Ireland is an island, which consists of Republic of Ireland and Nothern Ireland. It is situated in the west of Great Britain, in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The main cities are the capitals of each states, Dublin (capital of Republic) – over 40% of the population resides there, and Belfast (cap. Of Nothern I.).
The whole landscape consists mainly of the lowlands, there are almost no mountains but the range of mountains along the cost, which also is not very high. The highes peak is called Carrantuohill- 1040 m. Sometimes it is called a „bowl“.
The population of Ireland is predominately of Celtic origin, no significant ethnic minorities exist. It has got about 3,5 mil inhabitants, but many of Ir. People live abroad ( in USA and other).
Political system
Executive branch :
The head of state is the president, elected by direct popular vote for a 7-year term, max. for 14 years, who is also the supreme commander of the defence forces.
It is vested in the government, which is responsible to the lower house of the national legislature and is headed by the prime minister ( Bertie Ahern, since June 1997 )
Legislative authority :
is vested in a bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (60 seats) and the Houses of Representatives (166 seats).
The most importent party is republicans.
The flag consists of three bands
green : old gaelic and anglosaxon origins
orange : William of Orange
white : peace, truth
Judicial branch :
is vested in a supreme court, judges are appointed by the president, than high court, court of criminal appeal and the discrict courts.
Economy
Ireland is a small, modern, trade-independent economy with very big growth, one of the most quickly developing country.
Agriculture, one of the most important sector is now dwarfed by the industry.
animal husbandry ( cattle, sheep, hogs, horses),
poultry production is also important.
The principal field crops are wheat, barley, oats,potatoes, sugar beats,beef, diary products...
The fishing industry is expanding.
CULTURE
They have very specific music made by violins, flutes or backpipes. They do not use their hands while dancing. The national sports are hurling. Horse racing is highly popular sport throughout the republic. Thank to its level ladnscape there are good conditions to play golf.
Canada,Ireland
Canada is the world´s second largest country by total area after Rissia, situated in north part of North America. Canada occupy territory between the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, on the north is Arctic ocean and on the south border with USA.
History
Canada rised on the territory settled by Indians and Eskimos as a colony of Britain and France. For this reason part of Canadian´s people speak english and part speak french. Colonialists coming there after discovery of America in 15.century. First longtime settled places are Port Royal and Quebec by France and Newfauland by Britain, about year 1610. Canada get independence in 1867 when was signed the Constitution Act and Canada consiste of four province: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Today Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. Difference between provinces and territories is that Provinces have more autonomy than territories.
Political system
Canada is a constitition monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Delegate of queen in Canada is general gavernor. Parlament is made up of House of Commons and Senate. Members of House of Commons are elected every five year and members of senate are appointed by premier and stay on this function to 75 year. The capital city is Ottawa and official languages are English and French.
Religion in Canada: majority of population professed to Christianity (75%), second is Islam (2%) and about 16% people are unattached.
Geography and climate
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America that´s why have very cold climate. There are many arctic islands near Greenland and other places where have snow all the year. Very big important have river St. Lawrence and Great Canadian´s Lakes whitch St. Lawrence connecting. On the north is situated Canadian shield which inclose all Hudson bay and extending to Great Lakes. In Canada is two highlands: Appalachian Mountain on the east and Cordilliera Mountain on the west. Part of Cordilliera Mountain is called Rocky mountain and they are known for national parks. Western Canada has many volcanoes and is part of the system of volcanoes found around the margins of the Pacific Ocean, which is called the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Economy
Canada is one of the richest country of the world. Lifestyle is on high rank. The biggest economic partner are USA and Mexico. The most important for economy is mining of wood and oil. Canada have big reserve of natural gas. Energy is getting from hydroelectric stations.
Places of interest
Niagara falls- The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River which is between lakes Erie and Ontario. Watefall is 52 m high.
Rocky mountains- there are many national parks, beautiful mountains and small lakes with beautiful view and scenery.
CN Tower- it is tallest building of the World is 533 meters tall in Toronto.
Casa Loma- is the majestic castle of Canada. The castle is a mark of splendor and elegance of the early European elegance.
Sport
National sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Very popular are skiing, baseball or fooball but everything is affected by season.
Ireland
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe which lies to the north-west of continental Europe. On the north Ireland border with North Ireland, Atlantic ocean is on the west, Irish sea on the east and Keltic sea on the south. Ireland covers more than 80% of the Irish island. 20% pertains to Northern Ireland.
History
Ireland is a successor of dominium called Irish independent state. This dominium originate in 1922 when all Irish island get out from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. But next day Northern Ireland join up back to United Kingdom.
Political system
Ireland is republic with president which is head of state. Today president is women Mary McAleese. National languages are Irish and English. Capital city is Dublin.
Geografy
A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil. The River Shannoneith 400km, is the longest river in Ireland. On this river are three big lakes Lough Allen, Lough Ree a Lough Derg. The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent rainfall, earns it the nickname "Emerald Island".
Places of interest
Giant's Causeway – It´s the rock formation on the coast shire Antrim. It belong to UNESCO monument.
Killarney National Park – It´s located beside the town of Killarney. It was the first national park established in Ireland.
Blarney Castle – It´s a medieval stronghold in Blarney. The strongholold have beautiful garden.
Dublin Castle – It´s one of the oldest bulding in Dublin. The most interesting is the tower from 13. century.
History
Canada rised on the territory settled by Indians and Eskimos as a colony of Britain and France. For this reason part of Canadian´s people speak english and part speak french. Colonialists coming there after discovery of America in 15.century. First longtime settled places are Port Royal and Quebec by France and Newfauland by Britain, about year 1610. Canada get independence in 1867 when was signed the Constitution Act and Canada consiste of four province: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Today Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. Difference between provinces and territories is that Provinces have more autonomy than territories.
Political system
Canada is a constitition monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Delegate of queen in Canada is general gavernor. Parlament is made up of House of Commons and Senate. Members of House of Commons are elected every five year and members of senate are appointed by premier and stay on this function to 75 year. The capital city is Ottawa and official languages are English and French.
Religion in Canada: majority of population professed to Christianity (75%), second is Islam (2%) and about 16% people are unattached.
Geography and climate
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America that´s why have very cold climate. There are many arctic islands near Greenland and other places where have snow all the year. Very big important have river St. Lawrence and Great Canadian´s Lakes whitch St. Lawrence connecting. On the north is situated Canadian shield which inclose all Hudson bay and extending to Great Lakes. In Canada is two highlands: Appalachian Mountain on the east and Cordilliera Mountain on the west. Part of Cordilliera Mountain is called Rocky mountain and they are known for national parks. Western Canada has many volcanoes and is part of the system of volcanoes found around the margins of the Pacific Ocean, which is called the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Economy
Canada is one of the richest country of the world. Lifestyle is on high rank. The biggest economic partner are USA and Mexico. The most important for economy is mining of wood and oil. Canada have big reserve of natural gas. Energy is getting from hydroelectric stations.
Places of interest
Niagara falls- The Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River which is between lakes Erie and Ontario. Watefall is 52 m high.
Rocky mountains- there are many national parks, beautiful mountains and small lakes with beautiful view and scenery.
CN Tower- it is tallest building of the World is 533 meters tall in Toronto.
Casa Loma- is the majestic castle of Canada. The castle is a mark of splendor and elegance of the early European elegance.
Sport
National sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Very popular are skiing, baseball or fooball but everything is affected by season.
Ireland
Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe which lies to the north-west of continental Europe. On the north Ireland border with North Ireland, Atlantic ocean is on the west, Irish sea on the east and Keltic sea on the south. Ireland covers more than 80% of the Irish island. 20% pertains to Northern Ireland.
History
Ireland is a successor of dominium called Irish independent state. This dominium originate in 1922 when all Irish island get out from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. But next day Northern Ireland join up back to United Kingdom.
Political system
Ireland is republic with president which is head of state. Today president is women Mary McAleese. National languages are Irish and English. Capital city is Dublin.
Geografy
A ring of coastal mountains surrounds low central plains. The highest peak is Carrauntoohil. The River Shannoneith 400km, is the longest river in Ireland. On this river are three big lakes Lough Allen, Lough Ree a Lough Derg. The island's lush vegetation, a product of its mild climate and frequent rainfall, earns it the nickname "Emerald Island".
Places of interest
Giant's Causeway – It´s the rock formation on the coast shire Antrim. It belong to UNESCO monument.
Killarney National Park – It´s located beside the town of Killarney. It was the first national park established in Ireland.
Blarney Castle – It´s a medieval stronghold in Blarney. The strongholold have beautiful garden.
Dublin Castle – It´s one of the oldest bulding in Dublin. The most interesting is the tower from 13. century.
George Bernard Shaw -My Fair Lady
G. B. Shaw
• 1856-1950
• Was born in Dublin, Ireland
• His mother, who was a professional singer, left home and followed her lover (her voice teacher) to London
• George joined her and didn’t return to Ireland for many years
• He started his literary career with writing novels, but wasn’t successful
• Then began to write plays and at the beginning of 20th century was a well-established author
• Was successful also in USA and Germany
• Was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925
• His involvement in politics:
o Was a keen socialist, but didn’t agree with Marx’s theory of the class struggle and revolution
o =>Established Fabian Society which wanted to defeat capitalism by means of parliamentary way, not by a violent revolution
Pygmalion – My Fair Lady
• Originally a play called Pygmalion, was adapted into a musical My Fair Lady
Main characters:
Eliza Doolittle – a poor girl who sells flowers in the streets of London, was thrown out by her parents as soon as she was old enough to make money
Henry Higgins – an expert in the phonetics, doesn’t like the language and morals of the lower classes, but is able to recognize their natural intelligence (that’s why he likes Eliza’s father), is cold and reserved, treats Eliza as a pupil or a subject of an experiment)
Colonel Pickering – a gentleman who has served in India, also expert in linguistics, is always kind to Eliza, treats her as a lady from the beginning (as opposed to the professor)
Alfred Doolittle – Eliza’s father, unemployed alcoholic, who amused the professor very much. The professor recommends him as a brilliant speaker to give a speech on morals. The American millionaire who organized the lecture later dies and leaves all his money to him. That’s how he becomes a member of the middle class
Mrs. Pearce - Professor’s housekeeper, an extremely class-aware lady, doesn’t agree with the experiment
ò Story T :
• The two old gentlemen meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden.
• The professor says, that with his knowledge of phonetics, he would be able to change a cockney speaking flower-girl, Eliza, into a lady.
• The next morning, the girl appears at his laboratory in Wimpole Street to ask for speech lesions so that she could speak properly enough to work in a flower shop.
• Higgins makes merciless fun of her but finally, he bets Pickering, that he will be able to change her into a lady well spoken as a duchess in six months’ time.
• The challenge is taken, and Higgins starts by having his housekeeper bathe Eliza and give her new clothes.
• Then Eliza’s father comes to demand the return of his daughter, thought his real intention is to hit Higgins up for some money.
• At first, she hates him for being so strict and stiff but gradually she begins to admire him
• The professor, amused by Doolittle’s unusual rhetoric, gives him five pounds.
• During the following months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak properly.
• After six months, Eliza goes to an ambassador’s party
• This e vent is a huge success as everyone considers her a duchess
• The bet is definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project, which causes Eliza to be hurt
• She leaves Higgins’s house at night and stays with Freddy, a young man fallen in love with her
• In the film version, Higgins realized he misses her a lot and hopes she returns one day, which she eventually does.
