1. Read and translate the text.

improve your knowledge, to be more competent in your job, you should know English so as to read literature in your specialty.

Remember, every next language is easier to learn. Moreover, studying foreign languages helps us to understand better our own language. It is really true – the many languages you know the many times you are a man.

Texts for additional reading.

I. The ten languages most widely spoken in the world.

More than 2,500 languages are spoken on our planet. Only 230-250 of them have written alphabets and are used in international communication. Two hundred languages are spoken by not less than a million people.

If we take the total number of native speakers, we get the following list of ten languages, beginning with Chinese, followed by English, Russian, Arabic, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Japanese and Hindustani.

These languages are spoken by almost half of mankind. Chinese is native to more than 300 million; Russian to more than 160 million.

A few of these languages serve all spheres of modern life. They have spread far beyond their native territories, and are known as world languages. They are taught at school as “foreign languages”. The most widely spoken languages are English, French, German, Russian and Spanish.

The Ukrainian language is one of the most developed languages in the world. It is spoken by more than 50 million people, living in this country and abroad. It is the state language in Ukraine.

Answer the questions.

1. How many languages are spoken on our planet? 2. How many languages are spoken by not less than a million people? 3. What languages have spread far beyond their native territories? 4. How many people speak Ukrainian?

II. Foreign languages in our life.

Franklin (both on display today). In those days visiting wax portrait figures exhibition was like going to the cinema or watching TV today – people knew the names of the famous and infamous people of the time but didn’t know how they looked, so they were intrigued enough to pay to see wax portrait figures.

It wasn’t long before Marie’s skills were noticed by Louis XVI’s sister, Madame Elisabeth, and Marie was invited to live at the family’s splendid palace at Versailles to help in Madame Elisabeth’s artistic education. Marie spent nine years at court, and whilst there she created the figures of Louis XVI and his family.

However, in 1789, Dr Curtis asked Marie to return to Paris. Once back in Paris the French Revolution erupted, and Marie was soon asked to make death masks of some of the prominent figures who were executed, such as Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette.

She herself was imprisoned in 1794 by the revolutionaries and had to share a cell with Napoleon Bonaparte’s future wife, Josephine de Beauharnais. It must have been a terrible time for Marie, who at one stage actually had her hair cropped in preparation for the guillotine.

Fortunately, she escaped that terrible fate and was eventually released.

In 1794, near the end of the revolutionary period, Curtis died, and Marie inherited the exhibition. She later went to marry a French engineer called Francois Tussaud and by 1800 had given birth to three children – a daughter, who died, and two sons, Joseph and Francis. Since the exhibition was struggling in the economic decline following the revolution, Marie decided to take her show to England in 1802, leaving behind her husband and the youngest son. Marie and Joseph, who were later joined by Francis, made a great success of their traveling show, touring the British Isles for the next 33 years. They showed British characters such as King George IV as well as the death mask of Emperor Napoleon. The show even survived a stormy crossing Ireland in 1822, when the ship carrying the figures was wrecked, but fortunately some of the figures were saved.

Then, in 1835, at the age of 74, Marie decided to settle the exhibition permanently at the Baker Street Bazaar, not far from the present site. Initially the Chamber of Horrors was called “The Separate Room” as it was thought too alarming for ladies of decline disposition. People had to pay extra to be allowed to visit it, which no doubt added to its mystery.

Marie continued to work at the exhibition until her death in 1850 at the age of 89. Her sons and grandsons continued with the business, but these

During a lot of centuries people learn foreign languages. People in Europe started to learn languages in the 11^th century. It is known that Yaroslav the Wise knew a lot of foreign languages. But at those times learning foreign languages was a privilege of rich people. Today millions of people all over the world learn foreign languages. 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 foreign languages is a hobby. People, who know foreign languages, are necessary for the development of the techniques, economy and arts in the modern society. Learning foreign languages is especially important in our country. People want to learn foreign languages to write to their pen-friends, or to communicate with them personally. People also want to read the works of famous writers, newspapers and magazines in the original. It is not surprising that many intellectuals and well-educated people are polyglots. During the classes of foreign languages one can train his memory and thinking. A foreign language helps to know the native language better. A person who learns a foreign language, at the same time gets acquainted with the culture of the country, its literature, history and geography.

Lesson 2.

Topic: Going Via the Customs.