2. Англійська – універсальна мова світу (English as a world universal language)

Two thousand years ago English didn’t exist. A thousand years ago it was a language used by less than 2 million people, and the language wasn’t thought to be very important by the other nations of Europe, and was unknown to the rest of the world. English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England, in all the continents of the world. Englishmen travelled widely to colonize “new” continents and thus spread their language effectively. This exporting of English began in the 17th century, with the first settlements in North America.

English has a curious ability to develop. Old English was a highly inflected language: most words changed their endings or forms to show their relationship to other words in the sentence according to number (singular and plural), gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), case (subject, object), and tense. But now verbs have very few inflections, and adjectives don’t change according to the noun. The same word can operate as many different parts of speech. For example, drink, walk, kiss, look, smile, etc. We can talk about water to drink and to water the flowers. Adjectives can be used as verbs. We warm our hands in front of a fire.

English has a huge vocabulary. The basic vocabulary of English is about 615,000 words while French uses a basic vocabulary of 100,000 words and German – 187,000. English also has admitted a lot of words from other languages. The assimilation of words borrowed from other languages and the creation of new words have made English an effective medium of international communication. Nowadays, it is the most influential language in the world spoken by more than a billion people on the planet.

As so many people speak English in so many different countries, there are many different “Englishes”. The best form of English is called Standard English and it is the language of educated English speakers. American English is the variety of English spoken in the United States of America. It is different from English in pronunciation, intonation, spelling, vocabulary, and sometimes even in grammar. Australian and New Zealand English are very similar. In pronunciation they are similar to British English, but there are differences in vocabulary and slang. Canadian English is different both from American English and from British English. Many words were borrowed from the languages of the native Indians, especially the names of animals: raccoon, opossum, caribou, and moose.

English currently dominates international science, business, politics, trade, tourism, mass media, sport, and popular culture. Over 80% of the material on the Internet is in English. To know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated man, for every good specialist.

3. Ідеальна родина – умова гарного навчання у школі (Perfect home – perfect school)

How to best educate children remains a matter of debate. Although many parents leave the education of their children to schools and teachers, this may actually hinder a child’s educational experience.

Parents should become involved as early in the educational process as possible. Although important in the preschool and elementary years to help form a firm base for learning and a strong character, parental involvement should continue through the middle school and high school years. As children exert their independence, it is parents who can guide them to make positive choices both in and out of school.

Parent involvement involves more than just overseeing homework. Parents who read to their children, listen to them read and make books available help children make significant gains in reading achievement. Parents can also become involved by providing children with stimulating experiences and by actively taking part in learning activities.

When parents become involved in the daily aspects of education, children realize the importance of school, which encourages them to set and meet their own expectations. By realizing that the family and school operate as one, students strive to do well to meet their own expectations, as well as the expectations of their parents and teachers. This results in higher academic grades.

Parents who set limitations on TV watching enforce daily routines including bed times and family dinners, set responsibilities for household chores and set goals and expectations help their children build self-esteem. Boosting self esteem and providing the children with a safe and nurturing environment builds a bond between school and home, which in turn leads to better school attendance.

The development of a child’s character is often considered the responsibility of the school. However, because children spend a significant amount of time away from school – approximately 70% of their waking hours, counting weekends and holidays, developing discipline and moral responsibility should be a parental responsibility. Children learn by seeing and following the examples given to them. When parents lead by example and pay attention to their children’s daily activities, the children develop a sense of right and wrong and a sense of values they carry with them during school. Parents need to take a more active role in their child’s life and teach them life lessons that will help them succeed in school and survive in the adult world.