A (Very) Brief History of the English Language

Some Facts About London

One of the first names of importance is that of Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet. He lived most of his life in London. He knew the courts of King Richard II d King Henry IV. His most famous work, 'The Canterbury Tales", opens at the Tabard Inn, in Southwark. Chaucer held official posts in London and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

William Shakespeare also lived in London. He lived there for more than twenty years. He acted at the Globe Theatre and wrote his plays in London. But London's famous men are not only writers. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect, spent most of his life in London. He designed many beautiful churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral. He also designed palaces and fine houses.

Music is represented by a very interesting figure. This is George Frederick Handel. He came to London from Hannover in 1710. He lived for a time at Burlington House, Piccadilly, now the Royal Academy. After some success and some failure he at last became famous. This happened when he composed "The Messiah". "Judas Maccabeus". and 'The Music for the Royal Fireworks". Like Chaucer and many other great artists, Handel is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Another famous London figure is one of England's greatest seamen. Admiral Lord Nelson. He has a very special memorial in Trafalgar Square. The monument consists of a very tall column. On top of it stands a figure of Nelson. It is called the Nelson Column. Equally famous is the general who led the army at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. This was the Duke of Wellington. His house stands at Hyde Park Comer. It is sometimes known as Number One, London. Like Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.

Sports in Great Britain

Lat's take Football for example. It is the most popular team game in Britain. It is played in most of the schools, and there are thousands of amateur teams for young men in all parts of the country. But for most of the public football is a professional game which is watched on saturday afternoons at the stadium.

Professional football is a big business. Every large town has one or more professional clubs.

Rugby football is played with an oval ball which may be carried in hands. The players of the other team try to stop the man running with the ball by throwing him on the ground. There are fifteen players in each team.

Sport competitions gather big crowds in Great Britan All people in Great Britan are ond of sport and Englishmen know that if they train hard Sport will make them strong and healthy.

Studing English

In Russia just few last generations realized the necessity of studying English. I think it partly dependes of computerizing of our country. Now computers are used everywhere: in banks, offices, shops, hotels etc. Certainly, no one can live without computers in present time. Also a lot of people can't imagine their life without using World Wide Web. But using Internet and computers is connected with studing English, because English is almost always used in programmes.

For example I decided to study English when I got a computer. Since that time I've been studing English at school. I had my first lessons of English in the fifth form. Those lessons interested me very much so I understood that English is what I'm really fond of.

As I remember, our teacher of English did everything to make us interested. She used toys and pictures, also we learned songs by heart.

But some months or probably a year had passed and our lessons became rather monotone and alike. Every day we read similar stories about celebration of different holidays or about heroes of revolution. The strangest thing was, that we read topics about the USSR, which already didn't exist, and even the memory about that country gone away from our minds.

I think that communication with English-speaking people is very importent and unvalued for pupils, who learn English. Opportunity of comunication with English-speaking, was a real luck for me. And I'd like to have meetings with guests from England in my own school. My parents remember: "Even in soviet time we had meetings at our schools, where we could talk to foreigners, though we lived far away from the capital". Now, when Russia is opened for the West, it is not really difficult to invite to school foreigner, isn't it? More over we live in Moscow, which is full of foreigners. I'm sure, that such a meeting could be very interesting for pupils.

Teachers of English in our school are great professionals. They speak English perfectly. Certanly, they are always ready to teach and help us, but as the matter of fact they has no opportunity to do it. For example, my group even can't use the same classroom. And we haven't got a tape-recorder and tapes. We use textbooks, which are far from being new. Is it possible to study language with old textbooks, if the language changes as the water in the river? I do not think so.

Besides, I suppose, that it is impossible to have a good pronunciation without listening to the speech of English-speaking people. The most of pupils has no opportunity for travelling abroad or talking to foreigners in their motherland. That's why it is really necessary to have a tape-recorder at the lessons.

In our school teachers,unfortunetly, have nothing exept old textbooks. It is clear that there it is a crisis in Russia, but the education is one of the most important problems. The future and the well-being of our country depend on the quality of the education of our generation. That's why I think those problems of education must be discussed and solved. Certanly it is very important, because the solving of those problems will help teachers as much as pupils.

English - is one of the most important lessons in school. If I speak English, it is easy for me to read books of English writers. Reading of originals helps to understand the ideas of the novels, stories, etc. And I also suppose that it is very exiting to find something new in our favorite characters,such as Tom Sawyer, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet or Sherlock Holmes. The opportunity of communication, which English gives me is also a great thing. So I think that English will help me not only in my fiture life, but it helps me now in my school life. My good marks in some subjects partly depend on my marks in English lessons.

In my composition I discussed some questions, which interest me very much. I found some problems,but inspite of them I think I'm really lucky because it is possible in our country to get free education. And I am happy that I'm studing English. I suppose that every problem will be solved. I really think so!