[Music] well the talk was called as you probably heard the future of englishes and the important thing is that es ending at the end there you know don't fall into a trap of thinking as some people do around the world there is no such word you know English does not have a plural oh yes it does English is is very definitely around and that word came into being about 10 or 15 years ago really um to reflect the reality of what happens when English becomes a global language because what does happen you know as a country takes up the English language and adopts it it immediately adapts it to suit its circumstances because what is language for language exists in order for us to talk about what we want to talk about so what do you want to talk about well anything I suppose the whole world but you especially want to talk about what's happening in Serbia or whoever's watching this your country and therefore you want to have an English that actually reflects your local interests your history the things that happen around you all the things that you would naturally do in your own language if you're learning another language as an international language then you want to be able to talk in that language as well and so what is happening in English as it goes around the world becomes Global is that the different countries that have adopted it immediately start to make it their own they start to shape it and push it in a direction it never was in before now this has happened ever since English began so take 400 years ago or so when the first people arrived in America and you know we're talking 16006 that's the sort of period and they settle on the Eastern seab Board of America you get the beginnings of Virginia and the result is American English eventually but how long do you think it takes for an American English to develop are you thinking decades or hundreds of years it only takes weeks for a new variety of English to start to grow because as soon as you arrive you want to talk about what you see and what did the Mariners see and the settlers see when they arrived in America they saw new plants new animals they saw uh Indians with behavior that they'd never seen before with new clothes uh new costumes new new shoes and so words started to come in like moccasin and Wigwam and Squall and skunk and they would write these words in their letters back home so suddenly in British English these letters were coming through with American English in just a few days after these guys had arrived in America so that's how long it takes for a new variety of English to grow and as you look around the Modern English world and you see English developing in places like well you know everywhere Now everywhere all countries in the world have English either as a first language or a second language or a privileged foreign language and it doesn't take long for these countries to take the English that wherever it's come from Britain perhaps or from America or from Australia and then start to adapt it to make it their own and how do you see this adaptation taking place chiefly in the vocabulary so it doesn't take long if you take a dictionary like the dictionary of South African English for instance there are 10,000 words in that dictionary that are only used in South Africa you see or perhaps just around South Africa afca like Zimbabwe and so on so if you read South African English every now and then you come across a word and you have no idea what it means because you don't know the cultural background I told a story in the lecture of my first visit to South Africa driving along the road British Council driver there and I see a sign ahead and it says robot ahead and I go what and I turn to the driver I say robot ahead and he turns to me and says in a lovely South African accent of course it's a robot and I say what's a robot he says you don't know what a robot is I say no I don't know what a robot is have they landed or something uh no no no a robot is anybody know a robot is a traffic light in South African English that's all and so when you're in South Africa you will hear people saying sentences is like turn left at the robot or the robot is broken or you'll find the shop three robots ahead and now you know you can interpret it but the first time you hear it you go what like that now think 10,000 words like that in South African English not all from British English of course robot comes from British English well check originally of course but there are words from Africans and words from Zulu words from Co and all the other languages of South Africa so what happens when English goes to a new part of the world is income the the loan words The Borrowed words from the other languages around that make that English difficult for a foreigner to understand now I am the Foreigner here not just you you see there's no difference between me and you in this respect if you go to South Africa you don't understand some of the language you think oh I'm a foreigner I'm not a native speaker of English don't think like like that I go to South Africa I don't understand the language and I'm a native speaker of English you see there's no difference between me and you when it comes to going to different parts of the world and encountering these new varieties of English and everywhere this is the point you have to pick up on everywhere in every country in the world there is a new variety of English gr growing which is culturally influenced and it's happening here in Serbia you see you think Serbian English what could that be well what's I'll tell you what Serbian English is it's the English you use when you talk to me about Serbia and I don't understand what you're talking about because I don't understand what is happening in Serbia let me give some examples the other way around let me give you some examples of how I will use culturally specific British English and you may or may not understand it so if I come out of the room now over there and say oh terrible it was like Clapham Junction in there what on Earth do I mean it was like Clapham Junction in there very common expression but unless you know what Clapham Junction is you've no idea you understand my grammar you understand the vocabulary pretty well except the name you understand the pronunciation but if you don't know what Clapham Junction is you can't understand the sentence and I tell you Clapham Junction is the name of a railway station in the south of London it's the most chaotic railway station in Britain because it has more Railway platforms than anywhere else and the railway lines come all over the place and if you ever go to Clapham Junction you will get lost you will miss your train probably because you won't find the right platform so it has become an idiom meaning it was chaos in there it was terribly busy so you come out of a room and you say it was like Clapham Junction in there all right that's British England English what is how would you translate that into Serbian you see what is the equivalent it was chaos is there such an expression maybe you are never chaotic in Serbia you don't have this sort of problem I don't know but the thing is as I go around the world I increasingly find people talking to me in English and using Expressions which I have to I say sorry I don't understand what you mean because they just slip into talking about oh the political parties Serbia just like I might say you know the the Tories the labor party The Independents and so on and I know what I mean but you only know what I mean if you know the British political system now if you start talking politics here I'm going to get lost very very quickly you will have nicknames for your prime minister I have no doubt and rude ones too I expect um I won't know what they are if you drop these into the conversation there will be parts of the city where you say you shouldn't go there because it's dangerous may be the parts of a city where something special happens if somebody says to you in London I'm going down to Soho what is he saying what's what is it about Soho well you have to know that Soho is the traditional sex shop area in London and that's why he said Soho rather than Soho see if you're just going to Soho you're just going there if you're going to Soho you're going for a different reason you now what is your Soho maybe you haven't got one I see there are some nods around the room so perhaps you have you see what I mean every aspect of your culture myths and legends FAA and Flora the food you eat the folklore you have the songs the dances the politics the institutions talk about them in English and there will be a Serbian flavor to it which I might or might not understand [Music]