ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS SO IMPORTANT FOR A

NATION`S CULTURE AS ITS LANGUAGE

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Russian language as a world language

Total speakers: Primary language:

164 million Secondary

language: 278 million

(2006) Official language in

11 countries

Contribution of Russian culture to the world culture

Famous Russian names

Russian proverbs

*Every road has two directions

*Looking at a tree see its fruit; looking at a man see its deeds.

*A mile walk with a friend has only one hundred steps.

*Eat what is cooked, listen to what is said.

*A guest has not to thank the host, but the host the guest.

Chinese language as a world language

Total speakers: 1.3 billion

Official language in 5 countries

Spoken in countries with Chinese communities

Contribution of Chinese culture to the world culture

Famous Chinese names

CHINESE PROVERBS

*A child`s life is like a piece of paper on which every passerby leaves a mark.

*Teachers open the door. You enter by yourself.

*A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.

*A single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.

Arab language as a world language

Total speakers: 280 million native

speakers 250 million non-

native speakers

Official language in 25 countries

Contribution of the Arab culture to the world culture

Omar Khayyam rubayatA drop of water falls in an ocean wideA grain of dust becomes with earth alliedWhat doth they coming, going here donate?A fly appeared a while, then invisible he became.

Океан, состоящий из капель велик.Из пылинок слагается материк.Твой приход и уход – не имеют значенья.Просто муха в окно залетела на миг.

Arabic proverbs

*Every day of your life is a page of your history.

*What starts with a condition has a good ending.

*Blindness of the eye is better than blindness of the heart.

*Avoiding mistakes is better than apologizing after.

*Leading by example is better than commandments.

Spanish language as a world language

Total speakers: first language: 350

million second language:

150 million

Official language in 21 countries

Contribution of Spanish culture to the world culture

Famous Spanish names

Spanish proverbs

*Water you are not going to drink, let it run.

*Faces we can see, hearts we can`t know.

*Lazy people work twice.

*Don`t speak unless you can improve on the silence.

*A lazy youth, a lousy age.

*A wise man changes his mind, a fool never.

Home task1. Comment on one of the phrases: If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. (Nelson Mandela) I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men and German to my dog. (Emperor Charles V)

2. Express your opinion about a world language in future.

3. Give the examples of interaction of Russian language with English language (or Chinese, Arab, Spanish languages).

You may choose one of the tasks you like.