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Active vocabulary
major ['meIdZq] великий, найбільш важливий, значний
major question — головне питання
language ['lxNgwIdZ] мова
the Russian [the English] language — російська [англійська] мова
living [dead] language — жива [мертва мова]
working language — робоча мова
require [rI'kwaIq] вимагати, наказувати; потребувати чогось
effort ['efqt] зусилля
he spoke with effort — йому було важко говорити
to make efforts — докласти зусиль
imagination [I"mxdZI'neIS(q)n] уява, фантазія, творча уява
use your imagination — вигадай що-небудь
relatively ['relqtIvlI] відносно, порівняно
tiling ['taIlIN] покриття плиткою
establishment [I'stxblISmqnt] підстава, укладання, утворення
the establishment of a new state — утворення нової держави
higher education establishments — вищий навчальний заклад
tongue [tAN] язик
export ['ekspO:t] вивіз, експорт, експортування
growth [grqVT] розвиток; зростання
economic growth — економічний розвиток
assisted [q'sIstId] зроблений з чиєюсь допомогою
massive ['mxsIv] масивний; важкий; цільний
learned [lE:n] (learned [-d], learnt) вивчати, навчатися
to learn English — вивчати англійську мову
to learn smth. by heart — вивчати щось напам’ять
society [sq'saIqtI] суспільний устрій, суспільство
bilingual [baI'lINgwql] людина, яка розмовляє двома мовами, білінгвіст
administrative [qd'mInIstrqtIv] адміністративний
profes¬sional [prq'feS(q)nql] професійний
professional skill — професійна майстерність
professional etiquette /courtesy/ — професійна етика
professional advice — нарада /консультація/ спеціаліста
educational ["edjV'keIS(q)nql] навчальний, виховний
force [fO:s] сила, потужність
the force of the blow [of the explosion] — сила удару [вибуху]
авторитет, престиж
to be a force —користуватися великим впливом
the force of an agreement — дія договору
purpose ['pE:pqs] мета, намір
for practical purposes — з практичною метою
sense of purpose — цілеспрямованість
man of purpose — цілеспрямована людина
entire [In'taIq] повнота, загальний характер
the entire of his property — все його майно
belong [bI'lPN] (to) належати, бути власністю
I can use it, but it does not belong to me — я можу цим користуватися, але це не моя власність;
(to) належати, бути частиною
to belong to a certain set — належати до певного кола суспільства
to belong to a club — бути членом клубу
to make use of smith- вживати що-небудь, користуватися чим-небудь
the only- єдиний
living being- жива істота
as recent as = as old as- такий давній, як
human being- людина
at the most- найбільше, не менше, ніж (максимум)
the remote past- далеке минуле
spoken language- усна мова
native speaker- носій рідної мови (для кого мова є рідна)
mother tongue- рідна мова
to have (a practical) command (of)- володіти (практично)
to have a much better grasp (of the subject)-краще володіти (предметом)
Text 1.
English as a World Language
Today, when English is one of the major languages in the world, it requires an effort of the imagination to realize that this is a relatively recent tiling - that in Shakespeare's time, for example, only a few million people spoke English, and the language was not thought to be very important by the other nations of Europe, and was unknown to the rest of the world.
English has become a world language because of its establishment as a mother tongue outside England, in all the continents of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century, with the first settlements in North America. Above all, it is the great growth of population in the United States, assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that has given the English language its present standing in the world.
People who speak English fall into one of three groups: those who have learned it as their native language; those who have learned it as a second language in a society that is mainly bilingual; and those who are forced to use it for a practical purpose - administrative, professional or educational. One person in seven of the world's entire population belongs to one of these three groups.
Three hundred million people speak English as their native language. English is their first language. They live in countries such as Britain, The United State of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Six hundred million people use English as an official, second language. They live in countries such as India, Pakistan and Nigeria.
But at least one hundred million people now study English as a foreign language. They live in countries such as Spain, Greece, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, China, Russia and Poland - in fact, almost everywhere.
Incredibly enough, 75% of the world's mail and 60% of the world's telephone calls are in English. Therefore, at least one thousand million people can speak, read, write and understand English today
Answer the questions
1. What foreign languages do you know?
2. What language is one of the major languages in the world? Why do think so?
3. How many people did speak English in Shakespeare's time?
4. Why has the English language become a world language?
5. What English speaking people groups do you know? How are they divided?
6. What languages do you like most of all?
7. How many English writers do you know?
8. How many countries do you know when English is spoken?
Text 2.
Human language is, perhaps, the most astonishing creation of man. It helps us understand each other. We make use of it in practically everything we do.
Language is a means of communication in human society. People can use other means of communication, such as red lights and flags, but these signs are interpreted into human language. So language is the normal form and the vain means of communication in human society.
We cannot say anything definite about the original of language. But we realize now that language is a product of human society and it can exist only in human society.
Man (“homo sapiens”) is the only living being with the power of speech. The appearance of language on our planet is as recent as the appearance of man himself. Labour and language are distinctive and exclusive marks of human being. Without them the growth and progress of human society is unthinkable.
Human speech differs greatly from the signal-like actions of animals, even of those which use the voice. Dogs, for instance, make only two or three kings of noise - say barking, growling and whining. In human speech different sound combinations have different meanings.
Primitive people had a few hundred words at the most. Today highly cultured nations have more that seven hundred thousand words in their dictionaries. This means that now people can communicate by words much better that they did it in the remote past. The rapid growth of the vocabulary of modern languages is due to the development of science and technology.
But spoken languages were easy to forget; so people invented writing to record them. Writing is a way of recording language by means of visible marks. The first form of writing was picture writing. Symbols representing the sound of a language appeared much later. The art of writing made it possible to fix thoughts and to store knowledge, and to pass them on from one generation to another.
Mankind speaks many languages. A group of people who use the same system of speech signals is a speech community. Speech-communities differ greatly in size. An American Indian tribe of only a few hundred persons speaks language of its own. On the other hand, there are some speech communities that are very large.
English has several hundred million native speakers. For them English is their mother tongue. Millions of people with some other native language learn English for business, professional or political purposes. For them English is not their mother tongue but a foreign language. Ukrainian, Russian, French, German, Chinese and some other languages also have vast numbers of speakers.
There are people who know three, five or six languages. They are polyglots. They study languages because knowledge of languages is their speciality or hobby.
For a modern engineer and research worker it is absolutely necessary to have practical command of foreign languages. A scientist who can read the literature of his field in several languages has a much better grasp of the subject. Learning foreign languages enriches the native language, makes it clearer, more flexible and expressive.
Answer the following questions on the text
1. Why is human language the most astonishing creation of man?
2. What can you tell about the group of language appearance?
3. What do you know about English (Ukrainian, Russian)?
4. What do you call people who speak many languages?
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