Learning to speak English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life. You can get many things if you speak English well. Firstly, you can get access to knowledge.

What are you interested in? Is it science? Music? Computers? Health? Business? Sports? Today’s media — such as the Internet, television, and the press — give you almost unlimited access to knowledge about your favorite subjects. After all, we live in the information age, don’t we? There’s only one problem. Most of this knowledge is in English, most pages on the Web. It’s amazing that learning just one language gives you access to almost all knowledge on the Internet.

Science. English is the key to the world of science. In 1997, 95% of the articles in the Science Citation Index were written in English. Only about 50% of them were from English-speaking countries like the USA or Britain. News reports. Watch international television networks, such as CNN International and NBC. They broadcast news much faster, and more professionally, than smaller, national networks. Secondly, you can communicate with people. We like to call English “the language of communication”. Why? Because it seems all the people in the world have agreed to use English to talk to each other.

75% of the world’s letters and postcards are written in English. Almost all international conferences and competitions are organized in English. For example, the Olympics and the Miss World contest. Diplomats and politicians from different countries use English to communicate with each other. English is the main language of organizations like the United Nations and the European Free Trade Association.

Finally, if you can communicate in English, you can: contact people from all over the world. Talk about your ideas and opinions on Internet discussion groups. Send e-mail to interesting people. Learn about their life and culture. You can travel more easily. You can ask directions, have a conversation, or... ask for help. Who knows, maybe English will save your life someday! And you also can push your career forward. If you want a good job in business, technology, or science, get out of that armchair and start learning English now! Gain technical knowledge. English is the language of technology, especially high technology like computer science, genetics, and medicine. Become a better scientist. Contact scientists from other countries, go to international conferences, visit academic centers abroad. Learn about new scientific discoveries by reading papers, books, and magazines. Use your computer more effectively. Most computer applications are in English, so you will understand them better.

Ex. 10 Answer the questions:

1) Do we really live in the Information age? Why do you think so?

2) Where in science is English used?

3) Why is English called “the language of communication”?

4) What can you do using English?

5) Is English important for technology? Why? Why not?