Why Would I Need to Know Another Language?

One in every 10 US citizens was born outside of the U.S. and speaks a language other than English as their first language. The U.S. is also one of the premiere tourist destinations for travellers from around the world.

Finally, growing expansion of US businesses abroad and foreign investments within the U.S. spell job opportunities for those who can communicate in more than one language. Even if you never leave the U.S., with the exponential growth of E-commerce world-wide you will undoubtedly encounter languages other than English in your professional life. Of the over 310 million Internet users around the world, less than half are English speakers.

§ English only accounts for 36.5% of websites world wide;

§ 10.8% of all websites are available in Chinese;

§ 9.7% in Japanese;

§ 7.4% in Spanish;

§ 6.6% in German;

§ 3.5% in French.

Also, did you know that learning a second language:

§ Broadens your cultural and intellectual horizons?

§ Provides a better understanding of your own language?

§ Enables you to understand people who are different from you?

§ Provides you with better job opportunities in many fields of work?

§ Prepares you to connect virtually with others world-wide?

23. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following words and expressions:

24. Find the English equivalent for the following Russian words:

25. Make up a short situation using the following words and phrases and try to express your own point of view:

to communicate; to master a language; to provide job opportunities; a professional life; websites; to connect; Internet users

26. Fill in the gaps with the words from the box:

English is a 1 ___ language. It is the language of progressive science and technology, trade and cultural relations, commerce and 2 ___. English is 3 ___ by more than 350million people. Geographically, it is the most 4 ___ language on earth, second only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is also spoken as a 5 ___ language by many people in India, Pakistan, numerous countries in Africa. The 6 ___ of second-language speakers may soon exceed the number of native speakers, if it has not done so already.

In our country English is very 7 ___: it is studied at schools, colleges and universities. Learning a foreign language is not an easy 8 ___, but it is a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But to know English today is absolutely 9 ___ for every educated person, for every good specialist.

Check your answers on p. 279.

27. Read the text and give its brief summary:

Text 5 B

Tourism

Tourism is the act of travel for the purpose of recreation and business, and the provision of services for this act. Tourists are persons who are «travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited». A more comprehensive definition would be that tourism is a service industry, comprising a number of tangible and intangible components. The tangible elements include transport systems — air, rail, road, water and now, space; hospitality services — accommodation, foods and beverages, tours, souvenirs; and related services such as banking, insurance and safety and security. The intangible elements include: rest and relaxation, culture, escape, adventure, new and different experiences.

Many countries depend heavily upon travel expenditures by foreigners as a source of taxation and as a source of income for the enterprises that sell (export) services to these travellers. Sometimes Tourism and Travel are used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more purposeful journey. The term tourism is sometimes used pejoratively, implying a shallow interest in the societies and places that the tourist visits.

One of the earliest definitions of Tourism was given by the Austrian economist Hermann Von Schullard in 1910. He defined it as «sum total of operators, mainly of an economic nature, which directly relate to the entry, stay and movement of foreigners inside and outside a certain country, city or a region».

Tourism may be classified into the following types:

§ Inbound international tourism: Visits to a country by nonresidents of that country.

§ Outbound international tourism: Visits by the residents of a country to another country.

§ Internal tourism: Visits by residents of a country to their own.

§ Domestic tourism: Inbound international tourism + internal tourism.

§ National tourism: Internal tourists + outbound international tourism.

Wealthy people have always travelled to distant parts of the world to see great buildings or other works of art; to learn new languages; or to taste new cuisine. As long ago as the time of the Roman Republic places such as Bali were popular coastal resorts for the rich.

The terms tourist and tourism were first used as official terms in 1937 by the League of Nations. Tourism was defined as people travelling abroad for periods of over 24 hours. The history of European tourism can perhaps be said to originate with the medieval pilgrimage. Although undertaken primarily for religious reasons, the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales quite clearly saw the experience as a kind of holiday (the term itself being derived from the ‘holy day’ and its associated leisure activities). Pilgrimages created a variety of tourist aspects that still exist — bringing back souvenirs, obtaining credit with foreign banks (in medieval times utilising international networks established by Jews and Lombards), and making use of space available on existing forms of transport (such as the use of medieval English wine ships bound for Vigo by pilgrims to Santiago De Compostella). Pilgrimages of one sort or another are still important in modern tourism — such as to Lourdes or Knock in Ireland. But there are modern equivalents — Graceland and the grave of Jim Morrison in Pere Lanchaise Cemetery.

Nowadays tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time. They are also better educated and have more sophisticated tastes. There is now a demand for a better quality product in many quarters. This has resulted in the following trends:

§ The old ‘sun, sea, and sand’ mass market has fragmented. People want more specialised versions of it, such as ‘Club 18 -30’, quieter resorts with select hotels, self-catering, etc.

§ People are taking second holidays in the form of short breaks/city breaks, ranging from British and European cities to country hotels.

§ There has been a growth in niche markets catering for special interests or activities.

§ The developments in technology and transport infrastructure (particularly the advent of jumbo jets) have placed some types of holiday in the affordable mainstream:

§ The development of a mass cruise holiday market.

§ The advent of affordable holidays to long-haul destinations such as Thailand or Kenya.

§ The phenomenon of the low budget airline, utilising a new generation of small regional airports.

There have also been changes in lifestyle, which may call into question the current definitions of tourism. Some people may be adopting a tourism lifestyle, living as a tourist all the year round — eating out several times a week, going to the theatre, daytripping, and indulging in short breaks several times a year.

TEXT AND VOCABULARY EXERCISES

28. Find in the text the words or phrases which mean the same as: