People began to speak many centuries ago, and since then they have been speaking different languages. Every language reflects the soul, behaviour and temperament of each nationality. Peoples created their own alphabets and rules, but they always wanted to communicate with each other, to understand and to know more about each other.
Languages help people to understand each other better, they help them to solve different economic and political problems, which stand before them, and so people learn foreign languages. All languages are different. Some are very hard, some are easier, some are similar, but there are no identical languages in the whole world. There are more than 2,700 languages in the world. Many of them are "alive" because people use them, but there are some "dead" languages, for example Latin.
Two thousand years ago, Latin was the world's most important international language. Today this title belongs to English. It's a global language of travel, business, pop culture, sport and science.
English is a member of a language family that includes ancient languages like Ancient Greek, to the Indo-European family. It began to develop in about 450 A.D., when Anglo-Saxon invaders came from Germany. Before it the language spoken in England was a form of Celtic. After Anglo-Saxon occupation their language dominated. That`s why English is sometimes called Anglo-Saxon. English was also affected by the languages of other invaders such as Vikings, Normans and many others. Many words were also borrowed from the Ancient Greek. Some borrowed words came from Europe and such Asian languages as Arabic and Hindi.
Over one billion people speak English. That's almost one fifth of the world's population. For over 400 million it's their first language. For the other 600 million it's either a second language or a foreign language.
Now English is spoken practically all over the world, it has become the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations, business, sports, progressive technology, commerce; it is the world's computer language, three quarters of the world's mail is in English. It's the universal language of international aviation, shipping and the major language of diplomacy.
Hundreds of books, magazines and newspapers are printed in English and read all over the world. Half of the world's scientific literature is written in English. It is spoken as a mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Besides, a lot of people speak English in Japan, India, China, Africa and many other countries. English is one of the official languages of the United Nation Organization.
There is a proverb: "A new language is a new world". Speaking a foreign language one can not only read the papers, magazines and original books by outstanding writers, but as well watch satellite programmes, travel easily to different parts of the world. Besides, understanding and speaking a foreign language became necessary while applying for a good and well-paid job.
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Nowadays it is a must for XXI century professional no matter what job to choose. The world is getting smaller and international connections tighter. A lot of foreign delegations keep coming to our country, hundreds of joint ventures have appeared in every city of our country recently.
So without doubt English is absolutely necessary to know for every educated person, for every good specialist today.
Vocabulary
to reflect
soul
behaviour , ,
to create
similar (to) , ,
ancient
invader
average , , ,
a mother tongue
worth ,
satellite
to apply for , (, ); for -.
well-paid job
joint venture
to do without
Answer the questions.
1) What was the world's most important international language two thousand years ago?
2) How many people speak English as their first language, a second language or a foreign language?
3) How many languages are there in the world?
4) What language family does English belong to?
5) Where is English spoken?
6) Why is English considered the language of planet?
