Uchebnik_lakhotyuk_mikhaylova

12.In one minute write a list of things you could do with a cabbage ( apart from cooking or eating )?

13.In one minute write down as many reasons as you can why it might be useful to learn Eskimo.

14.Fill in the blank with one of the words below.

Shakucomespiteare isos wonone ovofel tehe wororolid’s grrematerest’s wririterners. Hehe wasis ……… onin Staratarafooorrd-inon-Aravont. a)borotone

b)born

c)sorority

d)don’t know

15.What’s your attitude to learning about British culture (arts, institutions, way of life)?

a) I am not interested in the slightest. I just need to learn the language. b) I am interested a little bit, but only out of curiosity.

c) I am very interested to find out about the people behind the language.

16.What do the following words in Samoan mean?

Loomatua temaitiiti tamaloa tauleatea toalua

17. Are you male or female?

4.2 ANSWERS

1. a. score 10 points; b. 4; c.8; d. 0.

Good language learners find words fairly easy, and aren’t put off by the way they look.

2. a.5; b.10; c.0; d.0.

Good language learners are able to make imaginative guesses about the meaning of words.

3. a.0; d.0; c.10; d.8.

Good language learners make the most of their skills, and manage to communicate in all sorts of unlikely situations.

4. a.2; b.2; c.10; d.0.

Good language learners are quick at seeing patterns in a foreign language. (Negative sentences in this language begin with ‘nek’. The last word is always ‘chuchu’.)

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5. 2 points for each language (maximum 10 points)

This question shows how interested you are i8n languages and communication.

6. a.0; b.3; c.7; d.10

Being scared stiff is obviously a bad sign.

7. Good language learners practice a lot on their own. Give yourself two points for each different activity you listed (e.g. listening to cassettes while driving, watching foreign language films on TV). Maximum 10 points.

8.a.4; b.0; c.10; d.7.

Good language learners practice think a lot about how they use language. 9.a.10; b.0; c.5; d.2.

Good language learners seem to read a lot. ( It’s a good way of increasing your vocabulary).

10. a.5; b.8; c.10; d.0.

Good language learners have reference books and consult them regularly.

11.Less than 5, score 0. 6-8, score 5. More than 8, score 10. The test measures your short-term memory. Most people remember 5 or 6 words out of the list.

12.A point for each idea (maximum 10). People who are very rigid in the way they see things tend not to be very good at learning languages. This is probably because they don’t like being in situations they can’t control.

13.Two points for each idea ( maximum 10). An important factor in learning a language is motivation.

14.a.10;b.2; c.7; d.0.

This question assesses how willing you are to take risks in a language you don’t know well.

15.a.0; b.5; c.10.

It is impossible to separate a language from its culture. Good language learners are open to other cultures and individuals, and this creates more opportunities for progress.

16.Two points for each word you got right. This question tests your memory again.

17.Females score 10. On the whole, women are better at languages.

4.3. 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

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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 are an average sort of learner, not brilliant, but you manage. You are 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 holds 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.

4.4 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 it true in your 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 that the personality of the learner must affect the way he or she learns, but no one quite knows how!

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Can you think of any qualities that might help or hinder language learning?

(5) The Parable of the Good Language Learner 5.1.Read this parable and reflect on it.

The Parable of the Good Language Learner

By Mike Church, UK The poor Student lay there by the roadside, evidently in pain. After a while, an Old Grammarian passed by …

Are you all right? -he enquired -No, I fall off my bike!

-Fell -Eh?

-It’s not “I fall off”. Let’s go back to the beginning … - Eh?

-Are you all right? -No, I just said you! -Told you.

-Eh?

-It’s not “I said you”, it’s “I told you”. Let’s start again …

By the time the Student had regained consciousness, the Grammarian had long since disappeared, evidently giving him up as a bad job.

A few minutes later, an Audiolingualist arrived on the scene … (with the student still lying in the ditch)

- What’s the matter? - she began

-I broke my leg.

