Learning a Foreign Language A. Warm Up Read what these three people say about learning a foreign language. Discuss with your partner whose opinions about learning a foreign language are closest to yours. Alejandro I started learning English a few years ago. Here in Mexico many people study American English but we study course books using British English in this school. It's my impression that English is quite an easy language to pick up to start with but now I'm finding a lot of things difficult. think it’s not easy to write well in English, there are so many irregular verbs, some verb tenses like the present perfect are confusing, the prepositions and idioms are difficult and the phrasal verbs are even worse, Maybe the worst thing is the pronunciation because the language is not phonetic, The spelling often has no relation to the sound. But understanding some British accents is the biggest challenge! Sabrina I work for a big company as an interpreter and before that as a translator. My friends say I'm a polyglot because I can speak six languages and I've just started learning Arabic. Did you know it's the official language in 26 countries? I haven't got much free time so Tim doing an online course. You need to have discipline to learn in this way because if you don't have this you might give up easily. Also, when you learn a foreign language it's important to have a number of tools. For example, it's essential to have a grammar book and a good diction- ary too. I actually prefer to look up words in a traditional paper dictionary but T use an electronic dictionary as well. Most importantly, you need to practise as much as you can and be confident! Selma Tim halfway through a six-month exchange programme in China, I was learning Chinese for three years before I came here, but when T arrived I hardly understood anything. It’s true that Chinese is a really difficult language to learn, especially all the Chinese characters. There are as many as 80,000 of them, but you can be a fairly fluent speaker if you know about 3,000 of them. My language skills are im- proving and it's such a rewarding language to learn because you can bh learn so much about the culture. I think that knowing Chinese will certainly help me in my future careerSection A: Lexis & Functions Reading Comprehension Exercises @ Tick (7) the correct box. 1. Alejandro thinks the more you study English the easier it gets. 2. Alejandro says learning prepositions is not as bad as learning phrasal verbs. 3. Sabrina seems surprised that Arabic is the main language in so many countries. a 4, Sabrina is learning Arabic online because she thinks that is the best way to -- learn a language. z 5. Because Selma studied Chinese for three years before she went to China, she 5 could understand the language quite easily. @ Circle the correct words. 1. Alejandro thinks it is easier to know regular/irregular verbs, 2. Alejandro suggests understanding British accents is less/more difficult than American ones. 3. Sabrina would rather use a(n) paper/electronic dictionary. 4, Selma says it is necessary/unnecessary to learn most of the Chinese characters. 5. Selma is sure/uncertain if her knowledge of Chinese will help her in her future job. © Fill in the gaps with one word from the texts. 1. Alejandro finds several things about English -....n00sinnee and difficult to understand. 2, Sabrina thinks having grammar books and dictionaries a@ w..sssnennnee if You want to learn a language well 3. In Sabrina’s opinion if you are , it will help you learn a foreign language. 4, Selma’s language level iS .....nmnnnnmnm because she frequently practises the language. NOUN ADJECTIVE ADVERB LEARN ENGLISH CONJUNCTION PREPOSITION VERB PeONouite NeeB. Vocabulary 1. Match the words in the box (1-5) to the pictures (a-e). @ 4. electronic dictionary 2. paper dictionary 3. course book 4, interpreter 5. translator 2. Now, fill in the gaps with words from Exercise 1 above. 1, She has worked as a(n) .. . at the EU meetings for many years. 2. Lhave always used aff) sean .»» because if| look up the word in this way | remember it better. 3. Itis important to have a(n) because you feel you have made progress when you finish it 4.1 started using a(n aa few years ago and | like hearing the pronunciation of the words. 5. He works in an office as a(n) .w« for a shipping company so he needs to be very accurate. 3. Match the words (1-6) to what they mean (a-f). 1. fluent .. It is possible to know how to pronounce a word from its spelling, 2. pronunciation b. This is something you can hear. 3. phonetic. ¢. The way a person from a particular area or country pronounces words. 4, sound d. This describes someone who speaks a language easily. 