Unit 5 English and English-speaking Countries
Lesson 19
Exercise 1.2
Hi,Yang Yang
Thank you for your e-mail.
I'm really happy that we met each other
on the Internet.
How are your English classes going?
Have you learned a lot?
In your last e-mail,
you asked me if students in Canada
learn a foreign language.
This depends on where you live in the country
and your school.
I live in Vancouver,
and here most students start learning
a foreign language
when they are in primary school.
Others start in junior high school.
Because both English and French
are official languages in Canada,
most English-speaking students learn French,
but you can learn other languages,too.
In my school you can choose either Chinese
or French, or both..
I chose to learn Chinese.
I have a lot of Chinese friends
and I really like Chinese culture.
My younger sister is also learning Chinese.
This way we can talk to each other in Chinese
and our parents won't understand!
In Vancouver,
there are also a lot of language schools..
If someone wants to learn a foreign language,
he can go to these schools
after regular classes.
Most language schools offer Chinese classes.
Also,many Chinese parents send their children
to Chinese language schools
so they won't forget their native language.
You told me that learning English is difficult
I think learning any foreign language
is difficult.
Chinese is also difficult for me,
but we shouldn't give up.
Next time I send you e-mail
I'll try to write in Chinese
and you can reply in English.
This way, we'll help each other
in learning a foreign language!
I'd also like to know
what it is like to learn English in China.
Could you tell me about it?
I'm looking forward to reading your e-mail.
Cheers.
Paula
Exercise 2.1
Native peoples have been living in Canada
for thousands of years,
but the French were the first Europeans
to arrive in Canada in the 1500s.
About 100 years later,
the British arrived ,and both nations,
the French and the British,
lived peacefully for about 100 years.
Then , in 1745,
the British took some French land,
and both nations fought against each other
for the right to rule Canada.
The French lost ,
and in 1763 Canada became British.
Because of the history of both the French
and the British,
today Canada has two official languages:
French and English.
About 24% of the population speak French
as a native language and another
60% speak English as a native language.
The rest speak other languages like Chinese,
Arabic, etc...
as a native language and speak either English
or French as a second language.
Today, the population of Canada is about 32
million and the total area is about
10 million sq.km.
The capital city of Canada is Ottawa
and other large cities
include Toronto and Vancouver.
The symbol of Canada is a maple leaf
and it is also found in the center
of the Canadian flag.