LINKING WORDS 2

Gap-fill exercise

Fill in all the gaps choosing a linking word form the drop-down list, then press "Check" to check your answers. Use the "Hint" button to get a free letter if an answer is giving you trouble. You can also click on the "[?]" button to get a clue. Note that you will lose points if you ask for hints or clues!

   ALSO      AT FIRST GLANCE      DESPITE      HOWEVER      HOWEVER      JUST AS      THEREFORE      TO SUM UP      UNLIKE      WHEREAS   
There is and always has been a need for an international language, and historically languages ahve competed with each other for this role. The current leader in the field is English, with other European languages behind, but artificial languages such as Esperanto are nowhere to be in sight.
, this might seem surprising, as the advantage of artificial languages is that they are supposed to be simpleto learn. natural languages, there are no irregular verbs, the grammar is extremely simple, and the vocabulary has a large number of words that appear to be easy to learn. , while this may be ture for speakers of Eurpean languages, it is by no means true for speakers of a language like Japanese, which is entireley different. Artificial languages are therefore not suitable for everyone, because they are based only on European languages.
There would be be practical problems if an artifical language was chosen as an international mans of communicationl. There is no official organization or government that could make such a decision, because as far as languages are concerned, success breeds success. Most people want to learn a language such as English, Spanish or French that is already widely spoken, and popular languages continually attract new learners. It would not be realistic for governments to impose an artificial language with almost no speakers, because people would simply refuse to learn it.
Ultimately, , the main problem with an artificial language is related to the nature of language itself. An artificial language is simply a set of words with no heart, no native speakers and no traditions, a living language is dynamic. Living languages can change and develop. They have literary traditions and are capable of growing and adopting new words and ideas. Languages are aggressive too, and take over and kill off minority ones, English has almost eliminated Gaelic. In these circumstances, an artificial language coud never hope to survive.
, although the current international languages are not ideal, there is no evidence that artificial languages would be any better. their deceptive simplicity, it would be almost impossible to make everyone to learn one, and it would possible not survive unchanged anyway. It is possible that English will continue to dominate and may one day be a completely international second language, but whatever happens, the process will be determined by the speakers, and will not be under political control.