فرنلیش - fce listening about learning a language

محتوای درس

نمایش اطلاعات

14 Mind your language

Listening 1

Part 3

Multiple matching 2.43-2.47

1 How important is it to learn a foreign language?

In what ways might English be useful to you in the future?

What problems can occur if you do not know the language of a country you visit?

2 You will hear five different people talking about their experiences of learning another language. For Questions 1-5, choose from the list (A-H) what each speaker says about his or her experience. There are three extra letters which you do not need to use.

I never had time to go to the German classes my company arranged for us at work, so I used to put CDs on in the car on the way in every morning and just let the language wash over me. I was completely immersed in it for the whole journey. Then I'd play the same section on the way home and that was enough to ensure I learnt what I'd listened to in the morning. When I go to Germany on sales trips now I have very few problems understanding people. Business seems to be improving too.

I went to Spain, twice, when I was studying languages at university; once on holiday and the next year to work in a bar. The holidav was a disaster in terms of language learning. I spent most of the time with my English friends and hardly learnt a thing. When I went back there to work, though, I spoke Spanish all day and my speaking and understanding really improved. That experience working abroad helped me pass my final exams just as much as studying, I'm convinced. Oh, and I'm getting married this year to my Spanish girlfriend.

I spent three years teaching English in Poland with my boyfriend back in the late nineties. It took us both quite a long time to learn any Polish in the beginning, partly because of laziness, but mostly because we were working long hours teaching and speaking English all day. Things got better, though, once we eventually got to know a few Polish people and we had more chance to speak the language. We weren't quite confident enough to go and see films in Polish at the cinema, but we certainly felt more integrated.

When I left university I desperately wanted to work abroad, but all three French-owned companies I applied to turned me down at the interview stage. I'd only ever learnt grammar when I studied French at school. I had no difficulty at all with that, but when I actually had to speak the language in the interview it was a real problem and I'm sure the interviewers couldn't understand a word of what I was saying.So I signed up for a two-month general language course in Paris and thanks to that, when I came back, I got the first job I applied for.

Here in Wales everyone can speak English, but it's compulsory for all students to learn Welsh up to the age of sixteen. My mum and dad both came to Wales from England, so I only ever spoke in English till I started school. But all my lessons there were in Welsh - right from day one - and I picked it up really quickly. So then I had the two languages - English with my parents and Welsh with my friends. I sometimes spoke Welsh at home, too, with my brother. It was great, 'cause we could talk about things in front of my mum and dad and they had no idea what we were saying - it was really useful sometimes!

Question No. / 5

A I had problems learning the grammar.

B I sometimes used the language to avoid being understood.

C I made more progress on my second visit.

D Going to the cinema helped me learn.

E Hearing things twice worked for me.

F Progress was very slow at first.

G I focused on learning business language.

H Studying abroad brought success.

Speaker1

Speaker2

Speaker3

Speaker4

Speaker5

3 Summarize your experience of learning English in one sentence. Tell your partner, giving more details.

Vocabulary 1: Phrasal verbs with turn

1 What is the meaning of the underlined phrasal verb in the following extract from Speaker 4 of the listening?

All three French-owned companies I applied to turned me down at the interview stage.

2 Match each sentence beginning 1-8 with an appropriate ending a-h.

Question No. / 8

1 Why are you two still awake? Turn

2 I can't hear it very well. Can you turn

3 He seemed very normal, but it turned

4 According to this map we have to turn

5 It started at 8.00 but Helen didn't turn

6 He left port early but was forced to turn

7 This small seed will gradually turn

8 The exam starts now. You may turn

a back by rough seas and strong winds.

b out that he was wanted by the police.

c over the paper and read the questions.

d off the light and go to sleep, please.

e off the motorway at the next exit.

f up the sound a little, please?

g up until much later.

h into a beautiful rose.

3 Match the eight phrasal verbs with turn from exercise 2 to the meanings (a-h) below.

Question No. / 8

Example: lf

a become known

b increase the volume

c arrive in a way that was not planned

d turn a page to see the other side

e leave one road to take another

f stop something working

g return instead of continuing

h change or develop into

Language focus 1: Compound adjectives

1 A compound adjective is one with two or more words joined by a hyphen, as in this example from the listening:

All three French-owned companies I applied to turned me down.

Here are some more examples. What do you notice about nouns used in compound adjectives after a number?

home-made bread Spanish-speaking tour guides

a four-hour flight a three-week-old baby

Read more about compound adjectives on page 221 of the Grammar reference.

2 In 1-5, complete each gap in b with a compound adjective which expresses the same idea as the words in bold in a. There is an example at the beginning (0) from the listening.

Question No. / 6

0 I signed up for a language course which lasted two months.

I signed up for atwo-month language course.

1 aIt takes five minutes to walk from the language school to the beach.

b The language school is a walk from the beach.

2 a I want to work in a country where people speak English.

b I want to work in an country.

3 a Police are looking for a teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.

b Police are looking for a , teenage girl.

4 a My grandmother. who was born in Italy, emigrated when she was three.

b My grandmother emigrated when she was three.

5 a Teaching children who behave themselves well is a pleasure.

b Teaching children is a pleasure.

3 Use the descriptions to help you complete the compound adjectives. You have already seen these compound adjectives: the numbers in brackets refer to the units in which they appear. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Question No. / 8

0 clothes which fit closelyto your body ....... tight- fitting clothes (1)

1 a phone you do not need to hold ......... a hands- phone (3)

2 work you do for only part of the day ........ a part- job (5)

3 a person who easily becomes angry ....... a bad- person (6)

4 goods marked with the name of the store ........ own- goods (7)

5 a building in very bad condition ....... a run- building (7)

6 a plane journey to the other side of the world...... a long- flight (8)

7 very strong winds ...... gale- winds (11)

8 a concert which takes place outside....... an open- concert (13)

4 Use compound adjectives to talk about:

the age of people in your family, g. I've got a sevenyear-old sister.
the number and duration of lessons each day at your school
the duration of your last holiday
the time taken to get from your house to your school/ place of work/town centre