Unit 5 English is the language of the world
Think about the English language. What do you think?
2. A language quiz. Choose the correct answer.
How many languages are there in the world?
6,800 b) more than 10,000 c) over 1,000
How many people speak English as their first language?
about 375 million b) over 200 million c) a billion and a half
Which is the language most spoken in the world?
a) German b) English c) Chinese
3. Read the text about the English language.
There are many languages in the world. Some of them are spoken in small tribes; others are spread all over the world like English or French. There are languages that are extremely difficult to learn, others are very easy. But anyway learning a foreign language is not an easy task and it takes a lot of time and effort.
People still learn foreign languages and there are some reasons for that. The most important is communication. More and more people travel abroad and the knowledge of a foreign language helps them understand each other. There are also a lot of interesting books and magazines in foreign languages and people read them to get various information.
If you want to get a good job, you will have to know one or several foreign languages. This is another reason for learning foreign languages. There are languages of international communication and they are English and French.
The English language is the official language of many international organizations such as the Olympic Committee, the United Nations and others. This is the language of computing, too. Most Internet sites and software are in English. It is the native language of many countries such as Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others.
A lot of scientific books and articles are published in English. This language is becoming more and more popular and now it is hard to live without knowing it.
4. Find in the text English equivalents for these words and word combinations.
В маленьких племенах, распространены по всему миру, другие очень просто, но в любом случае, не простое задание и требует, есть несколько причин для этого, все больше и больше людей, знание иностранного языка помогает, различную информацию, хорошую работу, несколько иностранных языков, международного общения, таких как, на английском, родной язык, множество научных книг и статей, трудно жить, без знания.
5. Right or false.
Some of them are spoken in small tribes; others are spread all over the world like Scottish or German.
There are languages that are extremely difficult to learn, others are very easy.
People still learn foreign languages and there are some reasons for that.
If you want to get a good job, you will have to know only your native language.
6. Complete the sentences in a logical way.
The English language is the official language of many international organizations such as the Olympic Committee, the United Nations and others.
There are also a lot of interesting books and magazines in foreign languages and people read them to get various information.
A lot of scientific books and articles are published in English.
But anyway learning a foreign language is not an easy task and it takes a lot of time and effort.
There are many languages in the world.
Most Internet sites and software are in English.