A Language Teacher’s Personal Opinion

Every day I see advertisements in the newspapers and on the buses saying that it is easy to learn English. According to these advertisements, with very little effort on the students’ part, they will be able to speak the language fluently in three month or even ten days. When I see ads like this, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If it were as easy to learn English as they say I would have to look for another job because very few qualified teachers would be needed. But a large number of people must believe these claims. If people didn’t believe it, such advertisements would not appear.

It is natural for students to be attracted to methods that will teach them as quickly, efficiently and cheaply as possible. But it is no use pretending that anyone has discovered a perfect way of teaching English in every possible situation.

For a long time people believed that the only way to learn a language was by spending a great deal of time in a country where it was spoken. Of course it is clear that the students who go to England to learn English have a great advantage over others, but a large number of students cannot afford to do so. Some students go to the opposite extreme and think they can teach themselves at home by learning words in dictionaries. But it is wrong to assume that each word in English has an equivalent in another language and that any translation method can produce good pronunciation and intonation.

In my personal opinion no one can ever learn to speak English or other language unless he is interested in learning it. There is another relevant point worth mentioning here. One should remember that language learning is an active thing that needs effort and time. It is worth remembering that language is a means of communication.

So students of English should forget about being shy, nervous, afraid of saying something incorrect or silly and should start learning by talking. It’s far better to make a few mistakes than to say nothing. If you make the effort to speak you’ll find that little by little you’ll get more confidence and enjoy speaking.

But a large number of people must believe these claims. Но многие люди, должно быть, верят этим утверждениям.

It is natural for students to be attracted … Естественно, что студентов привлекают …

But it is no use pretending … Бесполезно притворяться …

Questions

1. What do advertisements say about learning English?

2. How does the teacher feel about such advertisements?

3. How would students like to learn English?

4. What belief about learning a foreign language was shared by people some years ago? What is the opposite extreme?

5. What does the teacher think of the ways in which a foreign language should be learned?

TEXT 5. Read and translate. Be ready to compare two variants of English.

Divided by a Common Language

It’s not a secret that British English is quite different from American English. Let’s have a look at some of these differences!

• In speech, Americans sometimes specify the country in which well-known cities are located and say Paris, France or Rome, Italy rather than just Paris or Rome. This may be in order to avoid confusion, since many towns in the US have been named after European cities.

• The Brits clean their teeth, whereas the Americans brush their teeth. Teeth cleaning in the US is done at the dentist’s office.

• The word café in American English can mean «nightclub» as well as «coffee shop».

• If used in the plural the word guy can refer to men and women in the US.

• In the US, the floor of a building level with the ground is known as the first floor; in Britain it is called the ground floor. What is known in the US as the second floor is called the first floor in Britain; the third floor in the US is called the second floor in Britain.

• Americans will often say «two times» rather than «twice», as in «We saw the show two times».

• The date on a form of a letter in Britain is expressed by putting the day, the month, then the year (14 February 2014). In the US the month comes first, followed by the day and then the year (February 14, 2014).

• Hours and minutes are divided by a full stop in Britain, but by a colon in the US (9:30 a.m. in the US, 9.30 a.m. in the UK).

• When spelling a word aloud that has two double letters, most Britons will use the word double. For example, to spell canned, Britons will say «c-a-double n-e-d». Most Americans, however, will pronounce each letter separately: «c-a-n-n-e-d».

• In Britain, the expression to wash up means «to wash the dishes». In the US this expression means «to wash face and/ or hands».

UNIT 2. PERSONALITY AND FAMILY ITEMS

Learn the following words and word combinations