The elephant that can speak Korean

An elephant in Korea has become a language student. Koshik, a 22-year-old male elephant, is already fluent in speaking "elephantese," but he is now trying to learn the Korean language Hangul. A report about Koshik was printed in the online journal "Current Biology". The author of the report is Dr Angela Stoeger-Horwath, who works at the University of Vienna in Austria. 

Researchers said Koshik has been listening to human speech for many years and has slowly learned to copy it. He can now say the Korean for hello, sit down, no, lie down, good, not yet, and yes. Dr Stoeger-Horwath asked 16 Koreans to listen to 47 recordings of Koshik. They could all understand what he was saying.

The researchers gave a few reasons why they think Koshik can talk. One possibility is that he has a very close relationship with his trainer, Kim Jong-gab. Mr Kim often sleeps near Koshik to keep him company. The trainer talks to him every day, so Koshik copied what he heard. 

Another is that the elephant is lonely and wants to communicate with people and have friends. The research team said the way Koshik makes sounds is very unusual - he uses his trunk to reproduce human speech. They said he is much better at making vowel sounds than consonant sounds. Trainer Kim Jong-gab said he has one more phrase that he wants to teach Koshik - "Saranghae," or "I love you."


EXERCISE 1. PRONUNCIATION/WORD VOCABULARY

1. Elephantese [E-LE-FAN-TEES]
Meaning: (Noun) Language spoken by Elephnats.
Example Sentence: Elephants in Thailand are considered elephantese.

2. Hangul [HANG-GUL]

Meaning: (Noun) The Korean Alphabet
Example Sentence: It is difficult to learn how to write Hangul.


COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1.	What has an elephant in Korea become?
2.	How old is the elephant?
3.	What's the name of the online journal?
4.	Where does Dr Angela Stoeger-Horwath work?
5.	How many recordings did the 16 Koreans listen to?
6.	What kind of relationship does the elephant have with his trainer?
7.	Why does the trainer sometimes sleep near the elephant?
8.	How does the elephant communicate?
9.	What sounds can Koshik make better than consonants?
10.	What phrase does the trainer want to teach Koshik? EXERCISE 2. SHARING IDEAS

1. What do you think of the idea of talking animals?
2. Would you like to be fluent in English? Why?
3. How difficult is it to learn a language? Why?
4. Do you think animals will be able to speak in the future? Why?
5. What advice would you give to Koshik to learn language?





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