Post-Reading Activities

Write down 10 Advises how to learn a language.

Read, translate and practice the following dialogues.

1. Learning a Language :

A.: How can student learn a foreign language?

В.: It depends on the aim: if you want to speak a language, you must bear it spoken and speak it yourself. You must listen, imitate and practice a lot.

A.: And if one is mainly interested in reading?

В.: Then one must read a lot. The general rule is: we learn to speak a language by speaking, and we learn to read by reading.

A.: Some people believe that learning a language is just a matter of memorizing words. I would like to hear what you think about that.

В.: You do need words to build up a vocabulary, of course. But learning isolated words without knowing how to put them together will be a waste of time. One should learn the grammatical structure of the language.

A.: But it is so dull to study grammar.

В.: I can't agree with you. The point is that you should study grammar together with the language and not instead of it. Trying to master a language without studying its grammar is like trying to build a house without a plan.

A.: When is the best time to start learning a foreign language?

В.: You can learn it at any age. The best time to start learning is now, no matter how old you are.

A.: Is there any magic formula to follow?

В.: Actually there is not any magic formula to follow. But the golden rule No. 1 is to have patience: if you work every day, if you practice the language, you will learn it well [2].

2. Rules of Grammar :

Student: There is one thing that puzzles me. Who makes the “rules” of grammar? Who decides whether the sentence is right or wrong? Teacher: No one.

St.: But isn't there an Academy that does it?

Т.: No, as far as I know.

St.: Hasn't Oxford University or Cambridge anything to do with it?

Т.: No. You see, the grammar of a language is not a list of rules forced on people who speak it; it is just a record made by careful observation of how people speak the language.

St.: But there are “rules” and laws of grammar to say “this is right and this is wrong”. Surely, language must obey these rules.

Т.: We have “rules and laws of Nature”, but these are not rules for Nature that Nature has to obey; they are just few things that wise men have observed as to the way Nature acts. If we find that Nature is not acting according to these rules we don't try to force Nature to obey them; we change rules and make new ones.

 St.:   And is it the same with grammar?

 Т.: Exactly. Language is a living thing, always changing; old words die, new words come in; some constructions gradually fallout of use, others make their way in. English of today is not quite the same as English of the seventeenth century. What is good grammar for Shakespeare could be bad grammar for Shaw.

St.: What is grammatically “right” and what is grammatically “wrong?” How do you decide?

Т.: Whatever form is used by the majority of educated speakers or writers is correct; or, as Henry Sweet put it, “Whatever is in general use in language is, for that reason, grammatically соrrect”. That is all [2].

10. Discuss the problems raised in the dialogues given above. Questions to be answered during the discussion:

1. What subject is discussed in the dialogues? 2. Who makes the rules of grammar? 3. Is language changing? 4. Do old words die? 5. Do new words come in? 6. Is English of today quite the same as English of the 17th century? 7. What are the rules of grammar compared to? 8. What do you think will happen if people stop observing grammar rules? 9. What do you think is the best way to learn English grammar? 10. Does grammar help to speak and read?

11. Give Russian equivalents to the following definitions:

Graph (chart): a vertical axis, a horizontal axis, a curve, a dotted line; table; bar chart; pie chart; scatter chart; diagram; pictogram; 1/3 a third; 1/2 a half; 3/4 three quarters; 2/3 two thirds; 0,05 nought point five, 6,25 six point two five, 15–20 % fifteen to twenty percent; <90 % less than ninety percent; 60 x 3 sixty times three; 150–40 a hundred and fifty minus forty; 33÷ 3 thirty three divided by three; 100,1 one thousand and one; 65.935 sixty-five thousand nine hundred and thirty five; 7,896,324 seven million eight hundred and ninety-six thousand three hundred and twenty four; approximately 50 % fifty per cent.

Project Work

1. Work in pairs. Make the Power Point Presentation on topic: “How to make presentation in English”:

Ending the presentation