Korrigeringer

PART B: READING COMPREHENSION People often ask which is the most difficult language to learn, and it is not easy to answer because there are many factors to take into consideration.

Firstly, in a first language the differences are unimportant as people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how hard a language is to learn is only relevant when learning a second language.

A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find Portuguese much easier to learn than a native speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different, so first language can affect learning a second language.

The greater the differences between the second language and our first, the harder it will be for most people to learn.

Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly influenced by the thought of learning the Chinese writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does appear to be very difficult for many foreign learners.

However, for Japanese speakers, who already use Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing will be less difficult than for speakers of languages using the Roman alphabet.

Apparently, British diplomats and other embassy staff have found that the second hardest language is Japanese, which will probably come as no surprise to many, but the language that they have found to be the most problematic is Hungarian, which has 35 cases (forms of a nouns according to whether it is subject, object, genitive, etc).

This does not mean that Hungarian is the hardest language to learn for everyone, but it causes British diplomatic personnel, who are generally used to learning languages, the most difficulty.

No language is easy to learn well, though languages which are related to our first language are easier.

Learning a completely different writing system is a huge challenge, but that does not necessarily make a language more difficult than another.

In the end, it is impossible to say that there is one language that is the most difficult language in the world.

Task 1: Choose the correct answer by circling A, B C or D. 1.

Which of the following could be the best title for this passage? A.

Difficult languages. B.

Which is the hardest language? C.

The ways to learn languages. D.

What are the difficulties in learning a language? 2.

Which of the following would the writer support? A.

Chinese is the most difficult language in the world. B.

The language is more difficult to learn if it is related to the mother tongue. C.

No language is the most difficult in the world. D.

Hungarian is the hardest language to learn.

Task 2: Decide whether the following statements are True, False or Not Given 3.

It is difficult to decide which is the hardest language to learn. 4.

People learn to speak their mother tongue at school. 5.

People will find the language easier to learn if it is similar to their mother tongue. 6.

Many foreigners think Vietnamese language is very hard to study. 7.

Japanese people will find Chinese writing easier than other speakers of languages using the Roman Alphabet.

Task 3: What do the following words mean? 8.

The word "consideration" in the first paragraph mostly means ______.

A. careful thought B. decision C. importance D. happiness 9.

The word "influenced" in the second paragraph mostly means________.

A. considered B. affected C. understood D. mentioned Task 4: Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS to answer the following question 10.

Which language causes the most problems to British diplomats?______________ PART C: WRITING Task 1: Sentence building 1.

You / would mind / show / I / how / get / airport? 2.

Go / swim / every day / interesting. 3.

It / frightening / know / he / a criminal. 4.

They / expect / ship / arrive / harbor / five o’clock/yesterday afternoon. 5.

I ask / he / not / let / children / go / bed late. 6.

She / live / centre / city / small flat / red window. 7.

Patient / feel / strong enough / walk / room. 8.

When / she / turn / TV / program / already / start. 9.

Despite / love / music / I / can / not / play / musical instrument. 10.

We / have / our car / repair / next week.