-Shall I call an ambulance? -Yes, please.

-Good. Now, I’ll be the victim and you can be the passer-by … -Eh?

-Come on!

-Eh?

-What’s the matter?

-I just told you!

-If you are not going to do it properly, I’m going … - Hey!

But it was too late, and the Audiolingualist stormed off in a huff.

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On looking up again (from the ditch where he was lying), the Student saw a Communicative Approacher. She was holding a piece of paper …

-I’ll start, shall I? – she said -Eh?

-My information is the following: there is a hospital 17 miles away in a town called Bradstock. Buses leave here at 10 minutes to the hour and 10 past the hour, except on Sundays and bank holidays, when there is a considerably reduced service. Today is Sunday. What’s YOUR information?

-I fell off my bike. Call an ambulance.

-Where is the nearest phone box?

-I don’t know.

-Oh dear! I haven’t got that information, either …

Thereupon, the Communicative Approacher completed a small grid on her paper and walked on.

The student (who was still lying by the roadside unable to move) was on the point of tears when he heard a familiar voice.

-What’s the problem, Juan? Juan looked up at his classmate.

-Maria, thank God, it’s you! Listen, call an ambulance, but don’t ask me where the nearest phone box is.

-Don’t worry. I find him.

As Maria ran off to seek assistance, Juan felt a great sense of relief. To pass the time, he slipped out his verb list from his back pocket and read to himself: fall, fell, fallen … feel, felt, felt …

5.2 DISCUSSION

·Which of these approaches turned out to be more efficient?

·Which of these approaches appeals to you more?

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6.2 Vocabulary Check if you know these words:

6.3 Look through the text and tell what problem the author had while in France?

REAL ENGLISH

Some more pieces of advice from Jon Wright of the Language Project, Bristol

What is a language?

Language is a system of communication with a set of rules. But language is a lot more than that. For one thing, it’s a way of thinking – just ask yourself, can you think without words? It’s also a community – we use language with other people, and even when we are reading books by writers who died long ago, like Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoy or Turgenev, for example, we feel that these writers are communicating to us across time. These are their ideas, their words, and their work.

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Look at the dictionary again and you’ll have another idea of what language is: it’s a collection of words. Particularly in a dictionary, this is a collection of words in alphabetical order.

In school, we often have the impression that learning a language is a question of learning the words of that language. When I was learning French, I was told to make a vocabulary book, and I put new French words on the left, and the English translation on the right. Pretty quickly I had pages and pages of words.

Every week I would be tested in class by the teacher on my memory of these words – and because I was a fairly good student, I normally did well in those tests. Millions of students still do the same now. Perhaps, you do, too.

But it was a shock to me when I first went to France and found that I could hardly follow a simple conversation, couldn’t understand a TV programme, or read a newspaper or do more than stutter a few words when I wanted to express myself in a conversation.

What was wrong?

Well, I think the basic problem lies with words. Language isn’t really a collection of words. When we are thinking or speaking, we very rarely use single words. When was the last time you just said: “Chair!”? Probably never, in fact.

That’s because when we use language, we actually use phrases. I had learnt lots of French words, but the French people around me were speaking in phrases I was listening for individual words, and for the grammar of individual words, trying to listen for masculine and feminine, for present and past tense and similar things I’d learnt, but they were speaking in phrases.

And I couldn’t express myself well because I was looking for the right word, thinking about the grammar to use, then going on to the next word in the sentence. I’m sure I sounded like a robot that was running out of energy.

I – want – a – croissant – please – madam. When – does – thetrain - - leave?

Read any part of this article again and you’ll see that every sentence is, in fact, made up of a number of phrases. So was that one. It’s natural.

The phrases are normally said as one unit, in one breath. Why? Because the words all belong together.

Why do people speaking a foreign language seem to be speaking very quickly? Well, probably the reality behind this common impression is that we simply don’t recognize that words form groups – phrases – and we don’t realize where one group ends and another begins. It all sounds like noise.

