Topic: Foreign Language in the Life of a Modern Man

The rise of English is a remarkable success story. When Julius Caesar landed in Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. Today English is used by at least 750 million people, and barely half of those speak it as the mother tongue.

Some estimates have put that figure closer to one billion. English today is more widely spoken and written than any other language has ever been. It has become the language of the planet, the first truly global language.

Three quarters of the world’s mail, and its telexes and cables are in English. It is the language of technology from Silicon Valley to Shanghai. English is the medium for 80 percent of the information stored in the world’s computers. Nearly half of all business deals in Europe are conducted in English. It is the language of sports and glamour: the official language of the Olympics and Miss Universe Competition. English is the official voice of the air and the sea, and of Christianity: it is the ecumenical language of the World’s Council of Churches. The largest broadcasting companies of the world (CBS, NBC, ABC, and BBC) transmit in English to audiences that regularly exceed one hundred million.

“Do you speak English?” – with this phrase begins the conversation between two people, who speak different languages and want to find a common language. It’s very good when you hear: “Yes, I do”, and start talking. People of different countries and nations have to get along well with the progress in world trade and technology as well as with each other.

So it is very useful to learn foreign languages. Knowledge of foreign languages helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.

With the English language you can read papers, magazines and original books by great writers, watch satellite TV programs. If you like traveling you can go anywhere without being afraid that other people will not understand you. English is very important to find a good job.

English is spoken practically all over the world. It is spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

The full name of Great Britain is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom is situated in the British Isles. The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England, Wales and Scotland. Great Britain is a highly industrialized country. The main industrial centers are London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool and Glasgow. The capital of the country is London. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy.

The USA is the most powerful and highly developed industrial country in the world. After 350 years of development the USA still holds the leading position in the western world. The capital of the USA is Washington.

Canada is the second largest country in the world. About 28 million people live in Canada. The capital of Canada is Ottawa.

Australia is the only country in the world which is also a continent. The country’s official name is the Commonwealth of Australia. Its capital is Canberra.

New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. New Zealand has one of the highest standards of living in the world. New Zealand belongs to a large island group called Polynesia. Britain gave New Zealand a constitution in 1852. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand.

A lot of people speak English in China, Japan, India, Africa and other countries. It is one of the 6 official languages of the United Nations. It is studied as a foreign language in many schools.

England’s history helps us to understand the present condition of English. Many English words were borrowed from the language of Angles and Saxons. Hundreds of French words came into English. These French words corresponding Anglo-Saxon words. There exist “act” and “deed”, “beautiful” and “pretty”, “form” and “shape”. Many new words were brought by traders and travelers. These words came from different parts of the world: “umbrella” – from Italian, “skates” – from Dutch, “tea” – from Chinese, “cigar” – from Spanish.

Some words came into English directly from Latin, which was the language of the church and the universities in the middle ages.

Some English words of today are derivatives. One way of creating new words is to put together two or older English words. For example, the words “railway”, “football”, “newspaper” are made in this way.

 Many of the new English words – especially new scientific ones – have been made from Latin and Greek words instead of English ones. “Telephone”, for instance, was made from Greek words “far” and “talk”.

As for me, I study English because in my opinion every well educated person should know English and I want to be an educated and successful person. Nowadays it’s necessary to know a foreign language. Knowledge of a foreign language helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.

The total number of languages in the world is between 2500 and 5000. English is spoken all over the world and very popular. There is a proverb: “Knowledge itself is power.” I agree with it.

I study English because I want to read English books of great writers in the original language. I want to communicate with people from different countries; I want to understand their culture and traditions. I like to travel very much and with the knowledge of English I can travel anywhere because more than 1 billion people speak English. I have a pen friend abroad.

How do I study English? First of all I read a lot. There is always an English book on my desk. Sometimes I speak English with my friend, he knows English very well.

Task:

Give a summary of the text.

 

Занятия 4, 5, 6

 

Topic: My Future Profession

 

Text 1. Прочитайте и переведите текст:

 

From: Lucy

To: [email protected]

Subject: Dear Mary

Date: 11.09.09

 

Dear Mary,

This is my first e-mail message to you from Novosibirsk. I’ve got great news to tell you!!! This summer I took entrance exams to Moscow Law Institute. There were a lot of applicants and the exams were rather difficult but I worked hard and passed them well enough to become a first-year student.

The Institute has a long history and a high status. The teaching staff consists of highly qualified professionals who are known all over the city. Classes begin at 9 o’clock in the morning and last till two or four in the afternoon. All subjects are very interesting. We have seminars and lectures in English, Philosophy, History, Theory of State and Law, Latin and so on. Later we are going to study law: constitutional law, civil law, criminal law, land law, family law. I’ll try to do well in all subjects and attend all classes in order to pass exams successfully.

After graduation from this Institute I would like to become a lawyer. I think that it is a noble profession, because you work with people and try to help them. To become a good lawyer you should work hard and have certain traits of character. You should be clever, helpful, open-minded and sociable. I feel that I’m just cut out to be a lawyer.

 

Truly yours,

Lucy.

 

 

Ex. 1. Найдите русские эквиваленты данным словам и выражениям:

a) Higher education, to enter, to pass exams, to fail exams (an exam), first-year student/ freshman, applicant, to be good at a subject (subjects), to work hard at smth, to hand in a paper, to attend classes, to miss classes, to do well in subjects, to lag behind the group, to catch up with the group;

b) Full-time student, part-time student, extra-mural student, fellow-students;

c) to run a company, to go into business, to be in the diplomatic service, to work in the field of, hard-working, intelligent, smart, honest, to be cut out for smth.

Ex. 2. Дополните предложения словами и выражениями из упражнения 1:

1. ____________ is becoming more and more popular in this country. 2. All the first-year students must ___________ their project papers by the end of November. 3. During the academic year all students have to ____________ so as not ________ the group. 4. They must ________________ because if they _______ ______ they will have ________ in order not to fail the exams. 5. Most of my friends _______ at college and hope to become good specialists. 6. As a rule, the students who ________, help their fellow-students who have some problems with the subject.

 

Ex. 3. Переведите предложения на русский язык:

1. Jack presented his graduation paper so well that he got his degree with Honors.

2. The university graduated 850 students last year. 3. Julie, you swim so well!!! You must have taken lessons from a dolphin. 4. The subject matter of my report is the economic development of England in the 15^th century. 5. The teacher lectured the boys for being lazy. 6. All my fellow-students took winter exams but not all of them passed the exams. 7. Professor Warren will give a lecture on the history of diplomacy next week.8. This book does not fully cover the subject. 9. Magda is very sociable and has a wide circle of acquaintances. 10. The University’s history goes back to 1944 when it was founded as the first institute to train personnel for the diplomatic service.

Text: The Interview

Прочитайте диалог по ролям.