What do you think is the most important thing to learn in English?
Can you think of something in English that it is not important to learn?
How important is it to speak correctly?
What is the most difficult aspect of English, for you? Why do you think this is so?
What is the easiest aspect of English, for you? Why do you think this is so?
What is the most interesting aspect of English, for you?
What is the most boring aspect of English, for you?
Do you think that musical people are good at learning pronunciation?
What do you think is the best way to learn pronunciation?
What do you think is the best way to learn grammar?
What do you think is the best way to learn vocabulary?
How long do you think it takes to get a good working knowledge of a language?
Do you prefer British English, American English, or another kind of English? Why?
Can you think of one thing in English that you dislike (for example a word, a sound or a grammatical rule), and one that you like?
What is the most important job of a language teacher?
Would you like to be a language teacher?
Do you think your language is easy or difficult for foreigners to learn? Why?
Do you think it is possible to learn a foreign language perfectly?
3. Learn and Discover about Yourself:
a) Which of these do you read or listen to in English outside the classroom?
Radio
Tape-recorder
Books
Newspapers
Magazines
Advertisements
Which is the most useful? Why? Which is the most difficult? Why?
b)Which of these are true for you outside the classroom?
I look back at my vocabulary notes.
I practise new words in sentences.
I look at my grammar notes.
c)How much more practice do you need in these? Number them 1-7 (1 - I need the most practice).
listening
speaking
reading
writing
grammar
vocabulary
pronunciation
d) Which of the above mentioned aspects of learning English is your weak point? Why?
Ex.3. Discuss the following questions:
How can your teacher help you most?
Here are some possible ways your teacher can help you to learn (and you can
add more if you like). Choose the six which you consider most important.
by revising all major areas of grammar thoroughly
by concentrating on areas of advanced grammar
by working on your use of functional language (e.g. omplaining/ apologising)
by explaining all new vocabulary clearly
by giving regular tests
by correcting every mistake you make
by giving practice in pronunciation
by setting regular homework
by working through past examination papers
by giving plenty of practice in speaking
by giving practice in different types of writing tasks
by getting students to work in pairs or groups
by helping you to develop good learning methods
Compare your choices with the person sitting next to you.
How can you help yourself?
Here are 17 language learning habits. Tick things which you already do. Underline or highlight the good language learning habits which you will definitely try to adopt. Refer back to this page from time to time to see which good learning habits you have developed.
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translate from your own language before you speak or write
keep a vocabulary notebook and revise new vocabulary regularly
record new vocabulary in a short phrase or sentence
write new vocabulary with just a translation in your own language
use only a bilingual dictionary
use only a monolingual dictionary
use a grammar reference book
speak only English in the class
read English books, newspapers or magazines outside class
listen to spoken English outside class
translate every unknown word as you read
guess unknown words as you read
only speak in class when you're sure you won't make a mistake
ask questions in class
revise each lesson before the next
set yourself learning targets (e.g. 5 new phrasal verbs each week)
find out which areas of language you are weak in and give yourself extra practice in them
With other students discuss why certain habits might be not helpful.
Ex.4. Read the text. Six business people talk about their attitudes to learning English. Whose opinion is closest to your own?
Speaker 1
Well, learning English isn't my idea of fun. I mean, rock concerts are fun. Motorbikes are fun. Snowboarding is fun. Learning English isn't fun. It's hard work. Rut it's worth it. I don't need English every day in my job right now. But if I want to get on in my career, I know I'm going to need it more and more. English is where the money is, so I just think of it as an investment in my future. We Swiss are very practical like that.
Speaker 2
Hm, well, I accept that English is the language of the media, but I'm not so
sure about business. Personally, I know a lot of business people who speak almost no English at all. Twenty-five per cent of the world speaks English. OK, but that means 75% don't. The way I see it: if I'm trying to sell you something, I should speak your language. But if you come to Ecuador to sell me something, then you should speak Spanish.
Speaker 3
Coming from a tiny country like the Netherlands means we've always had to speak foreign languages. So it's nothing new for us. The same goes for people from Luxembourg, Belgium, Scandinavia. Eighty per cent of Dutch people speak English. Most of us speak some German too, or French. We certainly don't expect anybody to speak Dutch! In fact, the firm I work for recently introduced English as the official company language. So now I speak English all day - to other Dutch people!
Speaker 4
I'm afraid I really don't like English that much. I find the pronunciation very difficult. It's certainly not as beautiful a language as my language, which is Italian. And, anyway, I think it's more difficult as you get older to learn foreign languages. But my company wants me to learn English, so I don't really have much choice. If a quarter of the world speaks it, I suppose I must too. But I'll always think in Italian. My brain works in Italian.
Speaker 5
I don't know why people who speak European languages complain about learning English. Try learning it when your native language is Korean! Actually, I find I can speak English OK, if I'm doing business with other non-native speakers, like Argentinians or Japanese. But with native English speakers, I do feel at a disadvantage. I've heard that 66% of British people don't speak a foreign language at all. Hardly surprising when so many of us have to learn English.
