- •English For Philology Students
- •Introduction (предисловие)
- •Acknowledgement
- •Introductory Course. (Вводный курс) The Noun. Personal, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns
- •Personal, Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns
- •The Verbs Be, Have
- •I was a student last year.
- •I shall be a student next year.
- •The Indefinite Pronouns Some, Any, No
- •Sentences, introduced by there is/are. Few, little, much, many
- •The Adjective. Degrees of Comparison
- •Great Britain
- •Present, Past and Future Simple Tense
- •Vote want win become get be promote
- •The Importance of Learning Languages
- •The United States of America
- •Conversational formulas Meeting people
- •Main Course Unit 1 Languages. The English Language
- •Emphatic construction
- •It is (was) … that (who, which, where, etc.) …
- •It is (was) not until (till) … that …
- •English as a World Language
- •Agreement
- •Disagreement
- •The Germanic and French Influence
- •What is Good English?
- •Varieties of English
- •Some Specific Features of American English
- •Dialects of English
- •Conversational formulas Opinion
- •Word Formation
- •Verb Noun
- •Grammar Simple Tenses
- •It’s Interesting to Know Dying Languages
- •Map of uk Accents
- •Independent Reading
- •The English language
- •Standard English
- •The Origins of English
- •Britain’s Languages
- •English The World’s Biggest Brand
- •Imagine a brand bigger than Nike, bigger than Gap, bigger than Coca-Cola. Imagine a brand used by 1.5 billion people the world over.
- •Tireless Champion of American English
- •Translation Practice
- •Key Vocabulary
- •Unit 2 Universities. Kemerovo State University
- •What Are Universities For?
- •The Indefinite Pronoun “one” as a Subject
- •Needs of Universities
- •Kemerovo State University
- •St. Petersburg University
- •The Faculty of Philology and Journalism
- •Believe It You Can Achieve It Welcome to Your Future
- •Study High World Technologies in Russia
- •Conversational Formulas Requests
- •Possible replies
- •Word Formation
- •Grammar Progressive Tenses
- •It’s Interesting to Know Campus Fashion
- •Independent Reading
- •The First Universities
- •Cambridge
- •British Universities
- •Would you Like to Be a Teacher?
- •Alcot University
- •Translation Practice
- •Международный день студента
- •Тульские студенты получат потанинскую стипендию
- •Key Vocabulary
- •Unit 3. Higher Education in the English-speaking Countries
- •Is Higher Education Right For You?
- •Correlative Conjunctions
- •Higher Education in Great Britain
- •Further Education in Great Britain
- •Higher Educational Institutions of Great Britain
- •Further Education Colleges
- •Conversational Formulas Discussion
- •Word Formation
- •Grammar Perfect Tenses
- •It’s Interesting to Know Degrees
- •Independent Reading
- •What Is Higher Education All About?
- •Studying and Social Life
- •Universities in Transition
- •Translation Practice
- •Дистанционное образование
- •Key Vocabulary
- •Grammar Support
- •Существительное (The Noun)
- •Правила образования множественного числа английских исчисляемых существительных.
- •Притяжательный падеж существительных
- •Местоимение (The Pronoun)
- •Прилагательное (The Adjective)
- •Правила образования степеней сравнения прилагательных.
- •Глагол (The Verb)
- •Спряжение глаголов be, have
- •Система времен английского глагола Настоящее простое время. (The Present Simple Tense).
- •Правила правописания и произношения глаголов в 3-м лице единственного числа.
