Szóbeli tételek 12. - Communication

12. KOMMUNIKÁCIÓ

It is worth learning a foreign language because of the following reasons:
The importance of learning languages
to talk freely to each other about business, politics, culture, hobbies, sport
to promote friendship and understanding among people
to establish ties with other nations
to make friends / to correspond
the learn about other people’s culture, way of life

the read authors in the original
to understand foreign TV channels
to be better informed about the world
to make oneself understood while travelling
to have more chances to travel on business
to get a scholarship, to go abroad to study
to read scientific articles
to keep abreast of the latest discoveries and inventions (or of your colleagues)
to have an all-around education
First of all you can learn English/German at school, both in primary and secondary school or even at university. If you are not a student any more you can go to a course and get as many as four to ten English lessons a week. In bigger towns there are courses for all levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. These courses are usually cheaper than the ones offered by private teachers, from whom you can get one-to-one tuition if you wish. The idea of self-study is favoured by some of those who think that a language can be enquired alone without the help of an expert teacher.
Most satellite channels offer English/German speaking programmes and there are quite a few language teaching programmes on Hungarian TV too. The CNN always broadcasts so I watch the news whenever I can. It helps me to learn the language and get interesting information about the world. I often watch American movies by original language and enjoy the casts beautiful pronunciation and intonation. The more I listen to the English broadcasts/films the more I am able to catch and grasp, I think. You can get the leading English and American newspapers at the post offices and there is a daily called ‘Daily News’, which covers the latest Hungarian and foreign news in English and German. Besides you can buy/subscribe different dailies. They can all help you to master this language if you read them regularly and don’t give up after the first hardships.
I’m studying English so that I can communicate with people from different parts of the world and I must be able to have my knowledge for my work in the future. In fact by far the most essential reason why I began to study was that wherever I went everybody always said to me ‘I had got the intermediate level certificate; it was easy to pass. Why don’t you have it?’ and it made me nervous. Then I’ve decided to obtain at least the intermediate level in English. And whatever will be I would achieve/accomplish my purpose. In addition to it, if I should lose my present job I must be communicating English in a job interview. There is no problem today if someone can speak a foreign language. You are demanded to speak at any level by almost every company mostly if it is needed for your work. If you speak a world language you can make friends during your travels and even through letters by corresponding with boys and girls from other countries. Your possibilities in your life are much wider. I am no longer considered to be an educated person without the knowledge of at least one foreign language. The most widely taught language in Hungary is German. There is no school, let it be primary or secondary without at least one or two teachers of German. In my opinion English has become more important than German recently in the world though. It is quite popular, especially among youngsters. When a child reaches the age of 8 and enters the third year of primary school, he/she starts studying a foreign language. The child is offered a choice which is usually between German and English. Children can even specialise in either of them if they wish and can get more than the average number of lessons a week in the chosen language.
In most secondary schools a choice of three or four, sometimes even five foreign languages is offered to the pupils. These languages are German, English, French, Italian, Spanish and perhaps Russian or Latin. As for me, the teaching of English isn’t enough efficient in Hungarian secondary schools. It is impossible to acquire a language in three 45-minute periods a week with twenty to thirty students in a group. There is also a lack of English teachers in most schools now that western languages have become prevalent instead of Russian. Some schools are in short of teaching aids such as cassette players, videos or photocopies. However, there are such pupils between 14 and 18 who manage to pass the intermediate level state language exam. In fact, it is worth passing this exam because you can get easily into university.
I’m used to using my mobile phone every day. I take it everywhere except the bathroom or the toilet. It is good that I can be reached any time. Today you can’t be without it, I think. There are so many interesting things you can do with a mobile phone. Besides the original function of making a phone call, you can send short messages and even pictures to your friends. There are games on the phone, so I just can’t get bored. Most mobile phones even have Internet access, however, the speed of the connection has not been satisfactory yet. Still, you can always check what’s on the cinema, the result of a football team’s match and the weather forecast. A lot of people say that a cell phone damages your brain, but a certain headset is available for it.
I think the greatest invention of our times was the invention of computers. Here in Hungary we used them for about twenty years. Today computers are easy to carry not to talk about laptops. We rely on them so much that it is hard to imagine life without a PC. Obviously, it has made our lives more comfortable, because a lot of things have become more easily accessible this way. A few decades ago people struggled to produce readable handwriting, but now the struggle is about typing. It is true, however, that comforts have brought about laziness and carelessness, too. Now e.g. we don’t have to pay attention to spelling correctly because the spell check program on the computer is able to correct the mistakes you make. Computers have changed our lives in several ways. They have made people become less interested in real things. They prefer living in a virtual reality, which is sometimes far from the truth. It seems to me that people are afraid of revealing their real selves and always want to be someone else, which can be done with the help of the Internet. I don’t really like these changes, because this way we will lose our identities and will be indifferent to others.  I’ve got a personal computer at home. I quickly became a fan, but I have not become an addict. My parents are quite strict about how much time I spend in front of the screen. I’ve been using it for long years and I even do my work with it. We had the Internet connected up years ago and what’s more my dad owns a PC with net too. Everyday I find new and interesting things on the worldwide web. I can chat with my friends or I can play games with people from all over the world.
Advantages    Disadvantages
to work easier and faster    you become its addict (forget to eat regularly)
    your back will hurt because of sitting in front of it long times
    your eyes are getting worse