Many students in China are learning English. Some of these students are small children. Others are teenagers(十几岁的青少年). Many are adults. Some learn at school, others study by themselves. A few learn English language over the radio, on television, or in films. One must work hard to learn another language. Why do all these people want to learn English? It is difficult to answer that question. Many boys and girls learn English at school because it is one of their subjects. They study their own language and maths and English. Some people learn English because it is useful for their work. Many people often learn English for their higher studies, because at college or university(大学) some of their books are in English. Other people learn English because they want to read newspaper and magazines in English.

As you probably know, leaning a foreign language is sometimes challenging. But it can also be fun. We spend hundreds of hours at school trying to get our tongues round different vocabulary and grammar in order to cam a qualification. But learning to speak a second language is more than just passing an exam-it opens doors to new opportunities, helps you to communicate with others and makes travelling overseas more satisfactory.

It might come as a surprise that the number of teenagers learning foreign languages in UK secondary schools has dropped by 45% since the turn of the millennium. German and French have fallen the most—these languages from two of the UK’s closest trading partners have declined at GCSE level. Another survey of secondary schools suggests a third of students have dropped at least one language from their GCSE exam options. There are some reasons for this, including many students` opinion that languages are difficult. Others have questioned the need for a second language when translation technology is advancing.

Matthew Fell, chief UK policy director for business group the CBI, believes that “The decline in language learning in schools must be reversed, or else the UK will be less competitive globally and young people less prepared for the modern world. ”But even for those who are eager to study another language, the opportunity is being reduced. In Scotland, for example, foreign language subjects are being pressed out of many secondary school timetables with some head teachers blaming pressure on the curriculum.

However, some native English speakers have admitted the benefits of speaking another tongue. Cassandra Scott, from Edinburgh, studied three languages in her final year at school. She is now a freelance translator in Edinburgh, and says “Learning languages at school really set the course for my career.”

What’s the deal with new words? Where do they come from and how do they go from unknown to official? First, new words have to spread in culture to make it into the dictionary. They have to be used and understood. Words have a much better chance of getting added to the dictionary if you see them in print or hear them in conversation. It’s actually a full-time job to search popular communication to figure out what new words are surfacing in our vernacular (方言). Lexicographers get to decide which words make it into the dictionary, and they do so by reading widely across various fields.

Dictionaries can sometimes get over 1,000 new words per year. In 2019 the Merriam-Webster Dictionary added over 600 in April and another 500+ in September. After lexicographers decide which words will be included, they write a new definition (定义). Some existing words also gain additional meanings, and there are usually thousands of revisions (修订). The dictionary is a constantly changing work in progress, just like the language it describes and defines. For instance, the word “peak” recently went from being just a sharp, pointed end to also being something at the height of popularity.

If you have a word that you think should be in the dictionary, you’re welcome to get in touch with the lexicographers and suggest it. However, the word needs to be fairly popular. It has to have “widespread, frequent, meaningful usage”. For example, OMG was added to the dictionary in 2009 after lexicographers had observed it in general use for about 7 years.

New words spring from new technologies and disciplines, but they’re very often invented by authors and writers who love language and play with it to create new meanings. One of the greatest creators was William Shakespeare who created over l,700 new words often by adapting (改编) usage and using new compounds. He’s responsible for words like eyeball, excitement, fashionable, and lonely. “Hard-boiled” was invented by Mark Twain.