Touchy Topics

In the USA and Canada when people meet each other for the first time, they talk about things like family, work, school, or sports. They ask ques­tions like “Do you have any brothers or sisters?', “Where do you work⁰", “What school do you go to?’, and “Do you like spoils?". They also ask questions like “Where do you come from?” and “Where do you live?”. These are polite questions. They are not personal or private.

But some things are personal or private, and questions about them are impolite. People don’t ask questions about a person's salary. They don’t ask how much someone paid for something. It is OK to ask children how old they are, but it is not polite to ask older people their age. It is also not polite to ask people questions about politics or religion unless you know them very well. People don't ask unmarried people “Why are you single?” and they don’t ask a married couple with no children “Why don’t you have any children?’

2. Прочитайте вопросы и скажите, прилично ли их задавать чело­веку в США и Канаде. А в нашей странe?

e.g. It is polite in The USA but it’s not polite in Russia.

- What does your wife do?

- Do you believe in God?

- How much do you earn?

- How many children do you have?

- Why aren’t you married?

- Do you like baseball?

- How old are you?

- Are you a Democrat or a Republican?

- How much was your watch?

3. Знаете ли вы, что в мире существует несколько вариантов анг­лийского языка? Одним из наиболее распространенных является аме­риканский анг­лийского, который довольно сильно отличается от бри­танского варианта Заполните пропуски вариантами, данными ниже:

jumper, fail, movie, сот, sdescierk, store, sweets, post, underground, crazy, cooker

American English	British English
apartment	flat	квартира
candies		конфеты, сладости
	maize	кукуруза
elevator	lift	лифт
	autumn	осень
first floor	ground floor	1 -й этаж
football	American football	американский футбол
soccer	football	футбол
mail		почта
cab	taxi	такси
	mad	сумасшедший
mad	angry	злой, разгневанный
	film	фильм
the movies	cinema	кинотеатр
schedule	timetable	расписание, график
stove		кухонная плита
	shop assistant	продавец
subway		метро
	shop	магазин
pants	trousers	брюки
sweater, pullover		свитер

4. Переведите предложения с британского английского на амери­канский, пользуясь словарем из предыдущего упражнения:

1. То get there we can go by underground or catch a taxi.

2. Do you like autumn?

3. The timetable at our university changes very often

4. Let's send them a present by post

5. Jill spent two hours in the shop She drove all the shop assistants mad (свела с ума). At last she bought a pair of black trousers and two junipers.

6. Would you like to go to the cinema? There’s a good film on

5. Tips for Learning & Improving English

Whether you are a foreign student or a native speaker, English skills can always be improved. There are many tried and true tips for learning English. These are five English tips that are often taught to the foreign language speakers coming into English. These tips not only help learn English, but they are also tips on improving English skills.

1.) Read a book, newspaper or journal in English that is just above your current level of reading with a dictionary. This will help to learn new vocabulary words in a fun way. This is also a great tip for improving English in a technical field. Even by spending a mere 15 minutes a day, your skills can improve drastically.

2.) Listen to speeches or watch movies or documentaries in areas you aren't familiar with are fun tips on improving English. This activity will help improve listening and vocabulary at the same time. At first you can use subtitles, then turn the subtitles off when the listening part of this activity becomes easier.

3.) Although less fun, learning grammar is an essential tool for English. Knowing English grammar inside and out is one of the top tips on learning English. This should be tackled at the same time as both reading and listening exercises so that you understand how the sentence is constructed, and can manipulate it later to suit your needs.

4.) Keeping a diary allows you to utilize all of your English skills that you've been practicing with reading, listening and grammar. As a bonus, you can go back over your entries and grade yourself, noting where you can improve more. This is one of the greatest tips on improving English at any stage of learning the language.

5.) When you feel you are ready, go for total immersion. This means surrounding yourself by English speakers. Of all English tips, this one will test all of your skills.

After all your hard work, don't forget to reward yourself. Learning English is hard, but with these tips on learning English, you will get better.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-20