Read and translate the text. A.S. Hornby's Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English is a dictionary that every English speaker in the world should have at his elbow

A.S. Hornby's Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English is a dictionary that every English speaker in the world should have at his elbow. It is compiled especially for foreign students of English and their teachers.

The history of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Cur­rent English began in 1923, when Albert Sidney Hornby, then aged twenty-four, went to Japan to teach English literature. He found that his students were reading Shakespeare and Dickens with understand­ing, but couldn't speak or write English at all well. He found himself teaching the language rather than its literature and, over the years, became more and more interested in the problems of English language teaching.

The dictionaries his students were using gave direct equivalents to Japanese words in English, leading to absurd mistakes and misunder­standings. It seemed to him that a dictionary entirely in English could teach much more. It could show how words are used, bringing them to life in a context. It could set out the rules that govern the order of words in an English sentence. It could explain idioms. Illus­trations could be used to add an extra dimension to definitions.

The dictionary A. S. Hornby compiled was set in type by Japa­nese printers and the proofs were checked, unfamiliar letter by unfa­miliar letter, by a Japanese publisher. The first copies were ready just before 7 December 1941, when Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbour, and declared war on the USA and Britain. When this happened, Mr. Hornby was still working in Tokyo, but he was such a respected figure in Japan, and held in so much affection by generations of his Japanese students, that special arrangements were made by the authorities for him to leave with the American and British diplomatic staffs.

Later editions of the dictionary were published by the Oxford University Press: the First Edition in 1948, the Second Edition in 1963, the Third Edition in 1974.

TOPIC: About myself

1. Fill in the spider-gram. Share your ideas with the group and your teacher.

What can people say about themselves?

 
 


2. Answer the questions:

· What countries can people be from?

· What nationalities can people be?

· What kinds of hobbies can people have?

 

3. Look at the words and divide them into 3 groups:

Russia, playing computer games, German, China, dancing, France, Russian, American, Japan, Africa, Chinese, watching TV, African, French, reading, Japanese, listening to music, the USA, sports, Germany, cooking, English, England, collecting (stamps, coins, postcards, etc.).

 

Country Nationality Hobby
Russia    

Fill in the application form about yourself.

Your personal details

Mr □ Mrs □ Miss □ Ms □ Other title □
Surname_________________

First name(s) ________________ Date of birth _________________

Sex: Male (M) □ Female (F) □

Your home

House / Flat number­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ ____________________

Street ________________________________

City _________________________________

Postcode______________________________

Home telephone number (with code) ______________________

Mobile telephone number ____________

Your employment

Occupation _______________________________

Business telephone number (with code)_______________________

Additional information

Please include your e-mail address if you have one

_______________________________________

 

5. Divide into pairs and fill in the form about your partner. Ask him/her.

· What is his/her full name?

· How old is he/she?

· When is his/her birthday?

· Where is he/she from? What’s her/his nationality?

· Does he/she have a family?

· Does he/she have a friend? Who is his/her best friend?

· What hobbies does he/she have?

· What is his/her profession/occupation?

 

Full name  
Age  
Date of birth  
Country, nationality  
Profession  
Family  
Friends  
Friends’ names  
Hobbies  

 

6. Make a short story about your partner, based on his/her answers.