VOCABULARY

LANGUAGE

Why are you learning English? For work, exams, travel, etc.?
Do you speak any languages besides your mother tongue and English?
Did you use any learning strategies when studying your second language? Which?
When was the first time you used a foreign language outside the classroom?
Do you have the chance to speak/write to native speakers regularly?
Which is more important to you when you learn to speak a language: fluency or accuracy?
Which skill is the hardest for you: speaking, listening, reading, or writing? Which is the easiest?
Do you know anyone who is bilingual?

Exercise 1 Click to listen

Three International College students talk about where they're from and their reasons for studying
English. Underline the correct answers. (10’)
1. Daniela: I come from Acapulco / Mexico City and I need English for my job / studies.
2. Said: I come from Riyadh / Jeddah and I need English for my job / studies.
3. Justyna: I come from Krakow / Warsaw and I need English for my job / studies.
Listen again and complete the table with the words in the box.

grammar the lessons the teacher reading and writing listening the timetable

Likes at the college Needs to improve

Daniela
Said
Justyna

Exercise 2
Complete the dialogues with these words and expressions:
second language bilingual strong accent
mother tongue native speaker
1. - So, Sandy, what language do you speak in Hong Kong?
- Well, of course, Chinese is my ........................... but for almost everyone, English is spoken
as a .......................... .
2. - So, Steven, you've been learning English for ten years. That's a long time.
- I suppose it is, but I want to keep learning until I can hold a conversation like a .......................... .
3. - Where did you learn to speak such good Spanish, Mary?
- Well my dad's Spanish and I went to school in Madrid until I was nine so I'm basically .................... .
4. - I find it very difficult to understand Maggie when she speaks quickly.
- Well, she comes from Liverpool and she's got quite a .......................... . I'm sure you'll get used to it.
Exercise 3
Use the correct form of these verbs to complete the text below:
practise say pick up hold
study improve make do
When I first started learning English ten years ago, I could hardly (1) .......................... a word — 'hello,'
'goodbye', 'thank you' was just about it! I went to classes two evenings a week and I was surprised at
how quickly I (2) .......................... progress. During the course we learned lots of vocabulary and
(3) ........................... grammar rules. The thing I enjoyed most was being able to (4) ..........................
speaking with the other students in my class.

After two years I went to England to a language school. It was in Cambridge. I (5) .......................... a
three-week course at a very good school and I stayed with a local family. It was a fantastic experience
and I (6) .......................... a lot of new language from speaking with my host family and with other
students from all over the world. I really (7) .......................... my pronunciation as well. When I got back
to Spain, I was so much more confident. I could actually (8) .......................... a conversation with my
teacher in English.

Now complete these whole expressions from the text. The first one has been done for you.
9. I could hardly …say a word…. .
10. I made …………………… .
11. We studied …………………… .
12. I enjoyed being able to …………………… speaking with the other students.
13. I did …………………… at a language school.
14. I picked up …………………… .
15. I really improved my …………………… .
16. I could actually hold …………………… .
You can study English with a teacher, in a group or you can have private or one-to-one lessons.

Exercise 4
Use the correct form of these expressions to complete the sentences
make mistakes revise have fun
look it up advantage do
effort advice
1. If you're not sure what something means, ……………….… in your dictionary.
2. Don't worry about …………………….. . The important thing is to try to communicate.
3. Remember there's a test tomorrow. So, spend a bit of time ……………… this evening.
4. The most important thing is to …………….……. when you learn a language. Learning is easier if you
make it interesting for yourself.
5. If you want to get better at a language, you have to make an ………………….. and practise regularly.
6. Don’t hesitate to take …………………. from experienced learners or teachers.
7. You can’t expect to make significant progress without …………………. any work.
8. When you live in an English-speaking country, you have a big ……………………… because you are
surrounded by native speakers.

Exercise 5 Click to listen

Which of the following aspects of English do you find the most difficult?
A vocabulary B grammar C reading D writing
E pronunciation F speaking G listening
Listen to somebody talking about learning a language and say which THREE things in the list
above she had difficulty with.

Match the words with their definition.

