignty and the official transfer of power.

June 12, 1898: The Philippines declared their independence from Spain. The islands were named after King Philip II.

Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, Marquis de Sade was born on June 2, 1740, in Paris. He was a military lead-er, governor-general, and author, whose acts of cruelty and violence resulted in the term sadism being created from his name to describe gratification in inflicting pain on others. de Sade spent around 32 years of his life imprisoned in various prisons and an insane asylum. It is during this period that he wrote prolifically. His last 13 years were spent in the Charen-ton asylum, where he died on December 2, 1814, at age 74.


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By Fernanda Sarango

ARIES March 21-April 19. Be careful

Aries there are some obstacles coming your way. Be friendly

and talkative with your partners. Remember: Learn how to make

the most of the beautiful moments in your life.

TAURUS April 20-May 20. Your work

will experience an important change. You should be

friendlier to those who surround you, so they know how

important they are to you. Remember: Today’s optimism is tomorrow’s happiness.

GEMINI May 21-June 21. Your family

will be in need of your support. Express your respect, solidarity and love to them, it will be useful for their inner peace.

Remember: Show your love to the people who are close to you.

CANCER June 22-July 22. You will experience some

difficult moments in your studies, however, you are strong so you should persevere. You know that any knowledge or

study will help you in your f u t u r e . Remember: If you want to succeed, start thinking of yourself as a success.

LEO July 23-August 22. In order for your projects to

give the desired effect, you should avoid expenses, bad investments or loans. Remember: Discover the inner beauty of the people who are close to you.

VIRGO August 23-September 22. You will be a

little tense and the consequent excessive vulnerability won’t allow you to see situations with objectivity. Remember: If you

want to reach your goals, you should work efficiently.

LIBRA September 23-October 22. You ought to take

things easy, and control your problems since these can affect your health. Some changes will take place in your work. Re-

member: Do not fear taking risks to reach your goals.

SCORPIO October 23 - November 21. You need to

relax and have fun, but do it carefully and in moderation. On the other hand, your

family and your children will be ve r y understanding. Remember: If you really love your life, do not be afraid.

SAGITTARIUS November 22-December 21. Be clever, your boss may treat you unfairly and communica-

tions will be difficult. Be careful and demonstrate confidence. Remember: Smile when you are facing difficulties. This could be the best ingredient to

live happily.

the oracle


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CAPRICORN December 22-January 19. Your job has been

difficult; try to rest and take sometime for yourself. Also, you will be more finan-cial stable. Remember: Enjoy your life

by taking part in upcoming opportuni-ties that will enrich your life

AQUARIUS January 20-February 18. There are some

beautiful and great things to do, but remember there is a time for everything, and you should prioritize. Remember: Appreciate all the good things that you are experiencing.

PISCES February 19-March 20. Your bad mood

can cause conflicts with those who surround you; you must be aware of it. Remember: Only think about what is

positive.

By Germania Garcia

A lot of people get very frustrated when learning a foreign language because learning a new language is a process that demands a lot of time and effort. Part of the frustration they experience is not related to the actual learning curve process, it’s due to the lack proper techniques.There are three things that you should be aware of when trying to learn a foreign lan-guage quickly.

First: Try to listen to music, read books and watch movies or TV programmes in the language you are learning. Remember to write down the words you don’t know so you can check them after. You have to understand what they are saying, so, do not forget to ask yourself if what you are listening to makes sense. Do this as often as possible and you will see immediate results. Second: Speaking in the language you are learning is as important as listening to it. That is how you learnt your mother tongue, you heard people around you speaking, and you began imitating what you heard. It works the same way when learning a second language.Talking for fifteen minutes a day will help you a great deal. You will find yourself speaking more confidently and you will see progress at a much faster pace. Third: You need to spend as much time as possible exposing yourself to the language you are learning. If you are somebody with a laid-back (lazy?!) attitude, that is fine, just use your time appropriately. Instead of listening to music in Spanish, listen to something in the language you are learning.

If you have a busy daily schedule, organize yourself so you have thirty minutes a day to listen and/or speak in that other language.

To experience quicker results, try to find an environment to relax and concentrate. It is necessary to have a comfortable learning environment.

