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Mastering languages
Starting off 1 Work in pairs. Read the following remarks and write a word or phrase from the box in each gap. a bit rusty accurately aims an excellent command bilingual fashionable loanwords fluency highly articulate mother tongue pick up switch
People tend to be (1) – they speak the regional and the national language and they (2) between languages with ease.
My English has got (5) because I don’t use it very often.
05 Check your answers by listening to the speakers.
3 Work in pairs. Which of the speakers’ opinions do you agree with? Which do you disagree with? Why?
Lots of are coming into the language, particularly from English, so my is not at all the same as it was, say, fifty years ago.
Living in the country, you just (6) the language naturally and that’s just about the best way to learn it.
I wouldn’t consider accuracy to be as important as (10) when learning a foreign language. 18
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I aim to achieve (7) of English, which means becoming (8) and being able to use the language (9) .
We should be teaching young people how they can use language effectively to achieve their (11) .