Foreign languages

Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. It is long and slow process that takes a lot of time and efforts. Nowadays it is especially important to know foreign languages. Some people learn languages because they need them for their work, others travel abroad, for some people studying languages is just a hobby. Everyone who knows foreign languages can speak to people from other countries, read foreign authors in original. It’s fun. It is not surprising that many intellectuals and well educated people are polyglots. The great German poet Goethe once said: “He, who knows no foreign language, does not know his own one.” That’s absolutely right. If we want to understand ourselves and environment we should study foreign languages.

As for me, I study English. English is an international language, it is the main language of business, science, politics and cultural relations. Nowadays 750 million people all over the world use it. Over 300 million people speak it as a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, English is one of the official languages of the Irish Republic, Canada, the South Africa, India and many other countries of the world.

English is the main language of computers and technology. Three quarters of the world’s mail are in English. It is the language of sports. I should say that English is a wonderful language, it is the language of great literature, the language of William Shakespeare, Jonathan Swift, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens.

There are many ways of learning a language. In order to master English, to brush it up and to keep it up we practise grammar together with vocabulary, we have a lot of drills at our English lessons. Practice helps us to memorise words, up-to-date idioms and phrasal verbs. We also read texts, translate them, write tests and dictations, make up and act out dialogues, speak about different things and we learn social English to know what sort of English to use in different situations. At our English lessons we pay much attention to English intonation and pronunciation because if you get it wrong, people think you are rude. It is important to learn how to ask for information, how to be polite.

I guess it is helpful to read English books, to watch English films, to have private lessons, to use educational computer programmes and it seems to me that the most effective way is going to English speaking country. I want to know English because I like speaking English.

I want to use English in my future job. I want to use computer programmes in English, besides I want to travel to Britain or to the USA and meet a lot of people and to talk to them in English.

Do you have any problems while learning English? (Answer a question using these sentences)

I find grammar (learning words) far more difficult (hard).

I have no problems while (learning, reading, memorizing words, idioms, phrasal verbs).

I have most problems with vocabulary (grammar, speaking…).

I feel confident about pronunciation (listening, reading…)

3. Answer the questions:

1) Is English more difficult to learn than any other languages?

2) To be good at English, do you have to sound like an English person?

3) Are some people better than others at learning languages?

4) Does that mean that confident people are more successful at learning languages than shy people?

5) What is your main reason for learning English?

6) What opportunities do you have to practise English in your spare time?

7) How do you personally prefer to study English?

8) What is the secret of language learning?

9) Why is good pronunciation desirable for English speaker?

4. Agree or disagree:

1) Everyone should be able to speak at least two languages.

2) There is no one way to learn a language.

3) Experience is better than training.

4) Grammar is an easy thing.

5) To be good at English, you must work hard every day.

6) Sounding like an English person does not mean you are good at English.

7) Some English sounds may create difficulties for the students.

8) You can learn English only if you live in an English-speaking country.

9) English is the most popular foreign language in Russia.

10) There are thirty-two letters in the English alphabet.

Дата добавления: 2015-09-04