If you would like to go to a great place to practice English, watch movies, listen to music, read or relax and make friends, the Speakeasy English Club next to RESEC is the place for you. It’s free for the UTPL community, fun, and full of friendly staff all waiting to help you improve your English!

Good luck and happy learning!

Steps To Learn A Foreign Language QuickerTHE ORACLE


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By Fernanda Sarango

In this game, you are going to practice your English and the good news is that if you do it well, I am sure you will learn some new words and improve your vocabulary. So, have fun and enjoy.

How to play?First you have to read all the sentences below.Secondly, you should find seven new words in the word-search box be-low.Thirdly, you are going to fill in the blanks in the sentences with the new words.

goofing off: wasting time. flick: movie. go bananas: go slightly mad. geek: someone who works too hard, is more intelligent than usual, and is slightly unattractive. nosh: food.nuke: heat in a microwave.fox: attractive, alluring person. ditch: leave. can: a restroom or toilet.boo-boo: mistake.

“If your coffee’s cold, just_________________it for about a minute.”

“Let’s go out tonight and watch a___________________________.”

“She made a big___________________.”

“Why did you______________________me at that party?”

“Is it true that Dave is a _______________________?”

“Stop _________________ and help me clean the house!”

“Do you know where the _____________________is?”

“There’s plenty in the refrigerator if you want something to ________on”.

“This project is causing me to ____________________!”

“Bill Gates is kind of a _______________”.

the Game corner

f f o g n i f o o g

o b i n o p o s w a

b t o y u n x i c h

a s w o m k d k a j

n o s h b c e l n k

a e r y t o u j g d

n z a x g c o s d i

a c c v e y g j e t

s x n b e t f u r c

f l i c k e l f j h


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and landed at Pevesey, on the south coast of England, to claim the throne of England for himself.

William’s landing was not a surprise for Harold, but the timing of his landing came at the worst moment for the English. Wil-liam was not the only claimant to the throne of England. The king of Norway, Harald Hardrada, had landed with his army in the north of England, and he also wanted to seize the throne from Harold. Just after Harold and his army had been north to defeat the Norwe-gian king at a cost to his forces, he got news of William’s arrival on English soil. Months before, Harold had summoned an army to face William; but, after the expected invasion failed to materialise, many of Harold’s men

were sent home to help in the harvest. Now that William had finally arrived, Harold had no other choice but to face him with the few men he had left at his disposal.

Harold and his army clashed in battle with the Norman invaders near Hastings. From early in the morning on the 14th Oc-tober, the English host fought bravely on the battlefield, and by mid afternoon victory over the Normans was close at hand. The coura-geous resistance given by the English had placed the Normans in a despairing situation. Realising that he could not win the battle by sheer force alone, William devised a cun-ning ploy to change the course of the ongoing battle to his favour. William’s army feigned a retreat to attract the English away from their

WE ALMOST LOST ITBy Nick Izquierdo

Spoken by hundreds of millions around the world, English is the lingua franca of our times. Like its predecessors, Latin

and French, English enjoys unrivalled clout and prestige around the world. However, in the history of the English language there was a period in which it could have followed the fate of Latin by joining the list of dead lan-guages.

Nowadays it seems hard to entertain the idea of a world without English, but around nine hundred years ago an important event that completely changed the history of Eng-land took place. With it, the fate of the Eng-lish language was placed at risk.

In January, 1066, the English king, Ed-ward the Confessor, died childless, and Wil-liam, duke of Normandy, being Edward’s second cousin, had hoped to succeed him. However, immediately, after the death of Ed-ward, Harold, the earl of West Saxon, was crowned King of England. Frustrated, but not discouraged at all by Harold’s coronation, William began planning his invasion of Eng-land to assert his claim to the English throne. In September of that year, William crossed the Channel with a powerful Norman army

FEATURE

A scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the battle of Hastings


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NORMANDY

BRITTANY MAINEPERCHE

PICARDY

Bayeux

Rouen

Caen

positions. The ruse worked as planned. Part of the English army went in pursuit of the flee-ing Normans who then turned around and ambushed the English attack. Unfortunately, for the English, Harold fell in the foray, leav-ing them leaderless. The Normans soon took advantage of the state of disarray into which the English army had fallen, and by nightfall they had driven the English into a full retreat.

