Madame Tussauds. Where in the world can you bump into Princess Diana or meet David and Victoria Beckham? Only at Madame Tussauds, the London landmark that’s been pulling in the crowds since 1835. Getting up close and personal with life-sized wax models of the famous is a feature of many family holidays to the capital. The story began in 1777 when Madame Tussaud learned the art of wax modelling from Dr Philippe Curtius while working as his housekeeper. Living in Paris, Tussaud's early models, which included Voltaire and Benjamin Franklin, were a great success, but when her exhibition moved to England in 1802 she was unable to return because of the Franco-English war. The exhibition settled in London and it's been a major tourist attraction ever since. Today Madame Tussauds offers a state-of-the-art experience with exhibitions designed to give visitors the feeling that they can be anything from rock stars to world-famous footballers.
English is now the most important and widespread language in the world. It is the state language in five countries: Great Britain, Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand. English is one of the six official and working languages of the United Nations. It is the second working language in the European Community. In many Asian and African countries, such as India or Egypt, in former British colonies people speak English besides their native one. People also speak English in Europe. English is spoken practically all over the world.
Independent Ukraine has relations with many countries. More and more direct contacts are established with the countries of Europe, with the United States, Great Britain, Canada and other English-speaking countries.
Taking into account the economic development in our country, hundreds of joint ventures have appeared in every city and town of Ukraine recently. Besides, a lot of foreign delegations come to our country. Our businessmen, tourists, experts often go abroad. As I have already mentioned just English is the language of the international communication. That is why it is very important to learn English.
Nowadays, a lot of people study foreign languages in every possible way. Foreign-language study groups are organized at industrial enterprises, at the offices of big firms, at the educational establishments, at research institutes.
I think English is worth studying. There is a proverb "A new language – a new world". In my opinion, every person, who goes abroad, should be able to find his own way about in an English-speaking community without interpreters.
It's a pity that not much attention is paid for studying foreign languages in our schools. There are some schools specialized in studying foreign languages in Ukraine. Their pupils have lessons in foreign language every day. But their number is rather small. Most schools have Foreign Language only once or twice a week. It's impossible to master any foreign language under such conditions. That's why those who want to improve their knowledge have to take private lessons. But not all, who want to know foreign language well, have the possibility to pay for them.