The Importanceof Learning Foreign Languages

There are many very good reasons to learn other languages. Very little clear, detailed communication can occur between people who don't have a common language. Learning the languages of others helps in talking to people, reading and writing things, and in understanding the TV and films from other countries. It broadens your mind, you learn about other cultures and other ways of thinking. People are often a lot more friendly and helpful if you can speak to them in their own language. It really helps to establish contact.

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the number of areas where foreign languages are needed. The workplace is becoming more international and many people are now travelling abroad as part of their job. The people who stay at home are more likely to work in a multi-lingual environment. If you're working in a field where interesting things are happening abroad, like science, business or medicine, you can read and translate the reports yourself and be up to date with progress in that field. If you plan to work abroad, a good knowledge of the language is also a springboard to a new and exciting social contacts and friendships. Cultural awareness is just as important as linguistic skills.

As for me I enjoy learning languages. I think it's really important to start learning languages from an early age. We know, the learning process is, generally, a little slower for older people than for people with young & impressionable minds. The learning process really starts to work when you feel that it's important & you have a reason to learn it. There are several strategies you can use to develop your reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. First, try not to use your own language in class or translate things into your own language. When you translate, you are relying on your native language, not developing your foreign language skills. Second, don’t worry about making mistakes when you speak. Learning to communicate in a foreign language is a process, and making mistakes is a natural part of that process. Third, read as much as possible. Try to guess the meaning of new words from the context as far as possible. If you cannot, look them up in a good monolingual dictionary. And last but not least, keep a vocabulary notebook Write down at least three new phrases each day, including idioms. Try to use these words whenever you can. It also can be a real push to spend time in a country where the learnt language is spoken & where native speakers are living. It's such a great help to start with a foundation of grammatical structures & rules into which you can put all the words & phrases. It's very important to have a good teacher & regular lessons & not to change teachers too often. We also can attend Foreign Languages Centers where business, general language and exam courses are held all year round. At such centers groups are limited to eight students with priority given to spoken language . Besides, people enjoy well – equipped rooms, language laboratories and qualified native – speaker teachers. But it’s impossible to force a language down somebody's throat; you have to want to learn it.

Now English is the most influential language of the world, spoken by more than a billion people on the planet. English currently dominates science, business, the mass media & popular culture. For example, 80% of e-mails on the Internet are in English. It's an official language in 44 countries. The Olympic Games & other multinational sports can't do without it.

Today English vocabulary is approximately half Germanic /from the Saxons and Vikings/ and half Roman /from French and Latin/. There are however considerable borrowings from other languages. The English speaking countries: Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

English will probably stay in control for a long of time, but it definitely won’t become the only language in the world.