英国大使馆文化教育处

According to a survey published by theEuropean Commission， the British are officially theworst language learners in Europe — 62 percentof them cant speak any other language apart fromtheir own！ While 38 percent of Britons speak at leastone foreign language， only 18 percent speak two.

The European Union average showed that 56percent speak at least one foreign language and 28percent speak at least two. Moreover， 51 percent ofEU citizens can have a conversation in English.

Learning a foreign language is not a popular option at school in Britain.Children start studying a foreign language at the age of 11 and many giveup completely at 14. So why dont young people continue with languages atschool？ Research suggests that students think that it is more difficult to getgood grades in languages than in other subjects such as science or history.

The government is now looking for different ways to improve languagelearning. One idea is to start much earlier and introduce foreign languages fromthe age of 5. Another plan is to give school children more choice and expandthe range of languages taught to include Arabic， Mandarin and Urdu.

Mandarin Chinese is predicted to become the second most popular foreignlanguage learned in UK schools. Gareth from Wales says， “I am learningChinese， and find it fun.” Another student， Thomas from London， says， “Just saying that I learn Mandarin impresses people. Even having a very basic levelgives you an advantage.”

It may be an ambitious task to change the Brits attitude to learninglanguages， but the government is determined to try！

Activity 1 Match the words from the text to their definitions.

1. give up

2. grade

3. impress

4. research

5. survey

6. task

a. an investigation using questions to find out whatpeople think or do

b. stop doing something

c. systematic study of a subject

d. a mark to show someones level of achievement

e. create a favourable effect in someone elsesmind

f. a specific job or duty

Activity 2 Choose the best answer to complete these sentences.

1. Are Brits really——language learners in theworld？

a. the worse

b. the worst

2. Science and history are——in Britishschools than languages.

a. more popular

b. most popular

3. The British government wants children tostart learning languages at an——age.

a. earlier

b. more early

參考答案：

Activity 1： 1. b; 2. d; 3. e; 4. c; 5. a; 6.

fActivity 2： 1. b; 2. a; 3. a