• However, in the original version, Shaw never makes it clear whether she will return or not.
The major themes:
1. Social hierarchy
• Shaw includes members of all social classes from the lowest to the upper class
• He shows that in British society, language is closely connected with class, from a person’s accent, we can tell where the person comes from and what his/her background is.
2. Gender antagonism
• Relations between people of opposite genders are generally portrayed by Shaw as antagonistic. Right to the last act, Higgins is still quarrelsome, cold and cynical in his interaction with Eliza, and doesn’t even thing of her as an object of romantic interest
• 1856-1950
• Was born in Dublin, Ireland
• His mother, who was a professional singer, left home and followed her lover (her voice teacher) to London
• George joined her and didn’t return to Ireland for many years
• He started his literary career with writing novels, but wasn’t successful
• Then began to write plays and at the beginning of 20th century was a well-established author
• Was successful also in USA and Germany
• Was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925
• His involvement in politics:
o Was a keen socialist, but didn’t agree with Marx’s theory of the class struggle and revolution
o =>Established Fabian Society which wanted to defeat capitalism by means of parliamentary way, not by a violent revolution
Pygmalion – My Fair Lady
• Originally a play called Pygmalion, was adapted into a musical My Fair Lady
Main characters:
Eliza Doolittle – a poor girl who sells flowers in the streets of London, was thrown out by her parents as soon as she was old enough to make money
Henry Higgins – an expert in the phonetics, doesn’t like the language and morals of the lower classes, but is able to recognize their natural intelligence (that’s why he likes Eliza’s father), is cold and reserved, treats Eliza as a pupil or a subject of an experiment)
Colonel Pickering – a gentleman who has served in India, also expert in linguistics, is always kind to Eliza, treats her as a lady from the beginning (as opposed to the professor)
Alfred Doolittle – Eliza’s father, unemployed alcoholic, who amused the professor very much. The professor recommends him as a brilliant speaker to give a speech on morals. The American millionaire who organized the lecture later dies and leaves all his money to him. That’s how he becomes a member of the middle class
Mrs. Pearce - Professor’s housekeeper, an extremely class-aware lady, doesn’t agree with the experiment
ò Story T :
• The two old gentlemen meet in the rain one night at Covent Garden.
• The professor says, that with his knowledge of phonetics, he would be able to change a cockney speaking flower-girl, Eliza, into a lady.
• The next morning, the girl appears at his laboratory in Wimpole Street to ask for speech lesions so that she could speak properly enough to work in a flower shop.
• Higgins makes merciless fun of her but finally, he bets Pickering, that he will be able to change her into a lady well spoken as a duchess in six months’ time.
• The challenge is taken, and Higgins starts by having his housekeeper bathe Eliza and give her new clothes.
• Then Eliza’s father comes to demand the return of his daughter, thought his real intention is to hit Higgins up for some money.
• At first, she hates him for being so strict and stiff but gradually she begins to admire him
• The professor, amused by Doolittle’s unusual rhetoric, gives him five pounds.
• During the following months, Higgins trains Eliza to speak properly.
• After six months, Eliza goes to an ambassador’s party
• This e vent is a huge success as everyone considers her a duchess
• The bet is definitely won, but Higgins and Pickering are now bored with the project, which causes Eliza to be hurt
• She leaves Higgins’s house at night and stays with Freddy, a young man fallen in love with her
• In the film version, Higgins realized he misses her a lot and hopes she returns one day, which she eventually does.
• However, in the original version, Shaw never makes it clear whether she will return or not.
The major themes:
1. Social hierarchy
• Shaw includes members of all social classes from the lowest to the upper class
• He shows that in British society, language is closely connected with class, from a person’s accent, we can tell where the person comes from and what his/her background is.
2. Gender antagonism
• Relations between people of opposite genders are generally portrayed by Shaw as antagonistic. Right to the last act, Higgins is still quarrelsome, cold and cynical in his interaction with Eliza, and doesn’t even thing of her as an object of romantic interest
My Future Career, my plans for the future
When I was a child I never seriously thought about my future career. As a small child I dreamt of being an archaeologist like Indiana Jones. I thought that the work of the archaeologist is as interesting as it was in the movie. But because I'm not good at learning languages, which I would need for this work, I gave up this dream.
Then I started to attend Basic School and all my dreams changed. I was interested in many things, like playing the piano, I was practicing sports but I wasn’t quite good at it.
But my plans for my future career changed from day to day many times.
Later I went to Secondary School. During my studies I began to think about my future career more seriously. First I wanted to be a psychologist, because I am very interested in this subject and I read many books with a psychological theme. Eventually I realized that my focus is not on the humanities, but rather on technique, so psychology is a hobby and nothing more
My plans:
So, first of all, I want to finish secondary school. At the moment I am taking the final graduation exam in four different subjects, Czech language, English language, Chemistry and IT. I hope I won’t fail. I have been working hard for this exam.
After my graduation I would like to study at University with focus on IT. I have applied to Agricultural University at Suhdol, University of Chemical Technology and several others.
I am interested in computers, so I’d like to work with them. I would like to work like my dad, who is engaged in IT, has his own computer company. Unfortunately, our relations are not good enough so I couldn’t start working with him.
But it is difficult to make plans for life now – at the age of nineteen. But to think about it, I would like to finish the university and before getting a job in my field, I would like to take some time to travel round the world doing different jobs. When I get back I would like to buy a beautiful house, settle down, get married and have children. But nobody knows what is going to come, so this is one big IF and I wish.
Job:
For me a good job should be well paid, not be boring and monotonous. I hope I will choose a profession that will satisfy me, challenge me and bring me joy. I believe that a job should be like a hobby. I hope I won’t be dissatisfied and bored with my job.
But nowadays young people face quite a big problem finding a good job. It is no usually difficult to find a job, but if you want to work in your field and take advantage of the knowledge, you gained at the university, then it is difficult.
In different times different jobs are “in”. Some time ago, there were so few doctors and lawyers that everybody wanted to be one as they were considered to be well – paid job. Nowadays it is the same with IT.
Also in this time, learning languages is very important, because when you want a job, you need at least two languages.
Family
I would like to get married one day, but not so soon. I have a boyfriend now but I am only nineteen, I don’t need to start thinking about marriage. After I finish schools I want to travel a little before I settle down.
My future partner should be nice, takes care of me and also should have a good job. But it is one big if and I do not insist on it.
I would like my children to create a larger base than I had mine. My parents divorced when I was 7 years later, I experienced a second divorce a few years ago, when my mom split up with my stepfather. The first divorce was a shock, the other was expected, but I do not want my children to experience the same as me.
Then I started to attend Basic School and all my dreams changed. I was interested in many things, like playing the piano, I was practicing sports but I wasn’t quite good at it.
But my plans for my future career changed from day to day many times.
Later I went to Secondary School. During my studies I began to think about my future career more seriously. First I wanted to be a psychologist, because I am very interested in this subject and I read many books with a psychological theme. Eventually I realized that my focus is not on the humanities, but rather on technique, so psychology is a hobby and nothing more
My plans:
So, first of all, I want to finish secondary school. At the moment I am taking the final graduation exam in four different subjects, Czech language, English language, Chemistry and IT. I hope I won’t fail. I have been working hard for this exam.
After my graduation I would like to study at University with focus on IT. I have applied to Agricultural University at Suhdol, University of Chemical Technology and several others.
I am interested in computers, so I’d like to work with them. I would like to work like my dad, who is engaged in IT, has his own computer company. Unfortunately, our relations are not good enough so I couldn’t start working with him.
But it is difficult to make plans for life now – at the age of nineteen. But to think about it, I would like to finish the university and before getting a job in my field, I would like to take some time to travel round the world doing different jobs. When I get back I would like to buy a beautiful house, settle down, get married and have children. But nobody knows what is going to come, so this is one big IF and I wish.
Job:
For me a good job should be well paid, not be boring and monotonous. I hope I will choose a profession that will satisfy me, challenge me and bring me joy. I believe that a job should be like a hobby. I hope I won’t be dissatisfied and bored with my job.
But nowadays young people face quite a big problem finding a good job. It is no usually difficult to find a job, but if you want to work in your field and take advantage of the knowledge, you gained at the university, then it is difficult.
In different times different jobs are “in”. Some time ago, there were so few doctors and lawyers that everybody wanted to be one as they were considered to be well – paid job. Nowadays it is the same with IT.
Also in this time, learning languages is very important, because when you want a job, you need at least two languages.
Family
I would like to get married one day, but not so soon. I have a boyfriend now but I am only nineteen, I don’t need to start thinking about marriage. After I finish schools I want to travel a little before I settle down.
My future partner should be nice, takes care of me and also should have a good job. But it is one big if and I do not insist on it.
I would like my children to create a larger base than I had mine. My parents divorced when I was 7 years later, I experienced a second divorce a few years ago, when my mom split up with my stepfather. The first divorce was a shock, the other was expected, but I do not want my children to experience the same as me.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is considered to be the world´s greatest playwright. His plays have been performed for centuries and it seems that they will always attract audience and readers. First of all, let me introduce the historical and cultural background associated with Shakespeare´s life...
The second half of the 16th century and the turn of the 17th century is said to be the period of a great overall flourishment in England, with Queen Elizabeth I. on the throne. England lay quite separated from the rest of Europe, so there was enough space for arts to develop - contrary to the states on the continent, which were busy fighting against the reformation as well as with each other. Moreover, Elizabeth I. and her successor James I. were great supporters of theatre. There were many new theatres being opened and some performances were even free of charge for people who could not afford to pay the entrance fee.
We know very little about his private life.
William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd April 1564 in town called Stratford upon Avon in the South Warwickshire, witch lies in the middle area of England. He was the eldest son and third of the eight children of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, and was baptised at Stratford on 26th.
Mary was the daughter of local landowners. John was a prosperous wood and leather merchant also a glover, who went on to become alderman of Stratford.
Shakespeare was educated at local grammar school until the age of 15; William was taken out of school to help his father’s business. When he was 18 he married Anne Hathaway, eight years older girl from a nearby village. The wedding was very fast. The reason was pregnancy of Anne.
They had a daughter Susan, even after the twins Judith and Hamlet. He left his wife and children and he moved to London where he began playing in several theatrical companies and later became co-owner of the theatre. He became an owner of playing company called the ,,Lord Chamberlain’s men” later known as the ,,King’s Men”. Shakespeare came to own many properties including New place, witch was the largest house in Stratford. His plays were performed at the court of Elizabeth I. In 1599 a theatre called Globe was built in London by Shakespeare’s playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s men. This one was destroyed by fire on 1613 and there was built another one on the same site.
After his son's death he went back to Stratford and lived a quiet life with his family. The very interesting thing is that he died on the same day as he was born in the age of 52. Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616.
His work overall consists of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems and several other poems. Shakespeare has created almost 40 games. From the beginning he wrote a comedy, after his son death he began to write tragedies. His plays have been translated into every major living language.
Romeo and Juliet
It's a story about two young people who fell in love, but they can‘t share their love, as they would like because of their families, Capulets and Montagues. These two families hate each other. Romeo and Juliet love each other and they have a secret wedding and they spend the night together. Parents want a wedding between Juliet and Lord Paris. Juliet drinks the potion and looks like dead. Romeo believes that Juliet is dead and he drinks poison near the ,,dead“ Juliet. Julie wakes up and finds that her love is dead kills herselve with Romeo‘s knife.
