BILINGUAL

READING INTERMEDIATE

Residents of the European Union (EU) are becoming better and better at languages. Almost 50 percent of the EU population say they can speak at least one foreign language very well. That figure rises to nearly 80 percent for students. To celebrate its linguistic diversity, September 26 has become the official European Day of Languages. The day’s website shows a Slovak proverb that says: “The number of languages you speak is the number of times you are human”. This is to encourage all Europeans to brush up on their language skills.

The results of the “Eurobarometer” survey put Luxembourgers at the top of the language ability list. An amazing 99 percent of Luxembourg’s population is at least bilingual. Those with the poorest language skills are the Hungarians (29 percent) and British (30 percent). English is the most widely spoken foreign language, used by more than a third of the population. German (12 percent) is in second place followed by French (11 percent). European enlargement means Russian has risen to fourth place – tied with Spanish. The EU spends $36 million a year on language programs.

TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Europeans are become increasingly better at other languages.	T/ F
b.	Eighty percent of European students are bilingual.	T/ F
c.	September 26 is the official European Day For the English Language.	T/ F
d.	A European proverb says you are not human unless you are bilingual.	T/ F
e.	Ninety-nine percent of Luxembourgers are at least bilingual.	T/ F
f.	Britons are amongst the top of bilingual speakers.	T/ F
g.	French is the most widely spoken foreign language among Europeans.	T/ F
h.	Fewer and fewer Europeans are speaking Russian.	T/F

 SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

residents	worst
almost	improve
figure	expansion
diversity	equal
brush up on	nearly
amazing	annually
poorest	incredible
enlargement	citizens
tied	variety
a year	number

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

1. What did you think when you first saw this headline?
2. Did the headline make you want to read the article?
3. Do you like reading articles about language?
4. How would you describe your English ability?
5. What other languages would you like to learn?
6. Do you agree with the Slovak proverb that says: “The number of languages you speak is the number of times you are human”?
7. What are your feelings toward your own language?
8. What are your feelings toward English?
9. How necessary is English for you?
10. What do you like most about English?

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

1. Did you like reading this article?
2. What do you think about what you read?
3. Are you surprised at anything you read in the article?
4. Do you think British people have problems because they are not bilingual?
5. Why is English the most widely spoken foreign language in Europe?
6. Do you think Chinese will one day become the world’s most important foreign language?
7. Do you think everyone in the world should study English?
8. What other world languages are important and why?
9. Do you think the world should learn your language?
10. Did you like this discussion?