Reading (Gateway B1 Unit 1-3)

Read the texts about when people started learning English. Match the comments (1–6) with the people (A–D). You can choose the people more than once. (Write the letter of the text)

A Eve
I can’t remember when I first started learning English because it was – and still is – the language my family speaks at home. You see, my mum is English and she and my dad (who’s French) thought it was a good idea for their children to speak English at home and French at school. It worked! My sisters and I speak both languages well, and I can go from one to the other without thinking.

B Igor

I never learned English at school because the foreign language we learned there was Spanish. I think children today learn English in school here – not like when I was young. I learned English when I worked in London for a year after university. I was so worried about the language! But I found that after a few weeks I knew what people were saying and I could say quite a lot. I think you learn a language best when you really need to, not just for passing exams at school.

C Alina

My first English lessons were when I was about seven, at school, but we didn’t do very much! I don’t remember anything from those lessons. We had one lesson every week and I forgot everything between the lessons. The only lesson that is still in my memory is when we imagined we were different fruits. I was a lemon and I walked around the room saying ‘I am a lemon!’ I thought it was very silly!

D Manuela

I didn’t start learning English until I was 11 and it was so difficult. There were 30 students in my class and we never said anything in English. The teacher taught us grammar rules and we learned long lists of vocabulary for tests. I didn’t understand why I was learning this strange language. The teacher didn’t show us English films or magazines and we never played any games. The lessons were boring, so I didn’t learn anything. I don’t think our teacher was very good!

1 I think it’s important to have fun when you’re learning a new language.  

2 I’m not the only one in my family who can speak two languages.  

3 I didn’t speak any English in my first English lessons at school.  

4 My parents are different nationalities.  

5 It’s important to have a real reason to learn a language.  

6 It didn’t take me long to learn English.  

Complete the sentences with between one and three words in each gap.

A Eve
I can’t remember when I first started learning English because it was – and still is – the language my family speaks at home. You see, my mum is English and she and my dad (who’s French) thought it was a good idea for their children to speak English at home and French at school. It worked! My sisters and I speak both languages well, and I can go from one to the other without thinking.

B Igor

I never learned English at school because the foreign language we learned there was Spanish. I think children today learn English in school here – not like when I was young. I learned English when I worked in London for a year after university. I was so worried about the language! But I found that after a few weeks I knew what people were saying and I could say quite a lot. I think you learn a language best when you really need to, not just for passing exams at school.

C Alina

My first English lessons were when I was about seven, at school, but we didn’t do very much! I don’t remember anything from those lessons. We had one lesson every week and I forgot everything between the lessons. The only lesson that is still in my memory is when we imagined we were different fruits. I was a lemon and I walked around the room saying ‘I am a lemon!’ I thought it was very silly!

D Manuela

I didn’t start learning English until I was 11 and it was so difficult. There were 30 students in my class and we never said anything in English. The teacher taught us grammar rules and we learned long lists of vocabulary for tests. I didn’t understand why I was learning this strange language. The teacher didn’t show us English films or magazines and we never played any games. The lessons were boring, so I didn’t learn anything. I don’t think our teacher was very good!

1 Eve speaks English when she’s         .

2 Igor thinks                   helped him learn English.

3 Alina found it difficult to          things between lessons.

4 Manuela only studied                        in class.

5 Eve can go from one language to the other                  .

6 Igor never learned English at school because the                  they learned there was Spanish.

7 Alina thought it was            when she was a lemon and walked around the room saying ‘I am a lemon!’ .

8 Manuela didn’t understand why she was learning                       .

Answer these questions with ONE WORD.

1 How many English lessons a week did Alina have?    

2 How did Igor feel about the language?        

3 What language did children in Igor’s school learn when he was a boy?

What is Eve's father nationality?       

5 What did Alina think about imagining she was a fruit?      

6 How did Manuela feel about English classes at her school?       

7 What long lists did Manuela learn for test of?