英語趣味課堂：關于厄瓜多爾-About Ecuador

Katia: Felipe, I want to ask you something that perhaps you can help me. I’m doing that paper of cultural diversity of Ecuador, perhaps you can tell me a little bit more about it.

Felipe: Well, that’s a really amazing topic we can talk about. Yeah. Well, Ecuador is really interesting because it has a lot of ethnic – many, many different ethnic groups. For example, depending on the regions, you know, for example in the coastal region, we have the Montubios ethnic group who have their own, you know, traditional language and food.

In the highlands, we have the Quechua communities, who speak, you know, Quechua, which is a language originally from Peru from the Inca Empire. And if you travel to the Amazon region, you can find many different kinds of ethnic groups such as the Huaoranis who live in the jungle, you know, in the Amazon region.

And you also can find Afro-Americans, you know, people who came from Africa in the 16th Century who live in the north part of Ecuador. Though they don’t have the traditional language, they have traditional food and they have created their own, you know, music and many different traditions.

Katia: That is amazing. How can that happen in such a small country like Ecuador, have so many differences, cultural differences?

Felipe: Yeah. That’s because of history, you know, because if you look at the history of Ecuador, it’s quite diverse. You have that in the 16th Century, Spanish people came and they brought a lot of culture and this culture is now mixed with the indigenous culture because originally in Ecuador, some – I don’t know – 10,000 years ago, indigenous people have been living there. So that when Spanish people came, they both shared their own cultures.

And also, you know, the Afro-American from Africa, they brought a lot of music and traditional culture from Africa. So that’s the reason why you have a lot of diversity. It’s really, really enjoyable, Ecuador.

Katia: That is so interesting. Really, thank you for this information. I think it’s going to be really helpful for my paper.

Felipe: Great. Okay. You’re welcome.

[End of Transcript]

重點詞匯：

Learn vocabulary from the lesson below.

diversity

I’m doing that paper on cultural diversity of Ecuador

Diversity means a lot of variety, especially about people. Notice the following:

America is a land of diversity.

Diversity in the workforce is important.

community

We have the Quechua communities, who speak Quechua.

A community is a group of people with a common connection. Notice the following:

The immigrant community is very strong.

I went to a community college.

ethnic group

You can find many different kinds of ethnic groups.

An ethnic group is a group of people from the same race or country. Notice the following:

There are many ethnic groups in Thailand.

We learned about ethnic groups from many places.

jungle

They live in the jungle.

A jungle is a forested area with hot, humid weather. Notice the following:

We went camping in the jungle.

Lots of animals live in the jungle.

indigenous

Indigenous people have been living there.

Indigenous means originating naturally from some place. Notice the following:

This tree is indigenous to the area.

The native Americans are the indigenous people of North America.

traditional culture

They brought a lot of music and traditional culture from Africa.

Traditional culture is culture passed on from generation to generation. Notice the following:

Most countries have a traditional culture and modern culture.

Young people sometimes do not like to follow their traditional culture.