A Trip Around the World
2024-02-02
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1Pack your bags, make sure your travel documents are in order.
2Today we are taking a trip around the world - if only in our imagination.
3For this Everyday Grammar lesson, we will leave behind our grammar books.
4We will instead look at messages from friends who are in Pakistan, Spain, Belgium, and Japan.
5Our goal: to learn more about the populations of different countries.
6We will learn about English along the way.
7Let's begin our journey...
8In a recent lesson about the noun "population," we asked our listeners the following questions:
9What is the population like in your country or city? Is the population increasing or decreasing?
10Here are some of the answers we received:
11Saeed wrote to us from Lahore, Pakistan.
12Saeed noted:
13City Lahore - Pakistan
14Increasing
15In 2023 was 13,979,000, a 3.23% increase from 2022.
16Saeed presented some exact numbers about the city of Lahore.
17Our suggestion is to use complete sentences.
18In other words, Saeed could update the statement to something like this:
19The population of Lahore, Pakistan, is increasing.
20In 2023, the population was 13,979,000, a 3.23% increase from 2022.
21Now that we have learned some information about a big city in Pakistan, we can learn about a major European city.
22Rafael writes to us from Barcelona, Spain.
23Here is part of the message:
24...The populacion in my city is decreasing due to low birth rate, although the total count is maintained thanks to inmigration....The arrival of people from very different cultures creates some integration problems, but it helps to solve other important ones derived from the general aging....
25Rafael wrote an excellent message.
26Our main suggestion is to double check the spelling of a few words: population and immigration.
27In terms of grammar, one idea is to include an article such as "the" before "birth rate."
28Definite and indefinite articles help show the difference between a specific and a general noun.
29So, we could update Rafael's statement to something like this: "The population in my city is decreasing due to the low birth rate..."
30Now let's look at part of a message from Jean Claude, in Belgium.
31...The population of Belgium was 11.67 million inhabitants on January 2023.
32The Belgian population increased by 0.98% compared to the previous year...
33Jean Claude's message was clear and to the point.
34There is one suggestion we have.
35It is in the first sentence. We have the phrase "on January 2023" but instead we should use the short word "in," like this:
36The population of Belgium was 11.67 million inhabitants in January 2023.
37We usually use the short word "on" for an exact date, such as "on January 4th" or "on January 27th"
38Next, we are in for a long trip to the other side of the world.
39A friend from Japan would like to tell us about the population of the island country.
40Here is part of a message from an unnamed reader:
41According to the national statics, Japan's population has been decreasing almost 600,000 people per a year.
42There are more than 120,000,000 people in Japan now.
43However, I heard the population will be under 100,000,000 in 30 years.
44We suggest the following changes to the first sentence.
45The term "statics" should be changed to "statistics."
46In addition, we often use the short word "by" after decreasing.
47We can then remove "a" from its position before "year."
48So, we might update the sentence to something like this:
49According to national statistics, Japan's population has been decreasing by almost 600,000 people per year.
50That brings us to the end of our imaginative trip around the world.
51We received many wonderful pieces of writing - those that were included in today's lesson and many others that were not.
52Overall, the general recommendations are to pay careful attention to spelling and to double check short words - prepositions, articles, and so on.
53We hope that you have learned a little more about the world, as well as some ideas to use when you write in English.
54I'm John Russell.
1Pack your bags, make sure your travel documents are in order. 2Today we are taking a trip around the world - if only in our imagination. 3For this Everyday Grammar lesson, we will leave behind our grammar books. We will instead look at messages from friends who are in Pakistan, Spain, Belgium, and Japan. 4Our goal: to learn more about the populations of different countries. We will learn about English along the way. 5Let's begin our journey... 6Background 7In a recent lesson about the noun "population," we asked our listeners the following questions: 8What is the population like in your country or city? Is the population increasing or decreasing? 9Here are some of the answers we received: 10Pakistan 11Saeed wrote to us from Lahore, Pakistan. Saeed noted: 12City Lahore - Pakistan 13Increasing 14In 2023 was 13,979,000, a 3.23% increase from 2022. 15Saeed presented some exact numbers about the city of Lahore. 16Our suggestion is to use complete sentences. In other words, Saeed could update the statement to something like this: 17The population of Lahore, Pakistan, is increasing. 18In 2023, the population was 13,979,000, a 3.23% increase from 2022. 19Spain 20Now that we have learned some information about a big city in Pakistan, we can learn about a major European city. Rafael writes to us from Barcelona, Spain. 21Here is part of the message: 22...The populacion in my city is decreasing due to low birth rate, although the total count is maintained thanks to inmigration....The arrival of people from very different cultures creates some integration problems, but it helps to solve other important ones derived from the general aging.... 23Rafael wrote an excellent message. Our main suggestion is to double check the spelling of a few words: population and immigration. 24In terms of grammar, one idea is to include an article such as "the" before "birth rate." Definite and indefinite articles help show the difference between a specific and a general noun. 25So, we could update Rafael's statement to something like this: "The population in my city is decreasing due to the low birth rate..." 26Belgium 27Now let's look at part of a message from Jean Claude, in Belgium. 28...The population of Belgium was 11.67 million inhabitants on January 2023. The Belgian population increased by 0.98% compared to the previous year... 29Jean Claude's message was clear and to the point. There is one suggestion we have. It is in the first sentence. We have the phrase "on January 2023" but instead we should use the short word "in," like this: 30The population of Belgium was 11.67 million inhabitants in January 2023. 31We usually use the short word "on" for an exact date, such as "on January 4th" or "on January 27th" 32Next, we are in for a long trip to the other side of the world. A friend from Japan would like to tell us about the population of the island country. 33Japan 34Here is part of a message from an unnamed reader: 35According to the national statics, Japan's population has been decreasing almost 600,000 people per a year. There are more than 120,000,000 people in Japan now. However, I heard the population will be under 100,000,000 in 30 years. 36We suggest the following changes to the first sentence. The term "statics" should be changed to "statistics." In addition, we often use the short word "by" after decreasing. We can then remove "a" from its position before "year." So, we might update the sentence to something like this: 37According to national statistics, Japan's population has been decreasing by almost 600,000 people per year. 38Lessons 39That brings us to the end of our imaginative trip around the world. 40We received many wonderful pieces of writing - those that were included in today's lesson and many others that were not. 41Overall, the general recommendations are to pay careful attention to spelling and to double check short words - prepositions, articles, and so on. 42We hope that you have learned a little more about the world, as well as some ideas to use when you write in English. 43I'm John Russell. 44John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 45__________________________________________ 46Words in This Story 47check -v. to make sure something is correct by looking at it or reading it again 48spelling -n. the way the letters in a word are correctly written, or spelled 49phrase - n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence 50inhabitant - n. a person that lives in a particular place 51statistic - n. (often plural) a number that represents a piece of information