After this tragedy, the two families reconcile with each other
Hamlet
Prince Hamlet is heir to the Danish throne and is in love with Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain. Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark, suddenly dies. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, immediately marries the dead king’s brother, Claudius, who makes himself king. Hamlet is confused and deeply unhappy about these events. When the play opens, some guards are talking about a ghost they have seen on the castle walls. The ghost looks like Hamlet’s father.
Hamlet hears about the ghost and decides to see for himself. At midnight, the ghost appears and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. The ghost makes Hamlet promise to take revenge for his murder and Hamlet agrees to kill Claudius.
However, Hamlet cannot make up his mind to do it. He wants proof of his father’s murder and asks a group of actors to perform a play about the murder of a king by his brother. When Claudius sees the play, he rushes out of the room during the murder scene. Hamlet is now convinced that his uncle is guilty and goes to accuse his mother.
While Hamlet is telling his mother that he knows the truth, he hears a noise behind a curtain. He thinks Claudius is secretly listening to their conversation. He stabs and kills the person behind the curtain who is, in fact, Polonius, Ophelia’s father. Now King Claudius has a good excuse to send Hamlet away and he orders him to go to the England.
Hamlet leaves for England, not realising that Claudius has secretly planned his murder during the journey. Meanwhile Ophelia, who has been rejected by Hamlet, drowns herself from grief in a stream. Hamlet manages to escape and returns to Denmark.
Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, wants revenge for the deaths of his father and sister, so he challenges Hamlet to a duel. King Claudius gives Laertes a poisoned sword to use against Hamlet in the duel but the plan goes wrong and both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the same sword.
As the poison from the sword slowly begins to take effect on Hamlet and Laertes, Queen Gertrude drinks from a cup of poisoned wine, which Claudius prepared for Hamlet. As Laertes is dying, he tells Hamlet the truth about the poisoned sword. In the final scene, Hamlet stabs his uncle with the same sword just before he dies.
King Lear
King Lear asks his three daughters how much they love him. Tow older daughters say that they love him very, very much but the youngest daughter Cordelia says that she loves him according to her duty. He punishes her by giving her no property and banishes her out of his kingdom. A kind Prince marries her, although she is poor. Old king divides his kingdom and all his property between his two daughters. Now he has nothing and one daughter sends him to the other because he is old and makes troubles. Finally they order to him not to visit their houses again. He is left in a cruel storm alone and he becomes a fool. Cordelia learns about that and with her army she comes to help him. But she is put to the prison and handed a day later. King Lear dies of a big grief.
Historical Games - Henry IV., V., VI. Richard II, III. King John,
Comedy - The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer-night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew,
Tragedy - Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet,
Poets – sonets, The phoenix and the Turtle
The second half of the 16th century and the turn of the 17th century is said to be the period of a great overall flourishment in England, with Queen Elizabeth I. on the throne. England lay quite separated from the rest of Europe, so there was enough space for arts to develop - contrary to the states on the continent, which were busy fighting against the reformation as well as with each other. Moreover, Elizabeth I. and her successor James I. were great supporters of theatre. There were many new theatres being opened and some performances were even free of charge for people who could not afford to pay the entrance fee.
We know very little about his private life.
William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd April 1564 in town called Stratford upon Avon in the South Warwickshire, witch lies in the middle area of England. He was the eldest son and third of the eight children of Mary Arden and John Shakespeare, and was baptised at Stratford on 26th.
Mary was the daughter of local landowners. John was a prosperous wood and leather merchant also a glover, who went on to become alderman of Stratford.
Shakespeare was educated at local grammar school until the age of 15; William was taken out of school to help his father’s business. When he was 18 he married Anne Hathaway, eight years older girl from a nearby village. The wedding was very fast. The reason was pregnancy of Anne.
They had a daughter Susan, even after the twins Judith and Hamlet. He left his wife and children and he moved to London where he began playing in several theatrical companies and later became co-owner of the theatre. He became an owner of playing company called the ,,Lord Chamberlain’s men” later known as the ,,King’s Men”. Shakespeare came to own many properties including New place, witch was the largest house in Stratford. His plays were performed at the court of Elizabeth I. In 1599 a theatre called Globe was built in London by Shakespeare’s playing company the Lord Chamberlain’s men. This one was destroyed by fire on 1613 and there was built another one on the same site.
After his son's death he went back to Stratford and lived a quiet life with his family. The very interesting thing is that he died on the same day as he was born in the age of 52. Shakespeare died on 23rd April 1616.
His work overall consists of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems and several other poems. Shakespeare has created almost 40 games. From the beginning he wrote a comedy, after his son death he began to write tragedies. His plays have been translated into every major living language.
Romeo and Juliet
It's a story about two young people who fell in love, but they can‘t share their love, as they would like because of their families, Capulets and Montagues. These two families hate each other. Romeo and Juliet love each other and they have a secret wedding and they spend the night together. Parents want a wedding between Juliet and Lord Paris. Juliet drinks the potion and looks like dead. Romeo believes that Juliet is dead and he drinks poison near the ,,dead“ Juliet. Julie wakes up and finds that her love is dead kills herselve with Romeo‘s knife.
After this tragedy, the two families reconcile with each other
Hamlet
Prince Hamlet is heir to the Danish throne and is in love with Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius, the Lord Chamberlain. Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark, suddenly dies. Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, immediately marries the dead king’s brother, Claudius, who makes himself king. Hamlet is confused and deeply unhappy about these events. When the play opens, some guards are talking about a ghost they have seen on the castle walls. The ghost looks like Hamlet’s father.
Hamlet hears about the ghost and decides to see for himself. At midnight, the ghost appears and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. The ghost makes Hamlet promise to take revenge for his murder and Hamlet agrees to kill Claudius.
However, Hamlet cannot make up his mind to do it. He wants proof of his father’s murder and asks a group of actors to perform a play about the murder of a king by his brother. When Claudius sees the play, he rushes out of the room during the murder scene. Hamlet is now convinced that his uncle is guilty and goes to accuse his mother.
While Hamlet is telling his mother that he knows the truth, he hears a noise behind a curtain. He thinks Claudius is secretly listening to their conversation. He stabs and kills the person behind the curtain who is, in fact, Polonius, Ophelia’s father. Now King Claudius has a good excuse to send Hamlet away and he orders him to go to the England.
Hamlet leaves for England, not realising that Claudius has secretly planned his murder during the journey. Meanwhile Ophelia, who has been rejected by Hamlet, drowns herself from grief in a stream. Hamlet manages to escape and returns to Denmark.
Ophelia’s brother, Laertes, wants revenge for the deaths of his father and sister, so he challenges Hamlet to a duel. King Claudius gives Laertes a poisoned sword to use against Hamlet in the duel but the plan goes wrong and both Hamlet and Laertes are wounded by the same sword.
As the poison from the sword slowly begins to take effect on Hamlet and Laertes, Queen Gertrude drinks from a cup of poisoned wine, which Claudius prepared for Hamlet. As Laertes is dying, he tells Hamlet the truth about the poisoned sword. In the final scene, Hamlet stabs his uncle with the same sword just before he dies.
King Lear
King Lear asks his three daughters how much they love him. Tow older daughters say that they love him very, very much but the youngest daughter Cordelia says that she loves him according to her duty. He punishes her by giving her no property and banishes her out of his kingdom. A kind Prince marries her, although she is poor. Old king divides his kingdom and all his property between his two daughters. Now he has nothing and one daughter sends him to the other because he is old and makes troubles. Finally they order to him not to visit their houses again. He is left in a cruel storm alone and he becomes a fool. Cordelia learns about that and with her army she comes to help him. But she is put to the prison and handed a day later. King Lear dies of a big grief.
Historical Games - Henry IV., V., VI. Richard II, III. King John,
Comedy - The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer-night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew,
Tragedy - Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet,
Poets – sonets, The phoenix and the Turtle
Tourism and travelling
Why do people travel?
• Due to traveling you can meet many different people, get to know their culture and customs, learn the foreign language, taste their cuisine, experience some adventure and compare life in the visited country and here in CR.
• Many people travel because they enjoy visiting castles, palaces, churches and other monuments, which is another reason why travel.
My attitude to traveling.
• I think that traveling is very useful.
• Firstly, you can extend your knowledge.
• Secondly, young people can become more independent and have more experiences.
• And last but not least it's a big fun.
Types of holiday:
• A package holiday
o consists of transport and accommodation sold together by a travel agent.
o Other services may be provided (a rental car or outings during the holiday).
• Adventure tourism
o a type of tourism involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should "expect the unexpected"
o It is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek unusual holidays, different from the typical beach vacation.
o This type of tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone.
o This may be from experiencing culture shock, or through the performance of acts that require significant effort and involve some degree of risk.
o This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rafting and rock climbing.
• Hiking
o a form of walking, with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery.
o It usually takes place on trails in rural or wilderness areas.
• Backpacking
o combines hiking and camping in a single trip.
o You hike into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carry supplies and equipment to satisfy sleeping and eating needs.
Motivation
o People are drawn to backpacking primarily for recreation, to explore places that they consider beautiful and fascinating, many of which cannot be accessed in any other way
o A backpacker can travel deeper into remote areas, away from people and their effects, than a day-hiker can.
o Many weekend trips cover routes that could be hiked in a single day, but people choose to backpack them anyway, for the experience of staying overnight.
Drawbacks and possible risks
o These possibilities come with disadvantages. The weight of a pack, laden with supplies, forces backpackers to travel more slowly than day-hikers would, and it can become a nuisance and a distraction from enjoying the scenery.
o In addition, camp chores (such as pitching camp, breaking camp, and cooking) can easily consume several hours every day.
o Backpackers face many risks, including adverse weather, difficult terrain, river crossings, and hungry or unpredictable animals.
o They are subject to illnesses, such as dehydration, hypothermia, altitude sickness, and physical injury.
o However, these hazards do not deter backpackers who are properly prepared.
o Some simply accept danger as a risk that they must endure if they want to backpack; for others the potential dangers actually enhance the charm of the wilderness.
• Survivals skills are handy for peace of mind in case the weather, terrain or environment is more challenging than we are prepared for.
• Navigations and orienteering are useful to find and follow a route.
• First aid such as dealing with minor injuries (sprains etc.) as well as recognizing and treating hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration and hypoxiis are considered by many a fundamental backcountry skill as these are rarely encountered in daily life.
• Leave no trace is the backpackers' golden rule. To have beautiful places to enjoy, help make them. At a minimum, don't make them worse.
• Agrotourism
o a style of vacation which usually includes a chance to help with farming tasks during the visit. It is often practiced in wine growing regions in Italy and Spain.
o Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, ride horses, taste honey, learn about wine, etc.
o It is developing into a large part of the tourism industry and will soon be one of the largest sectors of tourism. People are nowadays more interested in how their food is produced and want to meet the producers and talk with them about what goes into food production. Children who visit the farms often have not seen a live duck, or pig, and have not picked an apple right off the tree.
• Culture tourism
o Includes tourism in historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.
o It can also include tourism in rural areas focusing on the traditions of indigenous cultural communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their values and lifestyle.
• Extreme tourism
o is a type of tourism involving travel to dangerous places (mountains, jungles, deserts, caves, etc.) or participation in dangerous events.
o It overlaps with extreme sport. The two share the main attraction, "adrenaline rush" caused by an element of risk.
o It is a growing business in the countries of the former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc.) and in South American countries like Peru, Chile and Argentina.
