An essay
A: Hello, Max!
B: Hi, Jane. What are you doing?
A: I am getting ready for my English lessons now.
B: Do you have a lot to do?
A: Oh, yes. I should read the text and do some exercises.
B: Is that all?
A: No, I should learn all these words for the next lesson. And what about you?
B: Well, I have only one task - to write an essay.
A: What is the theme?
B: “Is it difficult for me to learn English?”
A: Oh, it is an interesting task. What are you going to write about?
B: I don’t know what to write exactly. Can you help me?
A: Ok. What do you usually do at the English lessons?
B: Well, we read the texts, do different exercises and learn grammar.
A: Is it difficult for you?
B: It’s hard to say. I think yes, but I learn a lot of new words and it is interesting for me to read English texts. Also I like to do grammar exercises.
A: Do you listen to English cassettes?
B: Sure, and even watch video.
A: Is it difficult for you?
B: Yes, it is. But we learn to pronounce words and phrases correctly.
A: What else do you do at the lessons?
B: We make dialogues with each other and learn to ask questions and to communicate.
A: So, is it difficult for you to learn English?
B: Yes, it is. But it is a pleasure for me to learn English.
A: So if you write about that, you will get a good mark, I think.
Задание 7. Прочитайте диалог еще раз. Согласитесь или нет со следующими высказываниями.
Jane is doing her home task for the English lesson.
She can’t help Max to write an essay.
At the English lessons Max reads texts, does different exercises, listens to English cassettes and watches video.
It is not difficult for him to learn English.
He likes to learn English.
Задание 8. Прочитайте диалог еще раз и расскажите о том, как Макс изучает английский язык.
Задание 9. Прочитайте диалог еще раз и разыграйте его с партнерами.
Задание 10. Расспросите вашего друга о том, как он изучает английский язык.
- Does he like to learn English?
- Why does he learn English?
- What does he do at the English lessons?
- How long does it take him to do homework?
- What is he good at?
Следующие слова и выражения помогут вам:
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to be interested in a high level of knowledge to speak to foreigners to communicate with other people to learn new words to answer the teacher's questions to make up dialogues to do grammar exercises |
to speak on different topics to discuss books, foreign films to translate from English into Russian it takes me ... to get ready for to be good (not bad) at ... to work hard at |
Задание 11. Основываясь на информации, полученной из задания 10, расскажите о том, как ваш друг изучает английский язык.
Задание 12. Переведите следующие предложения на английский язык.
1. Я учусь на первом курсе университета. 2. Мы изучаем английский язык с самого начала. 3. Мне не требуется много времени, чтобы сделать домашнюю работу. 4. Я собираюсь сдавать экзамен по английскому языку на втором курсе. 5. Мне трудно изучать английский язык, но очень интересно. 6. Я думаю, что менеджеру компании очень важно знать иностранный язык.
Задание 13. Напишите о том, как вы учите английский язык.
Задание 14. Прочитайте текст № 1 и ответьте на вопросы:
Is it easy to learn foreign languages?
When did you begin learning English?
What was the process of learning?
How long did it take you to get ready for your English lesson?
Can you speak English well?
How can you improve your English?
Can you read English books in the original?
Have you got any English books and dictionaries at home?
Why do you want to learn English?
TEXT 1. MY ENGLISH STUDIES.
Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. It is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and efforts.
We began studying English in the fourth form of the secondary school. We started with the ABC, transcription and sounds. Then we learnt some English words, conversational phrases and dialogues by heart, read and translated easy texts.
From lesson to lesson we improved our knowledge, learnt more and more new words, grammatical structures and put them into practice of speaking. We enjoyed our English classes and prepared carefully for them. At home we tried to listen to different educational programmes over the radio, watched English films on TV.
Soon we were able not only to read and translate texts but to discuss their contents in English, to communicate with one another making useful statements in real-life situations.
I want to know foreign languages because I have always been interested in foreign countries, their cultures and peoples. I want to learn English in particular not only because it is the language of such great countries as the USA and Great Britain, but also because it has become the international language, the language of progressive science and engineering. To know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated man, for every good specialist.
Задание 15. Прочитайте текст № 2 и ответьте на вопросы:
Is learning a foreign language an easy thing?
How does the writer's experience of learning the language compare with yours?
TEXT 2. ENGLISH AS A WORLD LANGUAGE.
It is only in the course of the last hundred years that English has become a world language. In Shakespeare's time it was a "provincial" language of secondary importance with only 6 million native speakers. Nowadays English has become the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations. In a number of speakers (400 million) it is second only to Chinese. It is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the United States of America, of Australia and New Zealand. English is used as one of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish Republic. It is also spoken as a second language by many people in India, Pakistan, numerous countries in Africa. The number of second-language speakers may soon exceed the number of native speakers, if it has not done so already.
Even more widely English is studied and used as a foreign language. In this respect it acquired an international status. It is used for communication across frontiers, listening to broadcasts, reading books and newspapers, in commerce and travel. Half of the world's scientific literature is in English. English is associated with technological and economic development of the great manufacturing countries and it is the principal language of international aid. It is the language of automation and computer technology. It is not only the universal language of international aviation, shipping and sport, it is to a considerable degree the universal language of literacy and public communication. It is the major language of diplomacy, and is the most frequently used language both in the debates in the United Nations and in the general conduct of the UN business.
English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mothertongue outside England, in all the countries of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century, with the first settlements in North America. Above all, it is the great growth of population in the United States, assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, that has given the English language its modern standing in the world.