So, what’s the solution? It’s simple, really. Try to learn new words in phrases. Instead of la chaise = the chair, learn the useful phrases like these:

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üIs someone sitting on that chair?

üIs that chair free?

üIs there a chair for me?

üThat’s my chair.

üHere, have this chair.

üCareful, that chair is broken.

üDon’t tip your chair – you might have an accident.

üPlease, put your chair under the table.

üCan you move your chair, please?

üNow you’ve learnt the word ‘chair’, and you’ve also got something you can say to someone, too. You can actually communicate with what you’ve learnt.

üYou can do this with any word you learn. Let’s take the example of ‘good’ – it’s one of the first adjectives students learn in English. So now you can say: ”That’s a good idea.”

üIf you are good, I’ll give you an ice-cream.

üThat school’s got a good reputation.

üHave a good time.

üI’m no good at math.

üIt’s good to see you again.

üThat looks good.

We, in our turn, recommend you to learn the following phrases from this article:

1.I do well in tests, but I can hardly follow the conversation

2.It all sounded like …

3.I sounded like …

4.Robot that’s running out of energy

5.in one breath

6.4 DISCUSSION

·Can you think without words?

·How do you usually learn words?

·What techniques of learning words do you know?

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6.5 Look through the text and tell what pieces of advice the author gives.

Some more advice from Michael McCarthy @ Felicity O’Dell

It’s not enough just to know the meaning of a word. You also need to know:

a)what words it is usually associated with

b)whether it has any particular grammatical characteristics

c)how it is pronounced

Try to learn new words not in isolation but in phrases

Write down adjectives together with nouns they are often associated with and vice versa, e.g. royal family; rich vocabulary.

Write down verbs with the structure and nouns associated with them, e.g. to add to our knowledge of the subject; to express an opinion.

Write down nouns in phrases, e.g. at a high level, thanks to your help. Note any grammatical characteristics of the words you are studying. For

example, note when a verb is irregular and when a noun is uncountable or is only used in the plural.

Make a note of any special pronunciation problems with the words you’re learning.

What you should do when you come across new words

When you are reading something in English, don’t look up every new word or expression or you will soon fed up. Only look up something that is really important for understanding the text. When you have finished reading, look back at what you have read and then perhaps look up some extra words and write down new expressions that interest you.

Similarly when you listen to English don’t panic when you hear some words or expressions that you don’t know. Keep listening and the overall meaning will often become clear.

When you read or listen to English it is sometimes possible to guess the meaning of a word you don’t know before you look up or ask its meaning. Decide first what part of speech the word is and then look for clues in its context or form.

6.6. Find the English equivalents to the following phrases:

1.посмотреть слово в словаре

2.догадаться о значении слова

3.продолжать слушать

4.записать слово

5.оглянуться назад на

6.вам надоест

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6.7DISCUSSION

Which of these pieces of advice have you known and used before? Which are you going to use?

(7) Remembering things in the right order

7.1 Suppose you want to remember a sequence of ten unrelated items in a particular order. Here are two techniques that you can use.

Technique 1: Peg words

First, you have to learn a set of peg words, one for each of the numbers one to ten. Since each of these rhymes with its number, this is a fairly easy task. Try it for yourself:

Having mastered this, you are ready to go; suppose the ten words you are trying to remember are: battleship, octopus, chair, sheep, castle, rug, grass, beach, milkmaid, binoculars.

Take the first peg word, which is bun (rhyming with one), and imagine a picture of a bun interacting in some way with a battleship: you might for example imagine a battleship sailing into an enormous floating bun. Now take the second peg word, shoe, and imagine it interacting with octopus, perhaps a large shoe with an octopus sitting in it. Peg word nine is wine, and the ninth item is milkmaid, so you might imagine a milkmaid milking a cow and getting wine rather than milk. And so on. Having created these pictures, you should be able to come up with an accurate list of the ten words in the right order.

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