• Pilgrimage
o Is usually a journey to a sacred place. Members of every major religion participate in it Modern pilgrimages include Jerusalem, (site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus), Vatican , Lourdes in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, etc.
How do these countries compare to our country? Do you think we should first get to know our own country before travelling abroad? What do you prefer – CR or going abroad?
Travelling is a big adventure for me, I really love it. Unfortunately, my familly doesn't travel abroad very much. I have been travelling quite a lot since my childhood, because my mother want to visit many places in CR. During the year we used to make many trips to Czech cities and castles. I think that it is important to visit the most interesting places in your country. With my secondary school I visited France and England and it was really amazing.
What are some problems/embarrassing situations/difficulties you may come across in foreign travel?
I think the most common problems in foreign traveling are caused by the loss of things, for example your luggage or suitcases, or you can have some problems with your hotel or travel insurance. Some misunderstanding can be caused by bad knowledge of the language or culture and so on.
What foreign country would you choose to live in? Is there any country you consider a terrible place for living?
If I had this chance I would like to live in USA or Australia
If you had the opportunity to travel around the world, what countries would you definitely want to visit and why?
Do you prefer travelling on your own or having your holiday arranged by a travel agency? Comment on the advantages and disadvatages of both ways.
I don't care about this. Travelling on your own is better because you can plan what you want, you can stay somewhere for longer than you planned at first and so on. The disadvantage is, that you have much work with planning. Having the holiday arranged by a travel agency has just the opposite arguments.
Do you prefer active holidays with lots of touring and sightseeing, or would you rather stay in one place and relax?
What kind of accommodation do you prefer? Have you ever been on a camping holiday? Have you ever slept in the open?
I prefer staying in some hotel or a guest house, it is much more comfortable. Camping holiday has its charm too, but my problem is that every time I sleep in a tent, I am cold. I don't mind it just for a couple of days, for example when I visited festivals with my friends, we slept in a tent for three days and it was quite good.
What trips have you been on with your school? - where, when, how, liked, didn't like, ..
• Due to traveling you can meet many different people, get to know their culture and customs, learn the foreign language, taste their cuisine, experience some adventure and compare life in the visited country and here in CR.
• Many people travel because they enjoy visiting castles, palaces, churches and other monuments, which is another reason why travel.
My attitude to traveling.
• I think that traveling is very useful.
• Firstly, you can extend your knowledge.
• Secondly, young people can become more independent and have more experiences.
• And last but not least it's a big fun.
Types of holiday:
• A package holiday
o consists of transport and accommodation sold together by a travel agent.
o Other services may be provided (a rental car or outings during the holiday).
• Adventure tourism
o a type of tourism involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas, where the traveler should "expect the unexpected"
o It is rapidly growing in popularity as tourists seek unusual holidays, different from the typical beach vacation.
o This type of tourism gains much of its excitement by allowing its participants to step outside of their comfort zone.
o This may be from experiencing culture shock, or through the performance of acts that require significant effort and involve some degree of risk.
o This may include activities such as mountaineering, trekking, bungee jumping, rafting and rock climbing.
• Hiking
o a form of walking, with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying the scenery.
o It usually takes place on trails in rural or wilderness areas.
• Backpacking
o combines hiking and camping in a single trip.
o You hike into the backcountry to spend one or more nights there, and carry supplies and equipment to satisfy sleeping and eating needs.
Motivation
o People are drawn to backpacking primarily for recreation, to explore places that they consider beautiful and fascinating, many of which cannot be accessed in any other way
o A backpacker can travel deeper into remote areas, away from people and their effects, than a day-hiker can.
o Many weekend trips cover routes that could be hiked in a single day, but people choose to backpack them anyway, for the experience of staying overnight.
Drawbacks and possible risks
o These possibilities come with disadvantages. The weight of a pack, laden with supplies, forces backpackers to travel more slowly than day-hikers would, and it can become a nuisance and a distraction from enjoying the scenery.
o In addition, camp chores (such as pitching camp, breaking camp, and cooking) can easily consume several hours every day.
o Backpackers face many risks, including adverse weather, difficult terrain, river crossings, and hungry or unpredictable animals.
o They are subject to illnesses, such as dehydration, hypothermia, altitude sickness, and physical injury.
o However, these hazards do not deter backpackers who are properly prepared.
o Some simply accept danger as a risk that they must endure if they want to backpack; for others the potential dangers actually enhance the charm of the wilderness.
• Survivals skills are handy for peace of mind in case the weather, terrain or environment is more challenging than we are prepared for.
• Navigations and orienteering are useful to find and follow a route.
• First aid such as dealing with minor injuries (sprains etc.) as well as recognizing and treating hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration and hypoxiis are considered by many a fundamental backcountry skill as these are rarely encountered in daily life.
• Leave no trace is the backpackers' golden rule. To have beautiful places to enjoy, help make them. At a minimum, don't make them worse.
• Agrotourism
o a style of vacation which usually includes a chance to help with farming tasks during the visit. It is often practiced in wine growing regions in Italy and Spain.
o Tourists can pick fruits and vegetables, ride horses, taste honey, learn about wine, etc.
o It is developing into a large part of the tourism industry and will soon be one of the largest sectors of tourism. People are nowadays more interested in how their food is produced and want to meet the producers and talk with them about what goes into food production. Children who visit the farms often have not seen a live duck, or pig, and have not picked an apple right off the tree.
• Culture tourism
o Includes tourism in historic or large cities and their cultural facilities such as museums and theatres.
o It can also include tourism in rural areas focusing on the traditions of indigenous cultural communities (i.e. festivals, rituals), and their values and lifestyle.
• Extreme tourism
o is a type of tourism involving travel to dangerous places (mountains, jungles, deserts, caves, etc.) or participation in dangerous events.
o It overlaps with extreme sport. The two share the main attraction, "adrenaline rush" caused by an element of risk.
o It is a growing business in the countries of the former Soviet Union (Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, etc.) and in South American countries like Peru, Chile and Argentina.
• Pilgrimage
o Is usually a journey to a sacred place. Members of every major religion participate in it Modern pilgrimages include Jerusalem, (site of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus), Vatican , Lourdes in France, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, etc.
How do these countries compare to our country? Do you think we should first get to know our own country before travelling abroad? What do you prefer – CR or going abroad?
Travelling is a big adventure for me, I really love it. Unfortunately, my familly doesn't travel abroad very much. I have been travelling quite a lot since my childhood, because my mother want to visit many places in CR. During the year we used to make many trips to Czech cities and castles. I think that it is important to visit the most interesting places in your country. With my secondary school I visited France and England and it was really amazing.
What are some problems/embarrassing situations/difficulties you may come across in foreign travel?
I think the most common problems in foreign traveling are caused by the loss of things, for example your luggage or suitcases, or you can have some problems with your hotel or travel insurance. Some misunderstanding can be caused by bad knowledge of the language or culture and so on.
What foreign country would you choose to live in? Is there any country you consider a terrible place for living?
If I had this chance I would like to live in USA or Australia
If you had the opportunity to travel around the world, what countries would you definitely want to visit and why?
Do you prefer travelling on your own or having your holiday arranged by a travel agency? Comment on the advantages and disadvatages of both ways.
I don't care about this. Travelling on your own is better because you can plan what you want, you can stay somewhere for longer than you planned at first and so on. The disadvantage is, that you have much work with planning. Having the holiday arranged by a travel agency has just the opposite arguments.
Do you prefer active holidays with lots of touring and sightseeing, or would you rather stay in one place and relax?
What kind of accommodation do you prefer? Have you ever been on a camping holiday? Have you ever slept in the open?
I prefer staying in some hotel or a guest house, it is much more comfortable. Camping holiday has its charm too, but my problem is that every time I sleep in a tent, I am cold. I don't mind it just for a couple of days, for example when I visited festivals with my friends, we slept in a tent for three days and it was quite good.
What trips have you been on with your school? - where, when, how, liked, didn't like, ..
London
Is the capital city of the UK, is situated on the Thames in the southeast of England
History
The history of this city is very old. The Romans built the city in 43 A.D and called it Londinium. After a fire in 61 the town was rebuild again and surrender by a wall. And now, this area within the walls is now called the City of London.
Later London becomes an important port, industrial centre and the seat of kings and queens. For example in 1599 Shakespeare had a theatre there - the Globe. Fourteen years later it burnt down, but it was immediately built anew. London survived plague in 1665 and also the Great fire of 1666. This fire started in bakery and it’s called great fire, because it destroyed almost two thirds of London, because the houses were from wood. In these days, the Monument stands on the place, where the fire broke out.
Nowdays
Now the London is a cosmopolitan city what means there are people of many nationalities.
London consists of tree parts: the original and historical City, West End and the East end. West End is centre of entertainment and East End is an industrial area.
Transport
London Transport is one of the quite quality.
For example most known are red double deck buses.
Another alternative is the underground, or tube, as it is known in London. This tube is the oldies one and one of the most perfect underground networks in the world.
Also black taxis or cabs are another symbol of London but it is a little bit expensive
And after midnight the only way how to travel is by the buses.
Heathrow and Gatwick are huge London airports.
Places of interest and culture:
The Tower of London stands on the north bank of the Thames and its history has been made nearly a thousand years. The White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower, was begun by William the Conqueror in 1078. The other buildings were built until the nineteenth century. The Tower has been put to many uses such as a royal resident, a fortress, a prison, an execution place, a royal treasury and museum. The Bloody Tower used to be a prison, and so did the Green Tower.
There are ravens in the Tower that mustn't leave it, otherwise the Kingdom would fall apart, as the legend says. To make sure they don't leave, their wings are cut short. Today the Tower is a museum of historical weapons and there are coronation jewels.
The Tower Bridge is a great symbol of London. It is the best-known of all the bridges spanning the Thames. The bridge opens in the middle and goes up when huge ships want to pass through.
The Thames Barrier was designed to protect London from flooding.
St Paul's Cathedral is one of the largest in the world. It was built by the architect Sir Christopher Wren in 17th century after the Great Fire. Many famous people are buried there, among others the Duke of Wellington, Horatio Nelson and Sir Christopher Wren himself. Princ Charles and Lady Diana had their wedding ceremony there.
The City of Westminster is a district which occupies about 4 square miles. This is the centre of the administration, with Parliament and Government offices. Old Westminster runs into the modern West End - the shopping centre of Britain with many theatres, cinemas, hotels, restaurants and night clubs.
The Houses of Parliament are officially called the Palace of Westminster. In the middle ages there was a royal palace there, but Henry VIII gave it over to government. There is the Victoria Tower, the highest Gothic tower hi the world and the Clock Tower with the famous bell named after the first Commissioner of Works, Sir Benjamin Hall, Big Ben (it was his nickname). The Clock tower also has a prison cell. The sound of the bell can be heard in the tune on the BBC Radio.
Westminster Abbey is burial place of kings, site of modern coronations.
Buckingham Palace has been the home of the sovereign since Queen Victoria. The Changing of the Guards is one of the biggest London's spectacles and it takes place every day at 11.00 a.m.
Trafalgar Square has a 18-foot high statue of Horatio Nelson resting on a 151-foot high column, and the whole momument dominates the square.
The London Eye is the largest observation wheel in the world (150m high). It was built to celebrate the new millennium. It is operated by the British Airways. The wheel never stops (one turn takes about 30 minutes), and about 200 employees look after it.
