9. Hans lives in Germany. He speaks German.

10. Lars is from Norway. He speaks Norwegian.

Listening Task

1 First Listening

Answers

1. French 3. Spanish

2. Japanese 4. Russian

2 Second Listening

Answers

1. His relatives are French. He wants to travel to France.

2. He‘s interested in business. There are business opportunities in Japan.

3. No other language was offered. Her friends speak Spanish.

4. It‘s a challenge. It‘s the hardest language she can think of.

Script

1. A: What language are you studying?

B: French.

A: Why are you studying French?

B: Some of my relatives are French and I‘d like to go visit them in France someday.

A: Don‘t they speak English?

B: Only a little. But I think it‘d be fun to use my French and see if they can understand me and all. I want to work on my accent, too.

2. A: So why did you choose Japanese?

B: Well, I guess the main reason I‘m interested in Japanese is international business. I know there are a lot of business opportunities in Japan, so I figured it was the best language for me to study.

3. A: Why are you studying a foreign language?

B: Um, well… I don‘t know. I started Spanish cause it was the only language offered in our middle school. And then I just kept doing it. And there‘re a lot of Spanish speakers where I live cause we live in Southern California and we‘re close to Mexico so almost everyone speaks Spanish. My friends at school speak Spanish outside of class.

4. A: What language are you studying?

B: I just wanted a challenge so I thought, ―Hey, I‘m gonna do the hardest language I can think of.‖ So I chose Russian, Just to see if I could do it, I guess. And you know what? It is the hardest language I can think of and it takes a lot of work. But I‘m gonna keep at it…

Real World Listening

1 Predict

Answer

It has different tones.

The writing system is different.

Thai people help him learn the language.

2 Get the main ideas

Answers

1. F Dave lives in Thailand. He has visited Thailand and hopes to return.

2. T Dave had a good experience in Thailand.

3. ? Dave likes writing Thai. He doesn‘t talk about writing.

4. F Thailand is ―The land of Laughs.‖ It‘s called ―The Land of Smiles.‖

5. F People in Thailand laugh at him when he makes a mistake. They smile.

6. T Thai is easy to learn. It may be hard for some people, but it‘s not hard for him.

Script

Cindy: What the heck is that?

Dave: It‘s a Thai magazine.