2. Listening

1. "Linguistic Talent"

1. Listen to the dialogue:

• Why weren’t you at the German class last night, Joan? Have you given up?

• Well, no, I came back late yesterday and found Simon asleep in a chair. He’s been writing reports all day long and he was too worn out to go out again. So we gave the lesson a miss.

• You’ve missed quite a lot of lessons lately, haven’t you? You’re losing your enthusiasm.

• Yes, I am afraid so. Neither Simon nor I have a gift for languages. People just laugh at us when we attempt to speak German. Now did you and Eric pick it up so quickly and easily? You’ve hardly been in Germany a month.

• It was neither quick nor easy I assure you. We both started the language before we came, and we only needed to brush it up a bit.

• Anyway, all our friends here speak English fluently. So we don’t really need to learn German.

• Well, Eric and I have been both learning and teaching languages for years, and we’ve enjoyed it immensely.

• Well, keep it up. I am all for teaching foreigners English if it saves me from trouble of learning foreign languages myself.

2. Read the dialogue imitating the speakers’ intonation.

3. Learn the dialogue.

1. "Learn a Foreign Language"

1. You’ll hear five people giving their opinions about learning languages. Choose a sentence from the list, which summarises what they each say. Match the name of the speaker to the appropriate sentence. There is one sentence, which you do not need to use.

Most people can’t learn a language in the country where it is spoken. You can’t learn a language without living in the country where it is spoken. Learning Latin or Ancient Greek is a waste of time. You never stop learning a language. Some languages are more difficult than others. It’s hard to learn a foreign language in your own country.

Sally Bill Anthony Tom Julie

2. Mark the statements as True or False

1. It would be easier for Anthony to learn Italian.

2. Sally considers Latin or Ancient Greek to be interesting.

3. Julie thinks it takes a very long time to learn a language.

4. Bill thinks that studing languages at school seems relevant.

5. You can forget all about the language if your only contact with the language is in the classroom.

3. Answer the questions

1. Why would it be difficult for Anthony to learn Japanese?

2. Why does Sally think that learning Japanese would be useful and relevant?

3. When is it quite difficult to appreciate the relevance of any language?

4. What should you start every lesson with? Why?

5. Why can’t people take time off to learn a foreign language in the country it is spoken?

4. Find English equivalents

1) мертвый язык

2) ценность, важность

3) зарабатывать на жизнь

4) брать отпуск

5. Which of the speakers sounded most unpleasant? Why did he sound unpleasant?