The British Museum is the biggest in the world. It contains world-famous collections. The Museum's collections include some six-and-a-half million objects ranging in size from little pieces to colossal statues. It houses the world's largest collections of all kinds of animals, minerals, rocks etc. There is also the colletion of drawings by the Czech artist Vaclav Hollar.
The Tate Gallery holds a major collection of international modern art as well as historic and impressionist works. Nowadays there are mostly modern paintings by important English painters: John Constable, William Hogarth and William John Turner.
Madame Tussaud's Museum holds a collectin of wax figures. It has become a real institution and keeps changing and expanding. The figures look more and more convincing. The famous personalities who have their wax counterpart at Madame Tussaud's include the young Queen Victoria, Picasso, Mrs Thatcher, Joan Collins, members of The Royal Family and The Cabinet, singers and many more.
There are many theatres in Great Britain today. London itself has over 100. The National Theatre is really three theatres: the Cottesloe, the Lyttelton and the Olivier. The Olivier is the biggest of the three theatres with seats for over 1500 people. The National Theatre has its own group of actors called the National Theatre Company.
Theatre the Globe stands on the south bank of the river Thames. If s a faithful reconstruction of Shakespeare's original theatre, that was closed by the Puritans in 1642 and pulled down two years later.
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone.
Greenwich lies to the east of London and offers many attractions in 200 acres. There is also a part of the National Maritime Museum, which has one of the world's biggest collections of boats and navigational equipment.
Hyde Park is a London Royal Park - the biggest London's park.
St James's Park is the oldest of London's parks.
The Royal Botanic Gardens. Orchids and palms are kept in greenhouses.
History
The history of this city is very old. The Romans built the city in 43 A.D and called it Londinium. After a fire in 61 the town was rebuild again and surrender by a wall. And now, this area within the walls is now called the City of London.
Later London becomes an important port, industrial centre and the seat of kings and queens. For example in 1599 Shakespeare had a theatre there - the Globe. Fourteen years later it burnt down, but it was immediately built anew. London survived plague in 1665 and also the Great fire of 1666. This fire started in bakery and it’s called great fire, because it destroyed almost two thirds of London, because the houses were from wood. In these days, the Monument stands on the place, where the fire broke out.
Nowdays
Now the London is a cosmopolitan city what means there are people of many nationalities.
London consists of tree parts: the original and historical City, West End and the East end. West End is centre of entertainment and East End is an industrial area.
Transport
London Transport is one of the quite quality.
For example most known are red double deck buses.
Another alternative is the underground, or tube, as it is known in London. This tube is the oldies one and one of the most perfect underground networks in the world.
Also black taxis or cabs are another symbol of London but it is a little bit expensive
And after midnight the only way how to travel is by the buses.
Heathrow and Gatwick are huge London airports.
Places of interest and culture:
The Tower of London stands on the north bank of the Thames and its history has been made nearly a thousand years. The White Tower, the oldest part of the Tower, was begun by William the Conqueror in 1078. The other buildings were built until the nineteenth century. The Tower has been put to many uses such as a royal resident, a fortress, a prison, an execution place, a royal treasury and museum. The Bloody Tower used to be a prison, and so did the Green Tower.
There are ravens in the Tower that mustn't leave it, otherwise the Kingdom would fall apart, as the legend says. To make sure they don't leave, their wings are cut short. Today the Tower is a museum of historical weapons and there are coronation jewels.
The Tower Bridge is a great symbol of London. It is the best-known of all the bridges spanning the Thames. The bridge opens in the middle and goes up when huge ships want to pass through.
The Thames Barrier was designed to protect London from flooding.
St Paul's Cathedral is one of the largest in the world. It was built by the architect Sir Christopher Wren in 17th century after the Great Fire. Many famous people are buried there, among others the Duke of Wellington, Horatio Nelson and Sir Christopher Wren himself. Princ Charles and Lady Diana had their wedding ceremony there.
The City of Westminster is a district which occupies about 4 square miles. This is the centre of the administration, with Parliament and Government offices. Old Westminster runs into the modern West End - the shopping centre of Britain with many theatres, cinemas, hotels, restaurants and night clubs.
The Houses of Parliament are officially called the Palace of Westminster. In the middle ages there was a royal palace there, but Henry VIII gave it over to government. There is the Victoria Tower, the highest Gothic tower hi the world and the Clock Tower with the famous bell named after the first Commissioner of Works, Sir Benjamin Hall, Big Ben (it was his nickname). The Clock tower also has a prison cell. The sound of the bell can be heard in the tune on the BBC Radio.
Westminster Abbey is burial place of kings, site of modern coronations.
Buckingham Palace has been the home of the sovereign since Queen Victoria. The Changing of the Guards is one of the biggest London's spectacles and it takes place every day at 11.00 a.m.
Trafalgar Square has a 18-foot high statue of Horatio Nelson resting on a 151-foot high column, and the whole momument dominates the square.
The London Eye is the largest observation wheel in the world (150m high). It was built to celebrate the new millennium. It is operated by the British Airways. The wheel never stops (one turn takes about 30 minutes), and about 200 employees look after it.
The British Museum is the biggest in the world. It contains world-famous collections. The Museum's collections include some six-and-a-half million objects ranging in size from little pieces to colossal statues. It houses the world's largest collections of all kinds of animals, minerals, rocks etc. There is also the colletion of drawings by the Czech artist Vaclav Hollar.
The Tate Gallery holds a major collection of international modern art as well as historic and impressionist works. Nowadays there are mostly modern paintings by important English painters: John Constable, William Hogarth and William John Turner.
Madame Tussaud's Museum holds a collectin of wax figures. It has become a real institution and keeps changing and expanding. The figures look more and more convincing. The famous personalities who have their wax counterpart at Madame Tussaud's include the young Queen Victoria, Picasso, Mrs Thatcher, Joan Collins, members of The Royal Family and The Cabinet, singers and many more.
There are many theatres in Great Britain today. London itself has over 100. The National Theatre is really three theatres: the Cottesloe, the Lyttelton and the Olivier. The Olivier is the biggest of the three theatres with seats for over 1500 people. The National Theatre has its own group of actors called the National Theatre Company.
Theatre the Globe stands on the south bank of the river Thames. If s a faithful reconstruction of Shakespeare's original theatre, that was closed by the Puritans in 1642 and pulled down two years later.
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone.
Greenwich lies to the east of London and offers many attractions in 200 acres. There is also a part of the National Maritime Museum, which has one of the world's biggest collections of boats and navigational equipment.
Hyde Park is a London Royal Park - the biggest London's park.
St James's Park is the oldest of London's parks.
The Royal Botanic Gardens. Orchids and palms are kept in greenhouses.
Festivals and tradition in GB,USA
In Britain
Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawkes night, Christmas Day, St. Valentine´s Day…these days are celebrated in Britain.
Christmas
Christmas is the biggest festival of the year in most of Britain. Celebrations start properly on 24th December, Christmas Eve, although there have been several weeks of preparation beforehand.
Christmas is a family celebration and many of the customs centre on children. When they go to bed on Christmas Eve, they hang up a stocking on the fireplace. When children are asleep, so the custom goes, Father Christmas comes. He travels from the North Pole in a sleigh which is pulled by reindeer. On Christmas Day morning children open the presents that were in their stocking.
Their traditional Christmas dinner consists of roast turkey with potatoes and vegetables. This is followed by Christmas pudding. Before the dinner people usually pull crackers. How the rest of the day is spent varies a lot from family to family and may include opening the rest of the presents that are under the tree, playing games, going for a walk…
26th December is called Boxing Day. On Boxing Day most people go out to see friends, watch sports events, go to the theatre to see a pantomime….During Christmas time people sing carols and songs.
Halloween (31th October)
In Britain is celebrated only in the North of England and Scotland, but is generally celebrated in the USA and Canada. On 31th October is the day when children are dressed in costumes (witches, ghosts). They have baskets or bags and they go to their friends and neighbors to get some sweets. They knock at the doors and say "trick or treat". When they get nothing they go away and are very noisy or they spill flour on the front of doorsteps. Symbols of Halloween are ghostly pumpkins.
Easter
The date of Easter is different every year. It’s celebrated after the first full moon in spring. It is a Christian festival which commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Many people go to church. Children wake up early on Easter Sunday and they find candy and decorative eggs which The Easter Bunny has hid for them in the house and the garden. The symbols of Easter are eggs and rabbits. They symbolize the fertility and rebirth.
Guy Fawkes Day (5th November)
This tradition is celebrated on 5th November. Children make a dummy of straw and old clothes. A dummy called "Guy" (like Guy Fawkes, one of the plotters who wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November in 1605) is burned on a fire.
Valentine’s Day (14th February)
It is celebrated on 14th February. It is the day to show your love to the ones that you care about.
One of the symbols for this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. This day has roots in several legends that have been passed from one generation to another.
For example the legend about Christian priest Valentine who was thrown in prison for his faith and for spreading it among people. He loved the jailer’s daughter and before he was beheaded he had written a farewell letter to her signing it "From Your Valentine"
Every part of Britain has its own holiday:
St.David’s Day – March 1st (Wales)
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th (Ireland)
St. George’s Day – April 23rd (England)
St. Andrew’s Day – November 30th (Scotland)
Festivals and traditions in the USA
Americans celebrate many festivals and holidays. Some of them are similar as ours and some are different. The most important festivals and holidays are: Christmas Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Year´s Day, Columbus Day..
Thanksgiving day (4th Thursday in November)
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on 4th Thursday in November. It is a very famous festival, is very important for Americans. This day commemorates the first settlers who came to America in 1620 when the ship named Mayflower brought one hundred and two English men, women and children to America. They were puritans, members of a religions sect. The winter was cold and half of them died. In spring they planted corn and other plants with help and advice from the Indians. In autumn they celebrated good harvest and had a feast with much food. They called this day their day of Thanksgiving. It is a national holiday in the USA and Canada.
Traditional food which is eaten on this day is turkey with pumpkins, squashes and cranberries.
People give thanks for their being well, for happiness of their families. Many families begin Thanksgiving dinner with a prayer.
Independence day (4th July)
It´s main American national celebration. It´s celebrated on 4th July and it commemorates the day when the USA proclaimed its freedom from Britain with the Declaration of Independence (1776). It´s the occasion for parades, speeches celebrating American freedom and fireworks displays in the evening…People have barbecue.
Easter
It is not a national holiday. Most Americans spend Easter Sunday with the family, some people give children dyed eggs and sweets. It is celebrated in the same way as in Britain.
There is a traditional Easter Egg Roll in front of the White House in Washington.
Christmas
People in America celebrate their Christmas on Christmas Day too (25 December). The day before children hang up a stocking by the fireplace or bed where Santa Claus is supposed to bring presents. He comes by a chimney during the night of Christmas and leaves gifts.
Traditional Christmas dinner usually consists of turkey with potatoes and other vegetables. In the USA they bake special biscuits called Christmas cookies. Than follows Boxing day – money are collected into Christmas box, which is broken on this day and money are given to poor people and people with poor job (postmen, milkmen, dustmen)
New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day
Celebrating these days start for many people (particularly for young people) several hours before midnight on 31st December they drink alcohol with friends, but official celebrating starts at midnight, when people welcome New Year's Day. They set off fireworks and they have a toast with champagne.
On 1st January (on New Year's Day) many people sleep very long, because they went to sleep late and many of them were drunk. On this day people eat lentils because lentils are symbol of money.
On this day it is often said: How on New Year's Day so all the year round. And people make New Year's Day resolutions.
