Saturday, 21 September 2013

Young Britons shy away from learning languages

Two out of three teenagers in Britain are keen to work abroad but most of them don't speak foreign languages. Government figures show that 58% of 11-18 year olds in the UK have no foreign language skills, and this has a negative effect on the economy. Tom Burridge reports:






After listening   answer the following questions

Why do most British people feel lazy to learn a foreign language?

What percentage of teenagers doesn’t speak a second language?

How many students want to work abroad?

The British Government accepts there’s a problem and it has big implications for ______________________

Their trade is _____________________________ English-speaking countries and ____________________ are suffering.

British English vs American English

British English vs American English






Learning languages

Listen to someone talking about learning a new language and answer the questions:
  • Which continent has the speaker not lived in?     Asia       Europe            South America
  • Which two things does the speaker do to learn a new language? 
-go to classes an speak to people   - Speak to people and use a dictionary    -watch   TV adn listen to the radio
  • Why does the speaker think watching game shows is useful? - because of the pictures  -because the contestants are always winning  - because the language is repetitive
  • What does the speaker say about using newspapers?
-it was easy to learn a lot of new words quickly  -a lot of things were happening in the country  -other people could explain new words the writer found
  • What does the speaker say about talking to people in the street? -preparation was necessary   -the embarrassment made it a failure  -people reacted negatively