A (Very) Brief History of the English Language
Download 0.58 Mb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- British and American Families
- British Holidays
- British Isles
Books in Our Life“Books and friends should be few but good,” says an English proverb. “Except a living man there is nothing more wonderful than a book! They teach us and open their hearts to us as brothers,” wrote Charles Kingsley, an English writer of the 19th century. The book is certainly one of the greatest human inventions. It is a friend and a teacher. We learn many things by reading books. Books teach people to live. After reading some books it is easy to understand what should be done and what must not be done. One can learn a lot by reading books. There are a lot of libraries in our country, where we can choose any book we need. Everyone has the right to use public libraries. The librarian is always ready to help you to find a book on any subject, even if you do not know the title of the book you want. Those who know how to use the library catalogue can find the books without consulting the librarian. Talks, exhibitions and other events take place in libraries. Book lists are prepared beforehand to awake a new interest among the visitors. Except reading special and scientific literature it is a great pleasure to read belles-lettres. Different people like to read different kinds of books. It depends on one's taste and character. Some people prefer detectives or science fiction. Others like historical books. Girls and women prefer love stories. Children like comics very much. As for me, I prefer ... My favourite book is ... It is very interesting and exciting. The main character of the book is ... He (she) is a real personality. He (she) is clever (kind, courageous, strong, merry). I wish to be like him (her).
Most people get married between the ages of 20 and 23 but many marriages end in divorce. This means that both countries have a large number of "single parent families", one father or mother looking after their children alone. The typical British family has a car, a colour TV set, a washing machine, and a cat or dog as well. They start the day at about 7 o'clock, have breakfast at 8 and are off to work by 8.30. More and more women now go out to work as well as men. The children have lunch at school at about 12.30, and come home at 4 in the afternoon. Their parents are usually home by 6 o'clock, and the family eats together at 6.30 or 7. In the evenings, father may go to the pub for a drink, or stay at home and watch TV with the others. Children go to bed early, at about 8 o'clock, two or three hours before their parents. A typical American family has more money than a British family. Many have two or three cars, large modern kitchens and more electrical devices. They eat more meat and spend more on clothes. But their daily programme is nearly the same. Like British children, American children eat lunch at school, come home mid-afternoon, and go to bed earlier than their parents. British HolidaysThere are a number of holidays, which are celebrated in Great Britain every year. One of them is, of course, the New Year's Day on the first of January. It is not so popular in England as in our country, but it is rather popular in Scotland. On that day people usually visit their friends and there is a lot of dancing and eating. In Scotland people bring a piece of coal for good luck in the New Year. The next holiday of the year is St. Valentine's Day. It is on the 14th of February. People buy or make Valentine cards and send them to the people they love. In March there is Mother's Day. All the children and adults, come to their mothers on that day to express their love and gratitude. In April there is Easter. At Easter children eat chocolate Easter eggs. Sometimes parents hide them in the house or in the garden and children have to look for them. In June there is Father's Day. On Father's Day children give or send their fathers and grandfathers cards and presents. On the 31st of October there is a Halloween. They say ghosts and witches come out on Halloween. People make lanterns out of pumpkins. Some people have Halloween parties and dress as witches and ghosts. The 25th of December is Christmas Day. It is one of the people's favourite holidays. People put Christmas trees in their houses and decorate them. There are beautiful Christmas decorations in the streets. On Christmas Eve everybody puts the presents under the Christmas tree. People say that at night Father Christmas puts presents into the stockings which children usually hang above their beds. The traditional Christmas meal is roasted turkey and Christmas pudding. British IslesThe British Isles haven't always been a separate part of Europe. Long time ago Britain was a part of the European continent. Then about ten thousand years ago during the end of the last Ice Age, when the climate grew warmer, new rivers and sees were formed and Europe slowly moved into its present shape. The ancient people of Britain were simple hunters and ate flesh of animals, fruits, nuts, honey. They fished and gathered oysters. They didn't have a permanent place of living and travelled from place to place, sheltering in caves. Then the British men have become the farmers. The Stone Age farmer had the patches in the forests that covered most of Britain. He kept half-wild cattle and pigs in a forest. In Northern Scotland, free from forests, people kept sheep. By the end of the Stone Age (2000 BC) metal was already being used. It was time of the Invasion of Beaker people. They came from the Northern Europe. They used bronze and it was them, who started the building of stone monuments at Stonehenge. Mining and trade were growing during the Bronze Age (ab. 2000-500 BC). About 500 BC British people were learning how to smelt iron. Iron tools had an advantage over bronze ones: they were much cheaper. In the beginning of the Iron Age (ab. 400 BC) British Isles were invaded by Celts armed with weapons of iron. They conquered Kent and much of Southern England. They imposed their language on the natives, its Gaelic form was used in Ireland and Scotland, the Brythonic form - in England and Wales. It was the Brythonic tribe that gave its name to the whole country. The first chronicle of Britain was written by an educated merchant from Morsel. He also wrote the first description of the people, called Celts. He said they were a gentlefolk, skilled craftsmen, who welcomed visitors. The most educated visitor of Britain described the British as a fierce race. His name was Julius Caesar. Present English dates back to the 5th-6th centuries, when Germanic tribes of Jutes, Saxons & Angles overran all England except Cornwall & Cumberland. Some religious terms were borrowed from Latin in connection with converting England to Christianity by St. Augustin. Some parts of England were invaded by Danes & Norwegians, that's why the languages of the Anglo-Saxons & Danes formed the basis of English. Normans contributed greatly to the developing of English language during their invasion. Next point of this was the 15th-16th centuries when written language was stabilized with help of spreading of printing. In 19th century the growth of British colonial power led to the spread of English as world language. But still it was only the 1930 when the British Foreign Office stopped using French for all its official memoranda. So It was the long way of coming-to-be the language of international communication from old Anglo-Saxon dialects to the "world language" in 20th century. Directory: ebook -> umm ebook -> "That was our view and I believe it right." ebook -> Computer Science Conference Ranking ebook -> Problem a arbitrage ebook -> Problem a addition Chains ebook -> "Race and the Making of the Nation: Blacks in Modern France" ebook -> The Teachings of Don Juan ebook -> I’ve got it let’s invade Iraq! ebook -> Appendix 9c sa army unit histories1 Infantry umm -> Corpora in the classroom without scaring the students Download 0.58 Mb. Share with your friends:
|