St. Patrick’s Day
It is celebrated on 17th March; originally it was an Irish holiday. St Patrick is the patron of the Irish people. On this day everywhere is green colour. The symbol of the day is shamrock.
Columbus Day
It is celebrated on 12 October. This day reminds the "discovery" of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus.
Another:
Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day
Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawkes night, Christmas Day, St. Valentine´s Day…these days are celebrated in Britain.
Christmas
Christmas is the biggest festival of the year in most of Britain. Celebrations start properly on 24th December, Christmas Eve, although there have been several weeks of preparation beforehand.
Christmas is a family celebration and many of the customs centre on children. When they go to bed on Christmas Eve, they hang up a stocking on the fireplace. When children are asleep, so the custom goes, Father Christmas comes. He travels from the North Pole in a sleigh which is pulled by reindeer. On Christmas Day morning children open the presents that were in their stocking.
Their traditional Christmas dinner consists of roast turkey with potatoes and vegetables. This is followed by Christmas pudding. Before the dinner people usually pull crackers. How the rest of the day is spent varies a lot from family to family and may include opening the rest of the presents that are under the tree, playing games, going for a walk…
26th December is called Boxing Day. On Boxing Day most people go out to see friends, watch sports events, go to the theatre to see a pantomime….During Christmas time people sing carols and songs.
Halloween (31th October)
In Britain is celebrated only in the North of England and Scotland, but is generally celebrated in the USA and Canada. On 31th October is the day when children are dressed in costumes (witches, ghosts). They have baskets or bags and they go to their friends and neighbors to get some sweets. They knock at the doors and say "trick or treat". When they get nothing they go away and are very noisy or they spill flour on the front of doorsteps. Symbols of Halloween are ghostly pumpkins.
Easter
The date of Easter is different every year. It’s celebrated after the first full moon in spring. It is a Christian festival which commemorates the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Many people go to church. Children wake up early on Easter Sunday and they find candy and decorative eggs which The Easter Bunny has hid for them in the house and the garden. The symbols of Easter are eggs and rabbits. They symbolize the fertility and rebirth.
Guy Fawkes Day (5th November)
This tradition is celebrated on 5th November. Children make a dummy of straw and old clothes. A dummy called "Guy" (like Guy Fawkes, one of the plotters who wanted to blow up the Houses of Parliament on 5th November in 1605) is burned on a fire.
Valentine’s Day (14th February)
It is celebrated on 14th February. It is the day to show your love to the ones that you care about.
One of the symbols for this day is Cupid, the Roman god of love. This day has roots in several legends that have been passed from one generation to another.
For example the legend about Christian priest Valentine who was thrown in prison for his faith and for spreading it among people. He loved the jailer’s daughter and before he was beheaded he had written a farewell letter to her signing it "From Your Valentine"
Every part of Britain has its own holiday:
St.David’s Day – March 1st (Wales)
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th (Ireland)
St. George’s Day – April 23rd (England)
St. Andrew’s Day – November 30th (Scotland)
Festivals and traditions in the USA
Americans celebrate many festivals and holidays. Some of them are similar as ours and some are different. The most important festivals and holidays are: Christmas Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, New Year´s Day, Columbus Day..
Thanksgiving day (4th Thursday in November)
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on 4th Thursday in November. It is a very famous festival, is very important for Americans. This day commemorates the first settlers who came to America in 1620 when the ship named Mayflower brought one hundred and two English men, women and children to America. They were puritans, members of a religions sect. The winter was cold and half of them died. In spring they planted corn and other plants with help and advice from the Indians. In autumn they celebrated good harvest and had a feast with much food. They called this day their day of Thanksgiving. It is a national holiday in the USA and Canada.
Traditional food which is eaten on this day is turkey with pumpkins, squashes and cranberries.
People give thanks for their being well, for happiness of their families. Many families begin Thanksgiving dinner with a prayer.
Independence day (4th July)
It´s main American national celebration. It´s celebrated on 4th July and it commemorates the day when the USA proclaimed its freedom from Britain with the Declaration of Independence (1776). It´s the occasion for parades, speeches celebrating American freedom and fireworks displays in the evening…People have barbecue.
Easter
It is not a national holiday. Most Americans spend Easter Sunday with the family, some people give children dyed eggs and sweets. It is celebrated in the same way as in Britain.
There is a traditional Easter Egg Roll in front of the White House in Washington.
Christmas
People in America celebrate their Christmas on Christmas Day too (25 December). The day before children hang up a stocking by the fireplace or bed where Santa Claus is supposed to bring presents. He comes by a chimney during the night of Christmas and leaves gifts.
Traditional Christmas dinner usually consists of turkey with potatoes and other vegetables. In the USA they bake special biscuits called Christmas cookies. Than follows Boxing day – money are collected into Christmas box, which is broken on this day and money are given to poor people and people with poor job (postmen, milkmen, dustmen)
New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day
Celebrating these days start for many people (particularly for young people) several hours before midnight on 31st December they drink alcohol with friends, but official celebrating starts at midnight, when people welcome New Year's Day. They set off fireworks and they have a toast with champagne.
On 1st January (on New Year's Day) many people sleep very long, because they went to sleep late and many of them were drunk. On this day people eat lentils because lentils are symbol of money.
On this day it is often said: How on New Year's Day so all the year round. And people make New Year's Day resolutions.
St. Patrick’s Day
It is celebrated on 17th March; originally it was an Irish holiday. St Patrick is the patron of the Irish people. On this day everywhere is green colour. The symbol of the day is shamrock.
Columbus Day
It is celebrated on 12 October. This day reminds the "discovery" of America in 1492 by Christopher Columbus.
Another:
Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day, President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Labor Day
Tradition and customs in Czech Republic
E A S T E R
The first Monday after the first spring full moon
Easter is Christian tradition, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. A celebration is full of fun in Czech Republic. Many traditions are kept especially in villages, and different regions may have their own Easter traditions and customs.
I think that every family colours the Easter eggs. In the Czech Republic people know a lot of decoration techniques. The eggs can be boiled or concave.
The boys braid the willow twigs, the Easter rod (pomlázka) from pomladit = make younger. On Easter Monday they walk to girl’s homes and say some short poems and spank girls, as a reward the boys get some eggs and sweets
However, after the noon the custom is opposite, girls drench boys with water or perfume.
The Days before Easter are called Ugly Wednesday, Green Thursday, Good Friday and White Saturday
Traditional food is Easter cake (mazanec). It is made from dough with almonds and raisins.
April fool’s day
1st of April
On that day, you are allowed to pull jokes and pranks. It’s very popular among children. The origin of this tradition probably dates back to the 16th century, when the Julian calendar changed to Georgian. According to the old one the New Year started on April 1st and those who did not accept or forgot the change were called ,,April Fools”.
The Burning of the Witches
April 30th
On the evening of April 30th, Czech people build a bonfire and prepare an effigy of the witch. They thought that if they made something that looked like a witch and burned it, they could finally get rid of the cold weather. As soon as it's dark, the effigy of the witch is brought out Then it is thrown into the bonfire. Nowadays It is a day , when a lot of people go back to the villages and they meet their friends and distant relatives.
MAY 1st
May 1st is the day of people in love, it is the Czech version of the st. Valentine´s day, but without the legend about the priest. This day relates to Karel Hynek Mácha, the Czech Romantic. In Prague's Petřín Park there is his statue. People in love go to Petřín and the tradition says that boys have to kiss girls under the blooming cherry-tree. May 1st is a national holiday in the Czech Republic, because it is the Labour day (den práce)
The Day of Slavic Missionaries Cyril and Methodius
July 5th
The two Byzantine Greek brothers Cyril and Methodius are very important for Czech history. They brought Christianity to the Great Moravian Empire in the year 863 and created the Slavonic language and alphabet called hlaholice (the Glagolitic alphabet). They translated the Bible and contributed to the spread of Christianity and the Old Slavonic Language
The day of John Huss
July 6th
Jan Hus was a significant Czech religious reformer who was burned as misbeliever in 1415 in Constance. His death sparked off the Hussite movement and wars in the 15th century.
Saint Nicholas Day
December 5th
In evening of December 5th a lot of people are dressed like St.Nicholas, who walks with the Angel, who represents the Good, and with the Devil representing the Evil
All three characters walk in the streets, stopping children and asking them if they were good in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem. They are then rewarded with sweets, other treats.
Naughty children/Bad kids are put into the Devil's sack and taken to hell, or only get a sack of potatoes or coal. The eve of St. Nicholas is especially fun in Prague. Parents bring their children to the Old Town Square, usually. but somewhere, the three characters visit people's homes.
The St. Nicholas tradition is probably from 4th century and it is based on Greek bishop named Nicholas who is said to have left a gift of money on the windowsill to three poor girls to enable them to get married
Christmas
December 24 (Christmas Eve)
On December 24 it is Adam and Eva's name day.
The Christmas tree is decorated with traditional Czech Christmas ornaments in many households and preparations are made for the most festive dinner of the year. On Christmas Eve people do a lot of custom, for example:
Golden piglet- this tradition says that if Czechs don’t eat all day, they see a gold piglet.
Pouring lead- The lead is poured into water and people foretell future according to the shape of cold lead.
Cutting apples – when people cut the apples in half and the pip looks like a star, they will have lucky year. If it is looks like cross the year will be miserable.
Shoe – girls throw the shoe and if the toe of the shoe faces the door the girl gets married in coming up year.
Christmas Dinner
The Dinner consists of carp, somewhere schnitzels, and potato salad. It is sometimes preceded by mushroom and fish soup. Some families keep their carp in their bath for several days as a temporary pet for their children. The Dinner can be ended with a dessert, such as apple strudel. A traditional Christmas bread called Christmas cake/vánočka and everyone bakes Christmas sweets.
After dinner, in some families people around the table may sing Christmas carols before moving to the Christmas trees. Presents are placed under the tree. Czech children believe that Christmas gifts are brought by Baby Jesus, who comes into the room through the window to leave the presents there. Unlike Santa Claus, Baby Jesus is abstract figure and no one knows where he lives. Czech children write their wishes and the letters are put behind windows for baby Jesus a few weeks before Christmas.
Midnight-Mass
Some people attend the midnight mass at a local church on Christmas Eve
December 25
A lot of families stay at home and relax or visit relatives and friends.
New Year’s Eve
The celebration of New Year’s Eve in the Czech Republic is very similar to other courtiers. A lot of people go to the mountains and celebrate this day with snow. At midnight people let of fireworks and they open champagne wines
January 1st
New Year’s Day, a lot of people make their own New Year’s resolution about something in their lives.
But I think that most of the people don’t keep it.
Three kings day
The Three king’s day is a day memorates coming of three kings to Bethlehem.
Some people are dressed like the three kings go to our homes with some moneyboxes and people contribute to charity. The kings write letters K+M+B. Many people think that it is symbols of kings names but probably it is symbols of ,,Christus mansionem benedicat": ,,Christ bless this house"
The first Monday after the first spring full moon
Easter is Christian tradition, which commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. A celebration is full of fun in Czech Republic. Many traditions are kept especially in villages, and different regions may have their own Easter traditions and customs.
I think that every family colours the Easter eggs. In the Czech Republic people know a lot of decoration techniques. The eggs can be boiled or concave.
The boys braid the willow twigs, the Easter rod (pomlázka) from pomladit = make younger. On Easter Monday they walk to girl’s homes and say some short poems and spank girls, as a reward the boys get some eggs and sweets
However, after the noon the custom is opposite, girls drench boys with water or perfume.
