II семестр

«Социально-культурная сфера общения»

Тема: Роль иностранных языков в жизни человека

TEXT A

Foreign Languages in Our Life

Learning a foreign lan­guage is not an easy thing. It is a long and slow pro­cess that takes a lot of time and efforts. Nowadays it is espe­cially important to know foreign languages. Some people learn languages, be­cause they need them for their work, others travel abroad, for the third study­ing languages is a hobby. Everyone, who knows for­eign languages can speak to people from other coun­tries, read foreign authors in the original, which makes your outlook wider. It is not surprising that many in­tellectuals and well-edu­cated people are polyglots. I study English. Nowadays English has be­come the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations. Over.300 mil­lion people speak it as a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, United States of America, Austra­lia and New Zealand. English is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, the South Africa Republic. English is one of the offi­cial languages of the United Nations Organization and other political organiza­tions. Half of the world's scientific literature is in English. It is the lan­guage of computers tech­nology. To know English today is absolutely neces­sary for every educated man, for every good specialist. The English language is a wonderful language. It is the language of the great lit­erature. It is the lan­guage of William Shakespeare. Jonathan Swift, Walter Scott, Charles Dickens. The great German poet Goethe once said, "He, who knows no foreign lan­guage, does not know his own one». That is why in order to understand oneself and environment one has to study foreign languages.

Vocabulary

language- язык

foreign lan­guage- иностранный язык

learn a foreign language- изучать иностранный язык

know a foreign language- знать иностранный язык

travel abroad- петешествовать за границей

speak English- говорить на английском языке

mother tongue- родной язык

offi­cial language- официальный язык

make ones outlook wider- расширить кругозор

read foreign authors in the original-читать зарубежных авторов в оригинале

Exercise 1.Make up dialogues on the following situations

1. Marina and Lily studied German at school. Now they are at the Teachers’ Training University. They made up their mind to begin learning English as they consider English to be a very important language. They know that millions of people in all parts of the planet speak it.

2. Olga and Tanya study English at the University. They are “would be” teachers of the Russian Language. Olga thinks that knowing one foreign language is enough. Tanya does not agree with Olga, she herself is looking forward to learning Chinese for example. The fact is China is a partner for Europe and for the whole world.

Exercise 2. Choose the right word:

Different, various

1. Plutarch described ... historial events in his books.

2. We stand for peaceful co-existence of states with ... political and social systems.

3. ... ancient and modern languages are taught at our faculty.

4. What he says and what he does are ... things.

Exercise 3. Answer the questions.

1. Why do people learn languages?

2. Is it important to know English?

3. In what countries do people speak English?

4. How many people speak it as a mother tongue?

5. Why is it important to know a foreign language?

6. English has be­come the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations. Why?

7. What English authors do you know?

Exercise 4. True or false.

1. People study English for the sake of entertainment.

2. Learning a foreign language does not make your outlook wider.

3. English is the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations.

4. The native speakers of English live only in Great Britain.

5. All the world's scientific literature is in English.

6. It is the language of the great lit­erature.

7. In order to speak to people from other coun­tries, read foreign authors in the original one has to study foreign languages.

Exercise 5. Speak with your classmate about the role of a foreign language in your life.

Text B

English is a world language. It is the language of progressive science and technology, trade and cultural rela­tions, commerce and business. It is the universal language of international aviation, shipping and sports. It is also the major language of diplomacy.

Hundreds and hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers are printed in English and read all over the world. 75% of the world's mail and 60% of the world's telephone calls are in English. Half of the world's scientific literature is written in English.

English is spoken by more than 350 million people. Geographically, it is the most widespread language on earth, second only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it.

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 in many parts of India and Africa. The number of second-language speakers may soon exceed the number of native speakers.

Besides, millions of people study and use English as a foreign language. In our coun­try English is very popular: it is studied at schools (sometimes even at nursery schools) colleges and universities.

Learning a foreign language is not an easy thing. It is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every good specialist.

I want to know foreign languages because I have always been interested in foreign countries, their cultures and peoples.