ликобритании.
The question of learning foreign, languages is very important today.
Foreign languages are requered especially at the present time when
progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge
and has contributed to an overflow of information. The total knowledge
of mankind is known to double every seven years. Foreign languages are
needed as the main and the most efficient means of information exchange
between the people of our planet.
Today English is the language of
the world. It is the language of progressive science and technology,
trade and cultural relations, commerce and business. It is the universal
language of international aviation, shipping and sports. It is also the
major language of diplomacy.
Hundreds and undreds of books,
magazines and newspapers are printed in English and read all over the
world. 75% of the world's mail and 60% of the world telephone calls are
in English. Half of the world's scientific literature is written in
English. English is spoken by more than 350 million people.
Geographically, it is the most widespread language on earth, second only
to Chinese in the number of people who speak it.
It is the official
language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of
the United States of America, of Australia and New Zealand. English is
used as one of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South
Africa and the Irish Republic. It is also spoken as a second language in
many parts of India and Africa. The number of second-language speakers
may soon exceed the number of native speakers. Besides, millions of
people study English as a foreign language. In our country English is
very popular. It is studied at schools (sometimes even at nursery
schools), colleges and universities.
What does it mean to know a
foreign language? It is not easy to answer this question. Americans
think that you know a foreign language if native speakers understand
you. And nobody cares about your mistakes. But of course nobody can call
it "good English" and you can use it only if your contacts with native
speakers are rare and not very important. If you are connected with
foreign countries very closely, especially through your work, you should
have a good command of the language. It means that your pronunciation
should be standard, you should speak fluently and without mistakes. And
of course you should understand your partner correctly. The latter
sometimes is the most difficult part of all. As to spelling, it depends
whether you have to write or not. If you do then you should do it
correctly too.
So far, there is no universal or ideal method of
learning languages. Everybody has his own way. Sometimes it is boring to
study grammar or to learn new words. But it is well known that reading
books in the original, listening to the BBC news, communicating with
English-speaking people will help a lot. When learning a foreign
language you learn the culture and history of the native speakers. One
must work hard to learn any foreign language.
Russia is being
integrated into the world community and the problem of learning English
for the purpose of communication is especially urgent today.