The Days before Easter are called Ugly Wednesday, Green Thursday, Good Friday and White Saturday
Traditional food is Easter cake (mazanec). It is made from dough with almonds and raisins.
April fool’s day
1st of April
On that day, you are allowed to pull jokes and pranks. It’s very popular among children. The origin of this tradition probably dates back to the 16th century, when the Julian calendar changed to Georgian. According to the old one the New Year started on April 1st and those who did not accept or forgot the change were called ,,April Fools”.
The Burning of the Witches
April 30th
On the evening of April 30th, Czech people build a bonfire and prepare an effigy of the witch. They thought that if they made something that looked like a witch and burned it, they could finally get rid of the cold weather. As soon as it's dark, the effigy of the witch is brought out Then it is thrown into the bonfire. Nowadays It is a day , when a lot of people go back to the villages and they meet their friends and distant relatives.
MAY 1st
May 1st is the day of people in love, it is the Czech version of the st. Valentine´s day, but without the legend about the priest. This day relates to Karel Hynek Mácha, the Czech Romantic. In Prague's Petřín Park there is his statue. People in love go to Petřín and the tradition says that boys have to kiss girls under the blooming cherry-tree. May 1st is a national holiday in the Czech Republic, because it is the Labour day (den práce)
The Day of Slavic Missionaries Cyril and Methodius
July 5th
The two Byzantine Greek brothers Cyril and Methodius are very important for Czech history. They brought Christianity to the Great Moravian Empire in the year 863 and created the Slavonic language and alphabet called hlaholice (the Glagolitic alphabet). They translated the Bible and contributed to the spread of Christianity and the Old Slavonic Language
The day of John Huss
July 6th
Jan Hus was a significant Czech religious reformer who was burned as misbeliever in 1415 in Constance. His death sparked off the Hussite movement and wars in the 15th century.
Saint Nicholas Day
December 5th
In evening of December 5th a lot of people are dressed like St.Nicholas, who walks with the Angel, who represents the Good, and with the Devil representing the Evil
All three characters walk in the streets, stopping children and asking them if they were good in the past year. Most kids say yes and sing a song or recite a short poem. They are then rewarded with sweets, other treats.
Naughty children/Bad kids are put into the Devil's sack and taken to hell, or only get a sack of potatoes or coal. The eve of St. Nicholas is especially fun in Prague. Parents bring their children to the Old Town Square, usually. but somewhere, the three characters visit people's homes.
The St. Nicholas tradition is probably from 4th century and it is based on Greek bishop named Nicholas who is said to have left a gift of money on the windowsill to three poor girls to enable them to get married
Christmas
December 24 (Christmas Eve)
On December 24 it is Adam and Eva's name day.
The Christmas tree is decorated with traditional Czech Christmas ornaments in many households and preparations are made for the most festive dinner of the year. On Christmas Eve people do a lot of custom, for example:
Golden piglet- this tradition says that if Czechs don’t eat all day, they see a gold piglet.
Pouring lead- The lead is poured into water and people foretell future according to the shape of cold lead.
Cutting apples – when people cut the apples in half and the pip looks like a star, they will have lucky year. If it is looks like cross the year will be miserable.
Shoe – girls throw the shoe and if the toe of the shoe faces the door the girl gets married in coming up year.
Christmas Dinner
The Dinner consists of carp, somewhere schnitzels, and potato salad. It is sometimes preceded by mushroom and fish soup. Some families keep their carp in their bath for several days as a temporary pet for their children. The Dinner can be ended with a dessert, such as apple strudel. A traditional Christmas bread called Christmas cake/vánočka and everyone bakes Christmas sweets.
After dinner, in some families people around the table may sing Christmas carols before moving to the Christmas trees. Presents are placed under the tree. Czech children believe that Christmas gifts are brought by Baby Jesus, who comes into the room through the window to leave the presents there. Unlike Santa Claus, Baby Jesus is abstract figure and no one knows where he lives. Czech children write their wishes and the letters are put behind windows for baby Jesus a few weeks before Christmas.
Midnight-Mass
Some people attend the midnight mass at a local church on Christmas Eve
December 25
A lot of families stay at home and relax or visit relatives and friends.
New Year’s Eve
The celebration of New Year’s Eve in the Czech Republic is very similar to other courtiers. A lot of people go to the mountains and celebrate this day with snow. At midnight people let of fireworks and they open champagne wines
January 1st
New Year’s Day, a lot of people make their own New Year’s resolution about something in their lives.
But I think that most of the people don’t keep it.
Three kings day
The Three king’s day is a day memorates coming of three kings to Bethlehem.
Some people are dressed like the three kings go to our homes with some moneyboxes and people contribute to charity. The kings write letters K+M+B. Many people think that it is symbols of kings names but probably it is symbols of ,,Christus mansionem benedicat": ,,Christ bless this house"
Problems of today´s world
ENVIRONMENTAL Problems
1. Population growth
Increasingly large numbers of people are born into the world every year. This increase causes more pollution, it is the reason why are more natural habitats destroyed and more natural resorces used. Population doubled between 1950 and 1987. More people mean more mouths to feed, so we need more agriculture land. It leads to deforestation and soil erosion. Britain like other rich countries tries support developing countries. Because some studies show that the number of new born people is less in the countries where literacy has increased, where women are given economic status equal to that of men.
The world’s population is over 6 billion people today. Every year a further 90 million people are added to this total. This is the same as the combined population of The United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands together.
Recent intense growth of the world’s population has awoken fears concerning the consequence of overpopulation. Many people are trying to argue that birth-rate control is inevitable if we want to prevent damage to the Earth as a whole. More than 80 states began to advertise and support provisions to control birth-rates (for example Japan and China) because of the problem of population explosion.
Population explosion began in the 1920s, when the world population was over 2 billion. In 1991 world population caused a lot of worry because the number amounted to 5.4 billion. Experts estimate that by 2025 the world’s population will come to 8.5 billion people.
2. Global warming
It is caused almost by the greenhouse effect – the Earth receives energy from the sun (it’s visible light). Some is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into space. But gases in the atmosphere absorb some of this energy. Much of these gases creates heat blanket around Earth.
The likely effects: The warming 0,3˚C a decade. Then sea level could rise by 6 cm over next century and water could submerge some low-lying coasts (Netherlands and others). At cause of this people would migrate and that would endanger peace and international security.
Without the greenhouse effect the Earth would be frozen planet with average temperature of about -18ºC instead of the comfortable 15˚C.If the concentration of these gases were higher , more heat would stay in the atmosphere and temperatures would rise.
3. Polar regions
They play a key role in setting world climate patterns and sea levels and they are homes to many unique wildlife species. Very important is funding for polar science and research.
4. The ozone layer
It protects the earth from excessive levels of UV radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer and eye disorders and damage crops. It’s destroyed by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals, used in aerosols, fridges, air conditioning, because foam and solvents are thinning the layer.
EU tries phasing out CFCs and contributes up money to help developing countries met their commitments to use alternatives to CFCs
5. Rainforests
They are covering 7% land surface of the world and they are called “lungz of the Earth”, because of producing oxygen, which is very important and without it we can’t live on the Earth. Before 1900, rainforests covered 14% of the world´s surface (povrch). Today they cover 7%. The reason for this is simple. They have been cut down to provide: land, paper, wood, medicines, minerals and fuel. But it isn´t only trees which are disappearing. Every rainforest also contains millions of animals, insects and flowers. These are destroyed, too. If man continues to cut down rainforests, more than one million species (druhy) of plants and animals will become extinct (vymřít) by the year 2030. Burning of forests causes emissions of carbon dioxide. Governments are supporting to encourage good forest management.
6. Energy
At the moment, 94% of the world´s energy comes from fossil fuels. There is enough coal for the next 300 years, but only enough gas end oil for the next 50. Then will happen: nuclear energy. But after the Chernobyl disaster (katastrofa) in 1986, many people think nuclear power isn´t safe (bezpečná).
- the green solution: there are four green solutions. They all use natural energy already in teh enviroment. That´s wind energy, solar energy from the sun, wave energy from the sea and geothermal energy from hot rocks (jádro země) under the Earth
7. Acid rain
One of Europe and North America´s most serious pollution problems is acid rain. What happens is this. First, factories send gases and chemicals into the air. There they mix and are carried (unášeny) for hundreds of miles by the wind. Finally, they fall back to earth when it rains. This acid rain kills fish and trees. It slowly destroys (pomalu ničí) buildings too.
- the green solution: industrial countries should control their levels of pollution. This is already happening in some parts of Europe. There, several countries have cut their acid rain pollution by 30%
8. Wildlife
Animals are a part of the enviroment, too. Millions of them are killed or treated cruelly by man every year. There are five main groups:
1. animals used for scientific research (rabbits)
2. animals killed for sport(foxes)
3. animals killed for their fur or skin (crocodiles)
4. animals in danger because their enviroments are in danger (gorillas)
5. animals kept in cruel conditions on farms (some kinds of chicken and cow)
- the green solution: groups like Greenpeace have already helped to stop whale hunting. Now, they want to stop fur-hunting, too. Like many others organisations, they believe in animal rights. Ther solution to all problems of wildlife cruelty (krutost,surovost) is simple. Animals shouldn´t suffer (trpět). The cruelty must stop.
Organisations: UNEP(United Nations Environment Programme)- this organisation is under OSN
GREENPEACE- is radical non-governmental organization, which fights against killing animals for their furs or meals and is also against timber felling (kácení dřeva) and nuclear electric power stations
Social issues
Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems.
Social issues include poverty, violence, pollution, injustice, suppression(potlačování) of human rights, discrimination, and crime, as well as abortion(inerrupce), gay marriage, gun control, and religion.
DRUGS
It is a serious health problem that more and more teenagers have taken up smoking. Even though these teens are aware that they will probably develop health problems like cancer, heart disease, and other respiratory problems, they still smoke anyway. Most teenagers start smoking in order to look cool in front of their friends but unfortunately they wind up addiction. Many tobacco companies have been blamed for making advertising, which is designed to appeal to young people. It is a tragedy but cigarette smoking kills 2.5 million people every year.
Drug use in the world is increasing and more young people than ever are addicted. Drugs can be divided into three categories: hard, soft and legal. All three types can cause addiction, illness, or even death. Hard drugs include heroin, cocaine and the typical Czech drug “pervitin”. Drugs like marijuana, hashish, and solvents are considered to be soft drugs. Legal drugs include tobacco, alcohol, prescription and non-prescription medicines.
Drugs are one of the most serious problems facing today’s world. All other problems people have can lead to drug abuse. Some others might find their present life boring or maybe they want to gain the respect of their gang or are just curious.
Drugs are divided into two cateories:
1. Soft drugs – alcohol, marijuana, hash, glue, sedatives, and mushrooms.
2. Hard drugs – ectasy, speed (amphetamine), cocaine, opium, and heroin.
You can usually tell if someone is under the influence of drugs. Some symphtoms are red eyes, slow movements and small pupils. In addition, people under the influence of drugs often smile and giggle, talk incoherently, act tired or ahllucinate. The effect vary from making you tired to giving you lots of energy, from making you friendly to agressive etc.
RACISM
Racism is another serious problem that we have to cope with. Some people, racists, see themselves as a superior race and discriminate, prejudice or attack the one they consider worse. The victims of racism are more often dark-skin people than the white ones.