- •Простое прошедшее время (The Past Simple Tense)
- •Будущее простое время (The Future Simple Tense)
- •Настоящее продолженное время (The Present Progressive Tense)
- •Правила правописания Причастия 1
- •Прошедшее продолженное время (The Past Progressive Tense)
- •Будущее продолженное время (The Future Progressive Tense)
- •Настоящее совершенное время (The Present Perfect Tense)
- •Прошедшее совершенное время (The Past Perfect Tense)
- •Будущее совершенное время (The Future Perfect Tense)
- •Страдательный залог (The Passive Voice)
- •Примеры преобразования действительного залога в страдательный
- •References
English as a World Language
English is spoken as a mother tongue in England, the USA, Canada, Australia, India. Today, when English is one of the major languages in the world, it requires an effort of the imagination to realize that this is a relatively recent thing – in Shakespeare’s time, for example, only a few million people spoke English.
English has become a world language because of its establishment1 as a mother tongue outside England, in all the continents of the world. This exporting of English began in the seventeenth century, with the first settlements in North America. Above all, it is the great growth of population in the United States, assisted by massive immigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, that has given English its present standing in the world. Geographically, English is the most widespread language on Earth, second only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is the language of business, technology, sport, and aviation.
People who speak English fall into one of three groups: those who have learned it as their native language; those who have learned it as a second language in a society that is mainly bilingual; and those who are forced to use it for a practical purpose – administrative, professional or educational. One person in seven of the world’s entire population belongs to one of these three groups. Incredibly enough, 75 per cent of the world’s mail and 60 per cent of the world’s telephone calls are in English.
Basic characteristics of English are simplicity of form, flexibility and openness of vocabulary. Old English, like modern German, French, Russian and Greek, had many inflections to show singular and plural, tense, person, etc., but over the centuries words have been simplified. Verbs now have very few inflections, and adjectives do not change according to the noun.
As a result of the loss of inflections, English has become, over the past centuries, a very flexible language. Without inflections, the same word can operate as different parts of speech. Many nouns and verbs have the same form, for example, walk, look, smile.
We can talk about water to drink and to water the flowers; a paper to read and to paper a bedroom. Adjectives can be used as verbs. We warm our hands in front of a fire; if clothes are dirtied they need to be cleaned and dried.
Sometimes even prepositions can operate as verbs. A sixty-year old man is nearing retirement2; we can talk about a round of golf, cards, or drinks.
Openness of vocabulary involves the free admission of words3 from other languages and the easy creation of compounds and derivatives. Most world languages have contributed some words to English at some time, and the process is now being reversed. Purists of the French, Russian and Japanese languages are resisting the arrival of English in their vocabulary.
Notes:
1. because of its establishment... – потому, что он утвердился...
2. is nearing retirement – приближается к пенсионному возрасту
3. this involves the free admission of words -
это подразумевает свободное проникновение слов
Give the English for:
Один из основных языков, требуется усилие, родной язык, двуязычное общество, простота форм, окончание, множественное число, открытость, гибкость, предлог, лицо, одно и то же слово, исключение из правила, производные слова, широкораспространенный.
Match the synonyms from different columns.
A B
1) native language a) to function
2) inflection b) formation
3) to print c) mother tongue
4) word d) acceptance
5) to exceed e) exclusion
6) exception f) term
7) to simplify g) to issue
8) to operate h) to surpass
9) admission i) ending
10)creation j) to reduce
Complete the following sentences inserting the proper prepositions or adverbs.
1) Many people study foreign languages to read books ___ the original.
2) English is the language ___ diplomacy.
This book is written ___ English.
Many people use English ___ a second language.
It is a necessity ___ any scientist to study a foreign language.
In English there is a large number ___ exceptions ___ any rule.
___ the centuries the palace has been ruined.
In Russian adjectives change according ___ the noun.
Answer the following questions:
In which countries is English spoken as a mother tongue?
Why has English become one of the major languages in the world?
When did the exporting of English begin?
Why do people study English?
Which of the three groups of English speakers do you belong to?
What is your reason for learning English?
What are basic characteristics of English?
What does the term “flexibility” mean?
What role does openness of vocabulary play in the English language?
What spheres is English used in as an international language?
Agree or disagree. Use the conversational formulas of agreement/ disagreement.