5. accent Someone who speaks many different languages, 6. polyglot ... f. This is the way people say the words.Section A: Lexis & Functions 4. What do they mean? Fill in the gaps with words from the box. 1. to check the meaning of something 2. a type of verb which has a preposition or adverb or both pick up 3. to stop doing something Cau look up 4, a word which is used before a noun or noun phrase idiom 5. to get knowledge by learning or experience preposition phrasal verb 6. a group of words in a fixed order that means something different from when the meaning of the words are on their own 5. Choose the best option (a, b or ¢) to fill in the gaps. 1. When something is difficult, it can be al)... ..t0 solve it, a. impression b. challenge ©. discipline 2. Having course books, grammar books and dictionaries are all important 10 help you learn. a. tools b. nouns . skills 3. Most people find learning a foreign language a(n) .. and positive experience. a. confusing b. improving c. rewarding 4. If you learn a foreign language, you will also learn about the ... ssn OF that Country, a, exchange b. idiom c. cultureC. Listen in! Part 1 Listen to five people (1-5) talking about some things that have to do with learning a foreign language. Write a-e after each number, 2, electronic dictionary ». paper dictionary ¢, course book d. interpreter . translator yeep Part 2 Alejandro is talking about learning English. Tick the correct box. The second time you listen, correct the false sentences. 1. Alejandro likes all the activities he does in the English class 2. He says he enjoys practising grammar in class. E 3. His favourite activity is playing games in class 2 4, He prefers singing when he listens to English songs. oa 5. Alejandro would rather listen to English rock music * 6. He thinks its not a good idea to watch English films in class. = 7. Alejandro shares his English football magazines with his friends. [== 8. Writing an English diary helps Alejandro remember new vocabulary. [3 Part3 Sabrina is talking about learning Arabic. Fill in the blanks with one word from the recording. Listen twice. A, Some eee languages are more difficult than Arabic. 2, The Arabic is not as difficult as people think. 3, The word . Is different in Arabic from most European languages. 4, The biggest problem for Sabrina is the Arabic .. 5, Itis difficult to copy some of the Arabic i 6. You must decide which oe of Arabic you want to learn, 7. Most people choose to learn Arabic. 8, This is because most people in the Arabic world know about Egyptian ... Part 4 Selma is talking about learning Chinese. Circle the best answer (a, b or c). | Selma thought her first month was a..... experience. 4, Selmais .... more Chinese every day. a. great b. culture . difficult a.lookingup —_b. picking up _«. translating 2, It took a while before things became less... 5, Selma is beginning to recognise the difference in a.rewarding —__b.confusing _¢. expensive some Chinese ..... a. regions b. culture c. accents 3, One of Selma’s classmates...... and returned to his ‘own country. a. gave up b.pickedup —_. travelledUnit 3 Section A: Lexis & Functions D. Speak out! In the conversation phase of the exam, the examiner might ask you questions about your ideas and opinions on learning a foreign language. These questions are only examples. ‘+ Do you think English is an easy language to pick up? Why/why not? + Inyour opinion, what do you have to do to be a good language learner? ‘+ How often do we have to practise a foreign language to really improve? = Do you think that reading a foreign newspaper/magazine Is a good way to study? Why? ‘= What's your point of view on watching a film/listening to songs in the target language to learn a foreign language? Why? * What were you doing the last time you listened to English music? + From your point of view, what's the best way to improve your pronunciation? + Can you learn a foreign language if you haven't studied the grammar? ‘+ Inyour opinion, is it more important to learn a foreign language today than in the past? Why/Why not? ‘+ Are you studying English over the summer holidays? Why/why not? * Do you think your English will be much better in a year’s time? ‘+ Apart from English what language/languages do you think you might study in the future? Functional English Note how we can express certainty or uncertainty by Using the following: It might be a good way of learning a language. It may be 0 good idea to keep a diary in English. It could be an enjoyable way to learn a language. Perhaps it’s one of the easier languages to learn. It’s possible it could be the best way to improve your pronunciation.Extra Speaking