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Learning a foreign language isn’t an easy thing. Nowadays it’s 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. Everyone, who knows foreign languages can speak to people from other countries, read foreign authors in the original, which makes your outlook wider. I study English. It’s a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and efforts. Over 300 million people speak it is a mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand.
“Do you speak English?” – with this phrase begins the conversation between two people, that speak different languages and want to find a common language.
It’s very good when you hear: “Yes, I do”, and start talking. People from different countries and nations have to get along well with the progress in the world trade and technology as well as with each other.
So it is very useful to learn foreign languages. Knowledge of foreign languages helps us to develop friendship and understanding among people.
English is very popular now. It’s the language of computers, science, business, sport and politics. English language is a wonderful language. It’s the language of the great literature. It’s the language of William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and others. Half of the world’s scientific literature is in English. It’s the language of computer technology. Nearly half of all business deals in Europe are conducted in English. It is the language of sports and glamour: the official language of the Olympics and the Miss Universe Competition. English is the official voice of the air and the sea, and Christianity: it is the ecumenical language of the World Council of Churches. The largest broadcasting companies in the world (CBS, NBS, ABC, BBC) transmit in English to audiences that regularly exceed one hundred million. The great German poet Goette once said, “He, who knows no foreign language, doesn’t know his own one”. That’s why in order to understand oneself and environment one has to learn foreign languages.
Speaking a foreign language you can read papers, magazines and original books by great writers, watch satellite TV programs. If you like traveling you can go anywhere without being afraid that other people will not understand you.
I think that to know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated man, for every good specialist.
Questions:
1 .Is it an easy thing to learn a foreign language?
2. Why do people learn foreign languages?
3. Do you know any foreign language?
4. Where do the native speakers of English live?
5. What can you say about the English language?