Cultural References

Junior high schools — (in the US) a school for young people between the ages of 12 and 14.

Vocabulary Notes

to switch among/from — to change from one thing to another, usually sud­denly.

to play down — to try to make sth seem less important than it is.

to expose — to let sb find out about sth by giving them experience of it or showing them what it is like.

EXERCISES:

Comprehension

1. How does Gabriella explain her linguistic phenomenon?

2. How do the scientists explain the ability of speaking several lan­guages?

3. How many languages according to the scientists one can acquire?

4. What language systems have you learned about in the text? What is the most frequent one? Why?

5. Why is it important to learn two or more languages?

6. What advice does Genesee give to adults?

Discussion Points

a) What is the best age of learning a foreign language?

b) What pitfalls are there in your way of learning a second language?

c) When is it more advisable to begin a second language?

d) What are the bars to learning a language later in life?

e) What are the benefits of being bilingual?

Vocabulary

1. Find the English equivalents for the following Russian words and word combinations as used in the text:

овладеть языком;

воспитатель;

вся семья;

программа «погружение в язык»;

использовать;

родной язык;

идеальная беглость;

выделять в потоке речи различные звуки;

погрузиться в язык.

2. Choose the best definition to the following words from the text:

1. Modest

a) not very large, expensive, important;

b) not talking much about your own abilities or possessions;

c) showing you do not think that you are as important as other people.

2. To ensure

a) to make sure that sth happens or is definite;

b) to promise to do sth;

c) to tell sb that sth is definitely true esp. when they have doubts about it.

3. Rich

a) having a lot of money or property;

b) very interesting and full of variety;

c) containing a lot of fat, butter, eggs and making you feel full quickly.

4. Fascinating

a) extremely interesting and attractive;

b) very pleasant or attractive;

c) taking all your attention, very attractive and interesting.

5. To bring up

a) to make sb appear for trial;

b) to mention a subject or start to talk about it;

c) to care for a child, teaching him or her how to behave.

6. To diminish

a) to become or to make sth become smaller, weaker;

b) to become or make sth become smaller in size, number;

c) to make sb/sth seem less important than they really are.

Summary

Make a summary of the article. Use the expressions given in Appendix II.

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