Exercise 1A. This is an example of a conversation between an examiner and a candidate. They are talking about learning a foreign language. Note how the candidate plays a limited part in the maintenance of the interaction with the examiner by asking at least one question. Now, read the conversation and fill in the gaps with words from the box. fluent role plays subtitles pick up improve translate culture give up better sounds Examiner: How many languages can you speak? Candidate: | speak Mandarin Chinese and some English. Examiner: In your opinion is English an easy language to (1) ? Candidate: Not for me because English is so different from my native language but I'm improving now. Examiner: What do you think you have to do to be a good language learner? Candidate: | think the most important thing is to practise every day and not (2) | What's your opinion? Examiner: Yes, | think you're right, Also | think it’s good to be curious about the language and the (3)... ask lots of questions and have fun, Do you think it’s possible to learn a language without studying the grammar? Candidate: 'm not sure about that. If you don’t know the grammar you'll make a lot of mistakes and people might not understand you. Examiner: Is grammar the most important thing about learning a language? Candidate: No, because you need to practise speaking too. In my first school we only did grammar exercises and we had to (4) .nunuomnnn everything. It was So boring. Then | went to another school and we played more games and did more (5) von « What do you think about grammar? Examiner: It's important to study the grammar and then practise it. Do you think listening to music and watching films is a good way to learn. Candidate: Yes and no. | love listening to some English music like the Beatles because it’s easy to understand the ‘words. But | stil don’t understand most English films and I need (6) ..u.eumonThen I read them without really watching the film, Examiner: What were you doing the last time you heard some English music? Candidate: Err, that’s a good question! This morning | heard some English songs in a shop - so | was shopping! Examiner: What's the best way to (7) Candidate: | have found some pronunciation exercises on the internet. | try to Copy the (8) w.rsnnnn OF tHE language at the same speed. Examiner: Do you get the impression your English wil be (9) .-ina year’s time? Candidate: | hope so! | might travel to England next year so maybe | can become more (10) Examiner: Do you think you might learn another language in the future? Candidate: Yes, | might. Maybe I'l try to learn French or German, Examiner: Well, good luck with that . your pronunciation? P; Exercise 1B. Now listen to the recording on Learning a foreign language and check your answers. work Exercise 1C. Work with your partner. One student is the examiner and the other is the candidate. Practise a dialogue similar to the one above. Before you start write useful words in the study box. Stevo Ask questions like these: How many ..? In your opinion .. ? What's the best .. ? Have you ever .. ? Do you think you might... ?Section A: Lexis & Functions Unk Exercise 1D. write down ten countries on a piece of paper but don’t show your list to your partner. Then Student A reads out a country and Student B must say what is the main language or languages the people of that country speak there. if you know, make some comments about things you know about that language. If you don’t know, you will have to guess the language. After you have finished change roles. You can check on the internet or your smartphone to see how many points out of ten you each scored. You might have to award half points if there is more than one official language in that country! For example ‘Student A: Number One. Australia. ‘Student B: That’s easy. English. It's an easy language at first but ‘verb tenses, prepositions, phrasal verbs are difficult as well as listening to some accents. Student A: Ok, Number Two. Germany Student B: Easy, German! | heard the grammar is difficult. The pronunciation is hard too. ‘Student A: Ok, Number Three. Brazil. Student B: Spanish. Student A: Wrong. It's Portuguese. ‘Student B: Ok, they are both Latin languages, and I think they are quite similar to italian. Student A: All right. Number Four. Pakistan? Student B: I'm not sure. It might be English or it may be Indian or could it be Arabic. ‘Student A: No, it’s Urdu. It’s similar to Hindi and Farsi 'm surprised you didn’t know that! Number Five. Egypt? Student Remember these expressions to express certainty and uncertainty we looked at earlier in this unit: it might be. It may be It could by Perhaps it’s . It’s possible it could be...