1. Іноземна мова в сучасному світі

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LANGUAGES OF COMMUNICATION

The total number of languages in the world is from 2,500 to 5,000. The most widespread languages are Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian and many others. These languages are alive and they are in use. In addition to these, there are «dead» languages, which are no more means of communication. These are, for example, Latin, old Slavonic and some others. All these languages are called natural, because there is a number of an artificial or universal or world language. The world-known non-specialized language is Esperanto. There are also programming languages which are used in computers. These are specialized languages.

Here we are going to deal with the living language which is spoken practically all over the world. It is spoken as the mother tongue in Great Britain, the United States of America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A lot of people speak English in China, Japan, India, Africa and many other countries. English is one of the 6 official and working languages of the UN. It is studied as a foreign language in our secondary and higher schools.

What is the English language? Knowing England’s history makes it much easier to understand how the English language came to be as it is. Many English words were borrowed from the language of the Angles and Saxons, the Danes. Hundreds of French words had slipped into English. French words that come into English didn’t crowd out Anglo-Saxon words that mean the same things. Therefore, there are many pairs of words with the same meaning. The list below gives a few of them:

Anglo- Saxon French

deed act вчинок, справа;

pretty beautiful красивий, вродливий;

shape form форма;

stream river річка, потік.

Many new words have been brought into English by traders and travelers. These words came from all parts of the world. The list below tells from what languages they came:

umbrella – Italian;

skates (ковзани) - Dutch;

tea (чай) – Chinese;

cigar (сигара) – Spanish;

tulip (тюльпан) – Turkish;

potato (картопля) – Spanish.

Some words came into English directly from the old Latin. In the Middle Ages Latin was the language of the church and of the Universities. Almost all the early printed books were in Latin. Latin words slipped into the common talk of the scholars and from there into the talk of the common people.

Some English words of today are derivatives. One way of manufacturing new English words is to put together two or older English words: «railway», «football», «newspaper», and so on.

A great many new English words – especially new scientific words – have been made from Latin or Greek words instead of English ones. «Telephone», for instance, was made from the Greek words for «far away» and «talk».

Some people think that the language spoken in the United States should be called American instead of English. So many changes have been made in it, that they say it is no longer English. Of course, it is not surprising that American English is different from the English of England. In both countries the language was bound to change, and the countries are 3,000miles apart. Thus the English say «tube» for «subway», «flat» for «apartment», «in the street» for «on the street» and so on. The English pronounce some words differently, too. But even though are many differences between British English and American English, there are far more ways in which they are alike.

VOCABULARY

The total number – загальна кількість;

widespread – поширений;

Chinese – китайський;

Spanish – іспанський;

Italian – італійський;

Dutch – голландський;

Turkish – турецький;

to be alive – бути живим;

to be in use – використовуватися;

in addition to – крім того;

a living language – жива мова;

a dead language – мертва мова;

a natural language – природна мова;

an artificial (universal, world) language – штучна (універсальна, міжнародна) мова;

non-specialized – не спеціалізований;

Esperanto – есперанто;

programming languages – мови програмування;

to deal with – розповідати;

English is spoken – англійською розмовляють ...

all over the world – в усьому світі;

а mother tongue – рідна мова;

Canada – Канада;

Australia – Австралія;

New Zealand – Нова Зеландія;

China – Китай;

Japan – Японія;

India – Індія;

the UN (the United Nations) – ООН (Організація Об’єднаних Націй);

to make it easier – полегшити;

to borrow – запозичити;

the Angles and Saxons – англосакси;

the Danes – датчани;

to slip – проникати;

to crowd out – витісняти;

therefore – тому, отже;

a pair – пара;

a few – декілька;

a trader – торговець;

directly – безпосередньо;

the Middle Ages – Середні Віки;

a church – церква;

a scholar – учений;

a common talk – розмовна мова;

the common people – прості люди;

derivative – похідний;

to manufacture –створювати;

it is no longer English – вона вже не є англійською;

bound – змушений;

it is not surprising – не дивно;

to be 3,000miles apart – на відстані 3000 миль одна від одної;

differently – по-різному;

but even though – але, хоча;

there are far more ways in which they are alike – але в цих мовах набагато більше спільних рис.

Principal languages of the world and the total number of speakers of different languages:

Languages Millions

Arabic…………………………………………………171

Chinese………………………………………………..1.000

English………………………………………………...415

French…………………………………………………112

German………………………………………………...118

Greek…………………………………………………..11

Hindi…………………………………………………...287

Italian…………………………………………………..63

Japanese………………………………………………..121

Polish…………………………………………………...40

Portuguese……………………………………………...161

Russian…………………………………………………282

Spanish…………………………………………………285

Ukrainian……………………………………………….42

Vietnamese……………………………………………..50

EXERCISE 1 Make up sentences:

English China

German Spain

Chinese is spoken as a mother tongue in France

French Germany

Japanese Great Britain

Spanish Japan