A. S. Pushkin is the greatest Russian poet. But I hope no one is challenging the view that he occupies an outstanding place in Russian literature and culture.
Every summer in June, thousands of people visit the Pskov land. They come here to the village of Mikhailovskoye to the wonderful festival of poetry, to see the places where he lived and worked.
Pushkin is always alive for us, he is the man we all know and love, the greatest of poets. Generations come and go, but Pushkin still remains. We are all grateful to Pushkin for each line of his works. Pushkin is not only a great poet for us. He is the perfect man combining brilliant talent with civil courage. His name is associated with our love for the Motherland, and the best in our life.
Hundreds of new concepts, hundreds of new words have appeared in the language in the years that have passed since his death, but not a single word of his poetry has become obsolete. Everything written by Pushkin continues to live. It has not become something of the past, it does not need any corrections and hardly needs commentary. His feelings and his views still correspond to our own feelings and views.
We admire the great world of Pushkin's poetry as a whole, each of us finding some special lines for ourselves, lines showing his sympathy and respect for his people. The reader cannot imagine his inner world without him.
. Today English is the language of the world. It is only in the course of the last hundred years that English has become a world language. In Shakespeare's time it was a «provincial» language of secondary importance with only 6 million native speakers. . Nowadays over 300 million people speak it as a mother tongue. English is the official language of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the United States of America, of Australia and New Zealand. . It is used as one of the official languages in Canada, the Republic of South Africa and the Irish Republic. English is also spoken as a second language in the former British and US colonies. In a number of speakers (400 million) it is second only to Chinese. English is the major international language of communication in such areas as science, technology and business. It is the language of literature, education, modem music, and international tourism. English is the major language of diplomacy, it is one of the official languages of the United Nation organization and other political organizations. Russia is integrating into the world community and the problem of learning English for the purpose of communication is especially urgent today. . One should say that English is not an easy language to learn. There is a big problem of spelling, of the large number of exceptions to any rule. This language is very idiomatic and the prepositions are terrible. . English is one of those languages which may seem easy in the beginning, but then the bridge between basic knowledge and mastery takes a long time to cross. . But if you cross this bridge it will give you great satisfaction. You will be able to speak to people from other countries, to read foreign authors in the original, which makes your outlook wider. To know English today is absolutely necessary for every educated man, for every good specialist.
