Main Course Unit 1 Languages. The English Language

1. Before reading the text answer the questions:

1. What are the most common languages spoken in the world today?

2. What languages do we use travelling abroad?

Read the text and compare your answers with the information in it.

Imagine a meeting between two people from different parts of the world – Russia and Mexico, let’s say, or Japan and Brazil – when neither speaks the other’s native language. How do they communicate? Nowadays, they would certainly use English.

Unofficially, English has become the international language of travel and tourism, technology and computers, business, medicine and so on.

Officially, it is the international language of air traffic control and shipping. Also, in countries with several tribal or ethnic groups speaking different languages, English has often been chosen as the official language of government, as in Nigeria, India and Papua New Guinea.

Noun(s) + Noun

Two (or more) nouns are often used together to mean one thing, person, idea etc. For example, world literature – мировая литература, book shop - книжный магазин, spelling system - система правописания, science fiction writer - писатель-фантаст.

The first noun is like an adjective – it tells what kind of thing, person, idea, etc:

London teacher – a teacher from London;

Language problems – problems of the language.

2. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. She has written a lot of business letters.

2. We met on a summer day.

3. English is spoken as a mother tongue in England.

4. English has become a world language.

5. 5.60 per cent of the world’s telephone calls are in English.

6. This reference book for students is interesting.

Emphatic construction

It is (was) … that (who, which, where, etc.) …

It is (was) not until (till) … that …

We use the emphatic construction to emphasize some part of the sentence. It is translated into Russian with the help of the following words: именно…, лишь …, как раз …, только …, и только после …, только в …, только тогда, когда … .

It was A. Pushkin who created the literary Russian language. – Именно А. Пушкин создал литературный русский язык.

It was not until 1997 that this theory was developed. – Только в 1997 году разработали эту теорию.

3. Translate the following sentences into Russian. Pay attention to the emphatic construction “It is… that”.

1. It was on Sunday that he arrived.

2. It was he who helped us.

3. It was on Saturday when we went to the theatre.

4. It is the great growth of the population in the USA that has given English its present standing.

5. It was Mr. White who initiated the work in this field.

6. It is for educational purposes that I study English.

7. It was not until I finished my work that I could go home.

8. It was not until 1997 that his poem was published.

9. It was not until 2 o’clock in the morning that he arrived.

10. It was not till 1982 that this writer won the Nobel Prize for Literature.

4. Read the text and translate it into Russian. Consult Key Vocabulary if necessary.