Importance of foreign languages

English language in our modern life

The modern world is becoming smaller all the time. Every day distances between different countries seem less. For this reason it's becoming more and more important to know different languages, especially English. One billion people speak English today. That's about 20% of the world's population. 400 million people speak English as their first language. For the other 600 million people it's either a second language or a foreign language. English is the first language in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. It is one of the official languages in Canada, the Irish Republic and the Republic of South Africa. As a second language English is spoken in more than 60 countries. It is used by the government, businessmen and universities. English is the language of politics and diplomacy, science and technology, business and trade, sport and pop music. 80% of all information in the world's computers is in English. 75% of the world's letters and faxes are in English. 60% of all international telephone calls are made in English. More than 60% of all scientific journals are written in English. To know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated person, for every good specialist. Learning a language is not an easy thing. It's a long and slow process that takes a lot of time and patience. But it's a must. English is taught throughout the world and a lot of people speak it quite well. In our country English is very popular: it is studied at schools (sometimes even at nursery schools), colleges and universities.

I think, nowadays it is very important to know foreign languages. Some people learn languages, because they need them for their work, others travel abroad, for the third it`s just a hobby. People want to know languages, to write to their pen-friends or to communicate with people from different countries, to meet more people and make new friends. Also, they want to read books of famous writers in original, to read newspapers and magazines. It helps them to know more about different events, people`s life, customs and traditions. Learning foreign languages broadens our minds, people become educated. In my opinion, languages are especially important for those who work in different fields of science and technology, in politics. A foreign language helps to know the native language better. People, who know many languages are called polyglots. We know the names of some of them: German professor Shlimman, famous writer Shakespeare, philosopher Socrates and many others.
Nowadays, English has become an international language. Over 300 million people speak it as a mother tongue. As for me, I learn English from 7 years age. This language helps me very much, to speak free with people from all over the world, make new friends and participate in international contests. 

I like one proverb of Johann Goethe:" He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own." I speak Ukranian, Russian, English, a little Italian and Spanish. And I`m very proud of it, because languages-it`s my second life. Also, I would like to learn Germany, French and Serbian, but this year I dedicate myself to learning Italian. You know, dream from my childhood - to be an interpreter and I`m sure, I get it. 
Personally, I think that to know foreign languages today is absolutely necessary for every educated man, for every good specialist. So let`s to learn foreign languages and discover with them many interesting things in our life!

Адрес публикации: https://www.prodlenka.org/metodicheskie-razrabotki/325189-importance-of-foreign-languages