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Speaker 6
Well, actually, I love English. It's true the pronunciation is quite hard to get right, but the grammar is much simpler than my language, Hungarian - at least at the beginning. That's the thing about English it's easy to speak a little quite quickly. It gets harder later, of course. Frankly, I don't know why some French and Germans are against using English words. It seems to me that English is full of foreign words - especially French and German!
Ex. 5. Solve the Crossword Puzzle
1. variety of a language, spoken in one part of a country, different in some words or pronunciation from other forms of the same language (7 letters)
2. language, "Spanish is her mother " (6)
3. elling someone who's done something stupid that he's "absolutely brilliant" (7)
4. "Look before you leap" or "A friend in need is a friend indeed" (7)
5 "wealthy ' is a of "rich" (7)
6 xpression used so commonly that it has lost much of its expressive force (6)
7. The accent of British English, which has become the standard for teaching and learning is known as Received P (13)
8. "pretty" is an of "ugly" (7)
9. Informal language used among friends but not suitable for good writing or formal occasions (5)
10. All the words known to a particular person (10)
11. A particular way of speaking, usually connected with a country, area (6)
12. Language that is hard to understand especially because it is full of special words known only to members of a certain group e.g. linguists or schoolboys(6)
13. A group of words that form a statement, command, exclamation, or question, beginning with a capital letter and ending with one of the marks (7 p) (8)
14. Phrases which mean something different from the meanings of their separate words e g "make up my mind (6)
Ex.6. What do you know about the world's major languages? Try the quiz
1.Approximately how many languages are there in the world?
A 650
B 6,500
C 65,000
D 650,000
2. Order the worlds top 10 languages according to the number of native speakers.
Portugese
Arabic
Chinese
Japanese
Russian
German
English
Spanish
Hindi
Bengali
3. How many people speak English as a first, second or third language?Order
0,5 billion
1 billion
1,5 billion
2 billion
4. In recent survey, how many Europeans said everyone should speak English?
49%
69%
89%
99%
5. How much of the worlds mail is written in English?
25%
50%
75%
90%
6. How much of the worlds e-mail is written in English?
50%
60%
70%
80%
7. How many languages disappear every year?
8. What is the worlds record for the most foreign languages spoken by one person?
9. Where is the record holder in 8 from?
The USA
Singapore
Holland
Nigeria
Ex 7. Read and translate the text:
English Inc.
| The number of native speakers of the worlds top tenlanguages | ||
| Chinese | 726m | |
| English | 427m | |
| Spanish | 266m | |
| Hindi | 182m | |
| Arabic | 1 81 m | |
| Portuguese | 165m | |
| Bengali | 162m | |
| Russian | 158m | |
| Japanese | 124m | |
| German | 121m |
English is to international communication what VHS is to video, Microsoft to software and Pentium to the microchip. It is, for better or worse, the 'industry standard'. And those who don't speak at least a little risk losing business to the increasing number who do. A quarter of the planet currently speaks English. That's one and a half billion people, two-thirds of whom speak it as a foreign language.
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In a recent survey, 69% of Europeans said they thought everyone should speak English. More than half of them already do. For most, it's not a question of choice but of necessity, as English has rapidly become the first language of business, science and popular culture. Three-quarters of the world's mail is in English. So are four out of five e-mails and 15 most of what you find on the Internet.
However not everyone welcomes this linguistic monopoly. The French Ministry of Finance, for instance, recently surprised the international business community by banning English terms like e-mail and Internet. In fact, seven teams of language experts have been employed to come up with French alternatives. Le Web is not acceptable. La toile is. The French have a point. Twenty languages disappear, every year because nobody speaks them anymore. At such rate by the end of the 2I st century almost a third of the world's six and a half thousand languages will be dead. Even in Germany where Denglish is fashionable, and phrases like Jointventure, Powerpartner and Fitness-Training are common, the leader of the Free Democrats has expressed concern about the flood of anglicisms descending on us from the media, advertising, product descriptions and technology'. As Professor David Crystal, author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, puts it 'wave dollar bills in front of someone, and they will learn complicated spellings and grammar'.
But what about people who learn foreign languages just for fun? A 37-year-old American, Gregg Cox, has taken this simple pleasure to extremes. He holds the world record for speaking the most foreign languages - sixty-four at the last count! He would undoubtedly be an asset to any company doing international business. But for those of us who are less gifted linguistically, the power of the American dollar means there may soon be only one foreign language we need to learn, and that language will be English.
Discuss the following questions:
1. Do you think the article overstates the importance of English?
2. What other languages might eventually take over from English as the international language of business?
3. Do you agree that big business accelerates the advance of English?
4. In your opinion, will English be more widely spoken in the future? Why (not)?
5. Can you think of any aspects of life where English is or will be the only language used?