Harold’s death and the English army’s defeat at Hastings was not enough to secure the English throne at once for William, now called the Conqueror. Two months passed be-fore the city of London decided to surrender and recognize William as king. On Decem-ber 25, 1066, William the Conqueror, was crowned King of England in the Abbey of Westminster.

This was not the first time England had a foreigner as king. For a time of just over twenty years immediately before Edward the Confes-sor was king, England had been under Danish rule. This time, though, things were different. A large number of English nobles had fallen in battle at Hastings, and many others who had survived went into exile or were later executed. The positions in government, and estates once held by the now-disgraced English nobility were given as a reward to the Norman aristo-crats, who had come to fight along with Wil-liam in his conquest of England. During Wil-liam’s reign the important positions of power in every sphere of government changed from English to Norman hands. Even the church

was not immune to this shift in the balance of power that swept the country. Within a few years after the Conquest almost all the impor-tant positions in the Church of England were occupied by Norman prelates.

During the period of Danish rule, the English language had coexisted rather peacefully with Old Norse, the language of the Scandinavian rulers and settlers of the Danelaw; a region in south-eastern England where a large number of Scandinavians had

settled. Both languages, at that time, were in some degree mutually intelligible due to the fact that they were part of the same family of Germanic languages.

Now, under William’s reign, English was going to be displaced by Norman-French, the language of the Norman conquerors. Nor-man-French was a French dialect spoken in Normandy, France. French, unlike English, is an offshoot from Latin and belongs to the branch of Romance languages along with

The Duchy of Normandy circa 1066


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Harald Hardrada’sNorwegian fleet

Sept 28:William of Normandy’s

landing

20-24 Sept:Harold northwards

2-6 Oct:Harold southwards

Sept 25:Battle of

Stamford Bridge

Oct 14:Battle of Hastings

LONDON

YORK

PEVENCEYHASTINGS

ENGLISHCHANNEL

NORMANDY

Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian. The Normans had come in enough num-

bers to continue using their language without facing any pressure at all to learn English. During William’s reign, a constant influx of both upper class and lower ranking Nor-mans were to arrive, increasing the number of French speakers in England. Now that French was the official language of court, govern-ment, literature, and education, the English upper class had to adapt to the times, learning French to keep its influence at court. Inter-marriage between English and Norman upper class families also helped to accelerate the pro-cess in which speaking French was favoured over speaking English by this new Anglo-Norman nobility.

The use of French by the aristocracy in England seemed likely to continue unabated in the future because of the strong existing links between England and the Continent. The King and many of the Anglo-Norman aristocrats had titles and estates in both Eng-land and France so it was natural for them to spend time on both sides of the Channel.

Before the Norman Conquest, English had developed a rich literary tradition, but after the Conquest English literature fell in esteem as a consequence of the change in the preferences of its patrons, the court and the aristocracy, in favour of the French language.

The knowledge and use of French also ex-tended to the middle class circles in England. It is safe to assume that for members of the

Timeline of the battles of Stamford Bridge and Hastings - 1066


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middle classes a certain degree of bilingual-ism was present during this time. Knights and merchants constituted two groups in which bilingualism must have been fairly common, and even taken for granted.

At the other end of the social scale, how-ever, the lower classes in England continued to speak English with no need to learn French, due to the profound social division between upper and lower classes, and the lack of access to education for poorer people.

For how long English could have re-mained safe from the growing use and in-fluence of French in England is a matter of speculation. However, we do not have to look too far back in time to find a good example of what may happen when two languages are pit-ied against each other. In 449 Germanic tribes coming from the Continent settled in Eng-land. These Germanic peoples spoke closely related Germanic dialects, that were later to become the basis of the English language, while the indigenous inhabitants of England, the Celts, spoke Celtic. The clash between these two languages resulted in the rise of the English language and the subsequent fall of Celtic language.

During the time French was actively used in England, the amount of French and Latin words that became part of the English lan-guage grew to constitute around fifty percent of its lexicon. This trend could have contin-ued were it not for an important event that was pivotal for the reestablishment of English

to its former position of power in the court. That event was the loss of Normandy.

