Disagreement

I don’t think so – Я думаю, что нет.

I don’t agree/ disagree – Я так не считаю.

I can’t agree – Я не могу согласиться.

I am afraid that it is not so – Боюсь, что это не так.

I think you are wrong – Думаю, Вы не правы.

Certainly not/ Surely not - Конечно, нет.

1) People in our country study foreign languages to read books.

2) English is the major language of diplomacy.

3) English is spoken as a second language in Germany.

4) A lot of educated people all over the world want to know as many foreign languages as possible.

5) It is necessary for any good specialist to study a foreign language.

6) English came from Denmark.

7) English is a difficult language to learn.

8) Modern English like modern German, Russian, French and Greek has many inflections to show singular and plural, tense, person, etc.

9) There are some Roman words in English from the time when England was a part of the Roman Empire.

10. Read the text and find the answers for the following questions:

a) What is the origin of the English language?

b) What Anglo-Saxon words can you find in modern English? What kind of things do they denote?

c) How did English get words of Latin origin?

d) What is the difference in meaning between the words of Latin and Germanic origin?

e) Why do the names of meat and animals differ in the English language?

The Germanic and French Influence

The Anglo-Saxons, who invaded England in AD350, came from Germany, Denmark and Holland. They spoke a Germanic language which became the basis of Old English. Even today, words used in modern English for ordinary objects are mostly Anglo-Saxon, or Germanic, in origin. Germanic languages, such as Danish, German, Norwegian and Swedish, have very similar words for the objects mentioned below. Words of Germanic origin are usually short (often just one syllable) and tend to be informal in modern English:

shoe, clothes, earth, sun, moon, day, man, wife, child, friend, house, food, water, sleep, love, say, live, have, be, work.

English also has many similarities with Romance languages, whose origin is Latin. The words below came to England with the French-speaking Normans. Notice that the words are associated with power: Norman-French was used as the language of government. Words of Latin origin are usually longer than words of Germanic origin and often have a more formal meaning in English than in the original Romance language:

government, parliament, judge, court, legal, military, army, crown, nation, state, country, power, authority, people.

Norman-French words did not enter English immediately. When the Normans invaded in 1066, ordinary people still spoke Old English.

Imagine a Norman feast. The English would look after the animals and cook the meat, still calling the animals by their Old English names. The Normans, when they saw the cooked meat arrive at the table, would use French ones. This explains why The English language now has different words for animals and meats.

11. Read the texts and answer the following questions:

a) How many varieties of English can you spot?

b) What is “good” English?

c) What kind of people speak it?

d) What are the differences between varieties of English?

e) Does your native language have the same varieties?

What is Good English?

There are different kinds of English, ranging from the formal to ¹ the colloquial. The kind of English we use ² may depend on the occasion we use it, the person we are addressing or the type of writing we are engaged on. Thus, good English is correct English appropriate to a certain level of communication.

Different degrees of education and different social situations produce different levels of usage. They are classified as standard English, non-standard English, colloquial English and differ in constructions, pronunciation and vocabulary. One might even say that there is no difference in factual meaning between “He took his sister to the pictures” and “He taken his sister to the pictures”, but we recognize the first sentence as standard English, and the second as non-standard, incorrect English.

Non-standard English is the English used by the people with little or no education, it is nearly always spoken, seldom written, except in fiction which reproduces this type of speech. It is characterized by the misuse of words, the use of non-standard words, and the corruption of what is now considered a correct or conventional grammatical form. Another characteristic of non-standard English is its limited vocabulary. Slang is an important part of non-standard English and, indeed, of language in general. Most slang is, however, by its very nature ³, short-lived.

Within the area of standard English three levels are generally recognized now: they are called formal English, informal English and colloquial English.

Formal English is the English, more often written than spoken, used by highly educated people in formal situations. One finds examples of formal English in scholarly articles and theses, in formal letters and public addresses ⁴, and poetry. Contractions and colloquial expressions are avoided in formal style, grammar and usage are generally conservative. A wide and exact vocabulary is an important characteristic of formal English.

Informal English is the English most commonly written or spoken by educated people. Lectures for unspecialized audiences, informal essays, business letters and most current novels, short stories and plays are written in informal English. In vocabulary and sentence style informal English is less formal and elaborate than formal English, its sentences being shorter and simpler.

Colloquial English is conversational English, more often spoken than written. It has short sentences and casual constructions and vocabulary of the everyday relaxed speech of educated people. Colloquial English is personal and familiar in tone.

Notes:

1.ranging from... to – от... до

2.English we use – английский язык, которым мы пользуемся

3.by its very nature – по самой своей природе

4.public addresses – публичные выступления