Ex. 2. Answer and discuss the questions:

1. How many languages are there in the world?

2. What is the official language in Ukraine (Great Britain, France, Germany, China, Japan etc.)?

3. What languages did you study at school?

4. What language has become popular recently? Why?

5. What languages do you want to study?

6. Is it easy or difficult to study languages?

7. What is the best way to study the language?

TEXT A

English as a world language

Two thousand years ago English did not exist. A thousand years ago it was a language used by less than two million people. Now it is the most influential language in the world.

English is the official language in 44 countries. More than 350 million people speak English as their first or native language. About the same number use it as a second language. No one knows how many people speak it as a foreign language.

The following are some of the many reasons why English is so widely spoken today.

• Firstly English is the official language in many of Britain’s former colonies such as America, Australia, New Zealand. Nowadays in countries with several tribes or ethnic groups speaking different languages, English has often been chosen as an official language of governments in such countries as South Africa, India, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and others. That’s why it has become a mother tongue outside England in all the continents of the world.

-Secondly the economic power of Britain in the 18^th – 19^th centuries and of the US in the 20^th century helped to make English the language of world trade.

-Thirdly entertainment has helped to spread the use of English, because of the world-wide popularity of English-language films, TV-programs and pop-music.

Officially English has become an international language of travel and tourism, technology and computers, business and medicine.

Now it is the language of international communication. 75% of the world’s mail and 80% of e-mails on the Internet are in English, 60% of the world’s radio stations broadcast in English and more than half of the world’s periodicals are printed in English.

English currently dominates science, commerce, mass media and popular culture.

During the meetings and trade negotiations businessmen use English to discuss their needs and make contracts and transactions.

NOTES:

global	світовий, всесвітній
influential	впливовий
exist	існувати
tribe	плем’я, рід
ethnic group	етнічна група

Ex.3. Are these sentences true or false? Express your agreement or disagreement. Use the phrases Certainly, It is really so, Exactly so or Nothing of the kind, I don’t think so, I’m afraid you are wrong.

1. By 1900 England had a lot of colonies in Asia, Africa and the South Pacific.

2. Everybody knows how many people speak English as a foreign language.

3. English dominates science, business and technology.

4. English is an ancient language which appeared at the same time as Latin.

5. More than 250 million people speak English as the native language.

6. Nowadays it is a mother tongue in all the countries all over the world.

7. English is an official language in former British colonies.

8. The world-wide popularity of Hollywood films helped to spread the use of English.

Ex.4. a) Answer the questions:

1. How many people spoke English a thousand years ago?

2. How many countries consider English as their official language?

3. How many people use English as the second language?

4. Why has English become a world language?

5. In what cases do people use English?