Since William the Conqueror, the kings of England had also retained their titles as dukes of Normandy. So much had their power and estate grown in France that they began to be seen with increasing suspicion by the French crown. In 1202 John, king of England, was called to Paris by King Philip of France, to stand trial for having attacked the Lusignans family without any justification. John request-ed a safe passage in order to appear at his trial, but Philip, seeing this as chance to humiliate John, imposed conditions that he knew John would not accept. Hence, John did not attend his trial, and the court ordered the confisca-tion of his estate. In 1204, after two years of fighting, the duchy of Normandy was finally in control of Philip, and the link the King of England had with Normandy was severed.

The confrontation England and France had because of the confiscation of Norman-dy from King John had sown the seeds for a state of animosity between the two kingdoms. The Anglo-Norman nobility that held estates in both England and France were caught in between the enmity of both kings, and faced the dilemma of choosing which side to pledge alliance. Some families divided themselves and their estates in two; the English family branch would remain in possession of their English lands and the French family branch would do the same with their lands in Nor-mandy. Other families, on the other hand,

KEY DATES IN THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FROM 449 TO

1362

A.D. 449: Angles, Saxons and Jutes begin to settle in England. The dialects of these Germanic tribes will become the basis for the English language.

792: Old Norse, the language of the Scandinavian settlers of the Danelaw, begins to influence Old English. As a result of the extensive borrowning, many of the most common words in English have Scandinavian origin.

c. 850: Beowulf, the most famous Old English heroic poem is written.

1066: King Harold dies in the battle of Hastings and William the Conqueror is crowned King of England. Norman-French becomes the language of the courts, education, and upper classes.

1349: English begins to be used in schools as a medium of instruction again.

1362: The Statute of Pleading makes English the official language in England. Parliament is opened with its first speech delivered in English.


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decided to keep their English estates and give up their Norman lands. In 1244 the king of France summoned all nobles who had lands in England to Paris, and asked them to choose once and for all between their French or their English holdings.

Due to the antagonism between France and England, the Anglo-Norman nobility began to develop a sense of identity as Eng-lish. This new-found English identity was strengthened even further when a very large number of French nationals were embraced in the court of King John, and given prominent posts to the detriment of the English nation-als. A second and third wave of French and other foreigners that came to profit from King Henry III’s favour were to rekindle the flame of nationalism in the English people’s hearts.

Around this time French had acquired a highly respected status as a cultured language across Europe. In England French was still used by the upper classes and, by tradition, in several key institutions such as Parliament, law courts, and universities. But English had already begun to make some steady progress in places once considered strongholds of the French language. By the end of the thirteenth century, clear signs that the use of French in England was going into decline had begun to appear. In monasteries and universities rules forbidding novices and students to speak in English had to be placed lest French go into disuse. In 1332 Parliament issued a decree bidding all nobles to teach their children the

French language.The lack of prestige of Anglo-French, the

Hundred Years’ War, and the improving con-ditions of the English middle class came to benefit English. By the beginning of the fif-teenth century the use of French in England was doomed, and English was once again the national language of England. But something we always have to remember is that the flame of the English language was kept alive thanks to the humble people who lived in the coun-tryside, towns, and cities of England. If there ever were heroes in the history of the Eng-lish language, they surely have to be counted among them.

By Germania García

The Lambada is a fast and sensual dance that can be performed alone, with a partner, or in a group. The name refers to the rhythm of the music. Although the music has its origins in Brazil it reached worldwide popularity in the late 80s mainly due to the group Kaoma. Their number worldwide number one sum-mer hit “Lambada” sold 5 million singles in 1989.

Unlike other dances, the Lambada is bet-ter danced on bare feet, as you do most of the dancing on your tip toes!

You must listen to the music, feel the rhythm filling you, and your body will start moving on its own. Bend your knees a little, as if you were skiing. Find the rhythm and cadence. At first do not worry about fancy steps, just let your hips move whilst changing weight from one foot to the other.

Stand on the balls of your feet and twist them as if stubbing a cigarette out; first one, then the other. Try to keep your upper body steady. This will emphasize the movement of your hips. Stay close to your partner, do not pay too much attention to getting the steps perfect, instead just enjoy the music and the way your body starts moving and feeling!

Remember that the Lambada is a sensual dance: A dance of pleasure and seduction. En-joy the music, feel the rhythm and have fun!

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DANCE LAMBADA?

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING:

A History of the English Language by Albert C.Baugh and Thomas Cable.

A History of the English Language edited by Richard Hogg and David Denison.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language edited by David Crystal.