1. change words from one language to another a. overwhelmed
2. the ability to do something without making mistakes b. native speaker
3. something that prevents successful communication c. persevere
4. a person who has spoken the language from birth d. function
5. the ability to speak without hesitation e. struggle
6. work or carry out daily tasks f. accuracy
7. try very hard to achieve something difficult g. translate
8. given too much of something for someone to manage h. language barrier
9. continue making an effort despite difficulty i. fluency

Exercise 6
Below is a list of English learning strategies. Match the verb on the left with a suitable phrase on
the right.
1. study a. online videos
2. talk b. to songs in English
3. use c. a vocabulary notebook
4. listen d. newspapers and magazines
5. keep e. a dictionary
6. watch f. emails to my friends
7. read g. with a teacher in a classroom
8. write h. to people whose first language is English

Exercise 7
Complete the conversation with the words in the box.

advantage advice effort fun progress skills time work

Susan: My brother says he won’t able to pass his English exam, so he’s not going to make an
………………...
George: Well, that’s not a surprise. He never does any………………..
Susan: I tried to give him some ……………….., but he didn’t take it. He only wants to have
……………….. . He doesn’t care about studying.
George: I tried, too. I told him that it takes a long ……………….. to learn a langauge, and it’s hard work.
Susan: He watches films in English and does look up what the actors are saying on the Internet.
George: That’s a good start. He should aslo practise his speaking ……………….. as well as listening.
Susan: Exactly. It’s more difficult to make any ……………….. if you don’t try to speak.
George: He also has a big ……………….. because your dad is an English teacher! Maybe you can
encourage him to try more.

Exercise 8 Click to listen

Complete the following talk with suitable words from this unit. Listen to the recording to check
your answers.
1. What do you need to do to be a good language learner?
Well, you need to be able to put down your textbooks from time to time and forget about
(1)........................... . That's the only way to become more (2)……………........ in a language. You also
need to (3)…………………….. to (4) ……………………….. speakers of the language as much as you
can.
2. What do you think makes a good language teacher?
I think the best language teachers are those who can (5) …………………... another language
themselves. They also need to be able to (6) ………………….. things clearly and in a way that is easy to
(7).. …………………..
3. What problems do people experience when they learn your language?
My (8) ………………….. language is very difficult to learn because of the (9)....………………… The
individual sounds are very strange to other nationalities and difficult for them to (10) ..…………………..

Exercise 9 Click to listen

Listen to two students, Tony and Christine, talking about learning languages. Complete the
sentences with ONE WORD from the conversation.
Tom says he is going to learn another (1) ………………...
He’s going to learn (2) ………………...
He’s going to (3) ……………….. in Germany.
He’s going to need the language to go (4) ……………….. or to eat out in a (5) ………………..
He’s going to start (6) ……………….. on Monday.
He’s going to watch a lot of German (7) ………………...
He thinks language lessons are good because you learn something (8) ……………….. every day.
Learning (9) ……………….. can be free so that’s a big advantage for him.
Tony thinks you can read interesting things about the lives of (10) ……………….. people in
magazines.
*Exercise 10
Read the text and answer the questions.
BILINGUALS: EXOTIC BIRDS OR EVERYDAY PEOPLE?
Grandpa shouts, "Dinner's ready" in Danish. My mother asks me in
English to lay the table. When I do so, I hear the theme song of the
Brazilian soap opera on TV in the living room, where my sister is 1. What six languages do
relaxing. She speaks perfect Portuguese. My father asks her to record you think the writer and his
the programme in his native Spanish, and we take our places at the sister speak?
table. And what's on the menu? Italian meatballs.
We know we aren't a normal family. At any moment, you might hear
conversations in four different languages, and almost everyone
2. How do you think the
understands almost everything. My mother is half-Danish, half-English,
writer learnt each of his
and my father, who is from Bolivia, speaks Spanish and Guarani.
languages?
Because of my mother's work (she's now retired), we lived in Brazil,
Italy and Germany, so we picked up three more languages. Now as
adults, my sister and I both speak six languages.
Being bilingual, or in our case multilingual, has so many advantages.
3. How many of the world's
All the recent research suggests we benefit in many ways: social,
people are thought to be
cultural, economic, academic, and intellectual. The research has also
bilingual?
destroyed some persistent myths.
One of the myths is that bilingualism is uncommon, as if we bilinguals
are like rare, exotic birds. The truth is that around fifty percent of the
world's inhabitants are bilingual. The continents with the most linguistic 4. What are those who
diversity are Asia and Africa. In Nigeria alone, 500 languages are learn their second
spoken, in India 400. language as children
better at compared to
Some people believe that you have to learn both languages as a child
those who learn a second
to be truly bilingual. My sister and I are fortunate in this respect, but we
language as adults?
know many people who have mastered a second language as adults.
They may not have perfect pronunciation like those who acquire their
second language as children, but they are still completely fluent and
accurate. 5. What health benefit of
being bilingual is
As for the benefits, bilinguals do better on certain tests, are better mentioned in the text?
protected against mental illnesses such as Alzheimer's, gain insights
into other cultures, find out about more of the world's information, and
might get better jobs in some cases. Being bilingual has made me who
I am, and for that I'm grateful.