Interpret your score

0-30 You think you are useless at languages, and can’t see the point in trying. Don’t give up! Keep at it!

30-70 Learning a language is hard work for you, but you get there in the end. You probably had a bad experience at school. Just remember that most people in the world speak at least two languages, and lots speak four or five, so it can’t be all that difficult, can it?

70-100 You’re an average sort of learner, not brilliant, but you manage. You’re always willing to have a go. Surprisingly, it usually works, too! Add some systematic study to this, and a bit of practice, and you’ll be able to cope in most situations.

100-140 You can probably get by in one or two languages already, and learning a new language hold no terror for you. Don’t give up when you feel you’re not making progress. A bit more confidence, and some concentrated practice, and you could easily start feeling really at home in your foreign language.

140-170 You are an outstanding language learner. You enjoy using words, and language is a constant source of delight for you. You don’t learn a language to go on holiday – you enjoy going abroad because it gives you an excuse to learn another language!

Adapted from a quiz by Dr Paul Meara of Birkbeck College, London

Discussion

1) Do you agree with the interpretation? Is it a good description of you as a language learner?

2) The tone of the quiz is quite light-hearted, but the content is serious. Read through the Answers section of the quiz again. Do you agree that the things it suggests are what ‘a good learner’ does? For example, is it important to be able to guess the meaning of words? Why / why not? Is it important to be able to see patterns in a language? Is it important to have a good memory?

3) The answer to question 3 says that good language learners make the most of their skills, and manage to communicate in all sorts of unlikely situations. Think of ways in which communication can take place other than with words.

4) The quiz contains some surprising ideas. For example, the answer to question 12 suggests that good language learners don’t mind being in situations that they can’t control, and the answer to question 14 that they are prepared to take risks. To what extent is this true in your own experience?

5) Research does suggest that women are generally better language learners than men. Can you think of reasons why this might be so?

6) Researchers also feel that the personality of the learner must affect the way he or she learns, but no-one quite knows how! Can you think of any qualities that might help or hinder language learning? The following adjectives might help you: confident, shy, outgoing, extrovert, sociable, tolerant, patient, inquisitive.

Section VI

Vocabulary and Speech Exercises:

Ex.1. Match the words below with their definitions.

1) jargon	a) A type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal and are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people
2) fluency	b) A distinctive mode of pronunciation of a language of a particular nation, locality or social class
3) accent	c) A person speaking two languages fluently
4) skill	d) special words and expressions that are used by a particular profession and are difficult for others to understand
5) slang	e) A particular ability to do something well
6) bilingual	f) A particular form of a language that is peculiar to a specific region or social group
7) dialect	g) The ability to speak or write a foreign language easily and accurately

Ex.2. Explain the following notions: mother tongue, first language, state language, linguistic studies, native speaker.

Ex.3. Give the antonyms to the words. Use them in sentences of your own.

Old-fashioned, rude, an acquired language, in isolation, to be good at languages, to speak a language well, to memorize, formal language, native language,

Ex.4. Insert prepositions where necessary.

1) The English language belongs … the Indo-European family. 2) Latin influenced … the Celtic language. 3) According … conservative estimates, mother-tongue speakers have now reached 300 million. 4) The words that are borrowed tell us … the countries they have come … . 5) West Germanic was closely related … North Germanic. 6) The name term English goes … … the name of one … the Germanic tribes – the Angles. 7) We are all interested … the origin … words, … how they appear and die. 8) Though initially … Germanic origin, English has been … fact replaced around 500 B.C. … the Celtic language. 9) Everyone, who knows foreign languages, can read foreign authors … the original. 10) The Celtic language evolved … the Irish and Welsh languages that are spoken today … some parts … the United Kingdom. 11) In English adjectives do not change according … the noun. 12) Many English words were borrowed … the language … Angles and Saxons. 13) Some words came … English directly … Latin. 14) During the Norman Conquest English was very much … the influence of French and thousands … French words entered … the language. 15) … the result of the loss … inflections English has become, over the past five centuries a very flexible language. 16) Surveys … range … use of English carried … … UNESCO and other world organizations reinforce the general statistic impression. 17) When Julius Caesar landed … Britain nearly two thousand years ago, English did not exist. 18) Language belongs … each of us. 19) Nearly half … all business deals … Europe are conducted … English. 20) Many Italian words, that are now a part … English, have to do … music. 21) The largest broadcasting companies in the world transmit … English. 22) Hundreds of French words came … English. 23) Many new words were brought … traders and travelers. 24) People who speak English fall … one of three groups. One person … seven in the world’s entire population belongs … one of these three groups. 25) Words potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco appeared … Spanish and later were borrowed … it … the English language. 26) The proposition that all other languages except English will die … is absurd.