The worst level of racism is called „apartheid“. It appeared in South Africa in the 20th century and meant separated schools, separated travelling, separated parts of towns and general discrimination of black Southafricans. Even though the era of apartheid is over, we can still feel the remains.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment is what every country has problems with. It usually appears more in less developed areas of the country or where a large factory closed down. The least unemployment is in large cities where the companies always need employees. But they usually search for soemone with higher level of education, special abilities (working with computers, typing, knowledge of languages…) and specialization. The appliers with lack of edudcation this way lose a chance to work or to have a well-payed job. They often want a job which isn’t possible to manage for them and if they’re not empolyed, they complain. Another ones just took their diplomas and have no practise which is required from them. However, each country has special programmes for unemployed people to help them. They get benefits from the state.
Another thing is that there are many ilegal workers in every develoied country who are worse payed than average and they don’t complain(which is good for their employers). The state tries to empush this beacuse these jobs don’t require much education and would be solution for the less-educated ones.
We all know than although we live in developed and modern world, there are plenty of grave problems all over the world. Several of the weightiest and the best known: wars and terrorism, poverty, diseases, famine, population increase, the production and taking of illegal drugs but also legal (e.g. alcohol and cigarettes), racism, crime, counteracting of human rights, abuse children, conflicts of religions and so on. There are some of those problems explained more in detail.
FAMINE AND HUNGER
It is quite obvious that our world is going to be overcrowded. As a result, 2 billion people suffer from famine and every year many people die of hunger, mainly in the developing countries. One reason of this reality are the former colonial policies of The United Kingdom, France, Spain and other colonial states, which used colonies only as sources and did not support their economy. However, there are also great local problems, mainly in central Africa. There are conflicts among tribes that often finish like a bloody war.
Now developed states are trying to help to supply money for food and the basic needs of the people but I think the most important thing is that people from Africa and other poor states should realize that work is more important than war.
DISEASES
There are many diseases that give us trouble all over the world. We can divide them into many categories such as curable and terminal or infectious and hereditary and so on. Diseases are a big problem mainly in developing countries because there are not as good and available health services as in developed countries and it means disease like influenza, which is not difficult for us and we can cure it, is often terminal. But there are many really dangerous diseases (e.g.: AIDS, Leprosy, TBC, Malaria, Cancer, Cholera and so on). There is only one warranted way how to remain healthy. This way we call prevention. We should try to live a healthy way of life, which means we should have a good proportion of work to free time. We should practice sports, at least swim or go for walks, we should eat healthy food with lots of vitamins and we should not smoke or drink too much alcohol because it is true that prevention is better than a cure.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights are rights of everybody, which make us possible to live like a human. This idea has many social and political consequences. Human rights, because they rest on being human, are universal, equal and inalienable. They should be held for every person against the state and society. Human rights include e.g.: the universal right to vote, freedom of speech, right to education, right to nationality, right to creed of religion, right to work connect with the right for fair wages. This rights were described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was accepted on the 10th of December 1948 by the UN General Assembly.
HELP
There are lots of organizations (charity or benefaction), which try to help people who need it. Probably the most known organization all over the world is the Red Cross (the Red Croissant in Asia) but there are many other benefit organizations e.g.: Doctor Without Frontiers or Adra. A very known organization is also Amnesty International. It is a worldwide organization, independent of any government or political party. This organization tries to protect the observance of human rights. It fights mainly opposite the governments, which keep in prison men and women not because they have broken the law, but because of their ideas, color, language or religion. The organization tries to get fair and early trials by putting pressure on their governments to practise basic human rights.
1. Population growth
Increasingly large numbers of people are born into the world every year. This increase causes more pollution, it is the reason why are more natural habitats destroyed and more natural resorces used. Population doubled between 1950 and 1987. More people mean more mouths to feed, so we need more agriculture land. It leads to deforestation and soil erosion. Britain like other rich countries tries support developing countries. Because some studies show that the number of new born people is less in the countries where literacy has increased, where women are given economic status equal to that of men.
The world’s population is over 6 billion people today. Every year a further 90 million people are added to this total. This is the same as the combined population of The United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands together.
Recent intense growth of the world’s population has awoken fears concerning the consequence of overpopulation. Many people are trying to argue that birth-rate control is inevitable if we want to prevent damage to the Earth as a whole. More than 80 states began to advertise and support provisions to control birth-rates (for example Japan and China) because of the problem of population explosion.
Population explosion began in the 1920s, when the world population was over 2 billion. In 1991 world population caused a lot of worry because the number amounted to 5.4 billion. Experts estimate that by 2025 the world’s population will come to 8.5 billion people.
2. Global warming
It is caused almost by the greenhouse effect – the Earth receives energy from the sun (it’s visible light). Some is absorbed by the Earth and some is radiated back into space. But gases in the atmosphere absorb some of this energy. Much of these gases creates heat blanket around Earth.
The likely effects: The warming 0,3˚C a decade. Then sea level could rise by 6 cm over next century and water could submerge some low-lying coasts (Netherlands and others). At cause of this people would migrate and that would endanger peace and international security.
Without the greenhouse effect the Earth would be frozen planet with average temperature of about -18ºC instead of the comfortable 15˚C.If the concentration of these gases were higher , more heat would stay in the atmosphere and temperatures would rise.
3. Polar regions
They play a key role in setting world climate patterns and sea levels and they are homes to many unique wildlife species. Very important is funding for polar science and research.
4. The ozone layer
It protects the earth from excessive levels of UV radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer and eye disorders and damage crops. It’s destroyed by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), chemicals, used in aerosols, fridges, air conditioning, because foam and solvents are thinning the layer.
EU tries phasing out CFCs and contributes up money to help developing countries met their commitments to use alternatives to CFCs
5. Rainforests
They are covering 7% land surface of the world and they are called “lungz of the Earth”, because of producing oxygen, which is very important and without it we can’t live on the Earth. Before 1900, rainforests covered 14% of the world´s surface (povrch). Today they cover 7%. The reason for this is simple. They have been cut down to provide: land, paper, wood, medicines, minerals and fuel. But it isn´t only trees which are disappearing. Every rainforest also contains millions of animals, insects and flowers. These are destroyed, too. If man continues to cut down rainforests, more than one million species (druhy) of plants and animals will become extinct (vymřít) by the year 2030. Burning of forests causes emissions of carbon dioxide. Governments are supporting to encourage good forest management.
6. Energy
At the moment, 94% of the world´s energy comes from fossil fuels. There is enough coal for the next 300 years, but only enough gas end oil for the next 50. Then will happen: nuclear energy. But after the Chernobyl disaster (katastrofa) in 1986, many people think nuclear power isn´t safe (bezpečná).
- the green solution: there are four green solutions. They all use natural energy already in teh enviroment. That´s wind energy, solar energy from the sun, wave energy from the sea and geothermal energy from hot rocks (jádro země) under the Earth
7. Acid rain
One of Europe and North America´s most serious pollution problems is acid rain. What happens is this. First, factories send gases and chemicals into the air. There they mix and are carried (unášeny) for hundreds of miles by the wind. Finally, they fall back to earth when it rains. This acid rain kills fish and trees. It slowly destroys (pomalu ničí) buildings too.
- the green solution: industrial countries should control their levels of pollution. This is already happening in some parts of Europe. There, several countries have cut their acid rain pollution by 30%
8. Wildlife
Animals are a part of the enviroment, too. Millions of them are killed or treated cruelly by man every year. There are five main groups:
1. animals used for scientific research (rabbits)
2. animals killed for sport(foxes)
3. animals killed for their fur or skin (crocodiles)
4. animals in danger because their enviroments are in danger (gorillas)
5. animals kept in cruel conditions on farms (some kinds of chicken and cow)
- the green solution: groups like Greenpeace have already helped to stop whale hunting. Now, they want to stop fur-hunting, too. Like many others organisations, they believe in animal rights. Ther solution to all problems of wildlife cruelty (krutost,surovost) is simple. Animals shouldn´t suffer (trpět). The cruelty must stop.
Organisations: UNEP(United Nations Environment Programme)- this organisation is under OSN
GREENPEACE- is radical non-governmental organization, which fights against killing animals for their furs or meals and is also against timber felling (kácení dřeva) and nuclear electric power stations
Social issues
Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems.
Social issues include poverty, violence, pollution, injustice, suppression(potlačování) of human rights, discrimination, and crime, as well as abortion(inerrupce), gay marriage, gun control, and religion.
DRUGS
It is a serious health problem that more and more teenagers have taken up smoking. Even though these teens are aware that they will probably develop health problems like cancer, heart disease, and other respiratory problems, they still smoke anyway. Most teenagers start smoking in order to look cool in front of their friends but unfortunately they wind up addiction. Many tobacco companies have been blamed for making advertising, which is designed to appeal to young people. It is a tragedy but cigarette smoking kills 2.5 million people every year.
Drug use in the world is increasing and more young people than ever are addicted. Drugs can be divided into three categories: hard, soft and legal. All three types can cause addiction, illness, or even death. Hard drugs include heroin, cocaine and the typical Czech drug “pervitin”. Drugs like marijuana, hashish, and solvents are considered to be soft drugs. Legal drugs include tobacco, alcohol, prescription and non-prescription medicines.
Drugs are one of the most serious problems facing today’s world. All other problems people have can lead to drug abuse. Some others might find their present life boring or maybe they want to gain the respect of their gang or are just curious.
Drugs are divided into two cateories:
1. Soft drugs – alcohol, marijuana, hash, glue, sedatives, and mushrooms.
2. Hard drugs – ectasy, speed (amphetamine), cocaine, opium, and heroin.
You can usually tell if someone is under the influence of drugs. Some symphtoms are red eyes, slow movements and small pupils. In addition, people under the influence of drugs often smile and giggle, talk incoherently, act tired or ahllucinate. The effect vary from making you tired to giving you lots of energy, from making you friendly to agressive etc.
RACISM
Racism is another serious problem that we have to cope with. Some people, racists, see themselves as a superior race and discriminate, prejudice or attack the one they consider worse. The victims of racism are more often dark-skin people than the white ones.
The worst level of racism is called „apartheid“. It appeared in South Africa in the 20th century and meant separated schools, separated travelling, separated parts of towns and general discrimination of black Southafricans. Even though the era of apartheid is over, we can still feel the remains.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment is what every country has problems with. It usually appears more in less developed areas of the country or where a large factory closed down. The least unemployment is in large cities where the companies always need employees. But they usually search for soemone with higher level of education, special abilities (working with computers, typing, knowledge of languages…) and specialization. The appliers with lack of edudcation this way lose a chance to work or to have a well-payed job. They often want a job which isn’t possible to manage for them and if they’re not empolyed, they complain. Another ones just took their diplomas and have no practise which is required from them. However, each country has special programmes for unemployed people to help them. They get benefits from the state.
Another thing is that there are many ilegal workers in every develoied country who are worse payed than average and they don’t complain(which is good for their employers). The state tries to empush this beacuse these jobs don’t require much education and would be solution for the less-educated ones.
We all know than although we live in developed and modern world, there are plenty of grave problems all over the world. Several of the weightiest and the best known: wars and terrorism, poverty, diseases, famine, population increase, the production and taking of illegal drugs but also legal (e.g. alcohol and cigarettes), racism, crime, counteracting of human rights, abuse children, conflicts of religions and so on. There are some of those problems explained more in detail.
FAMINE AND HUNGER
It is quite obvious that our world is going to be overcrowded. As a result, 2 billion people suffer from famine and every year many people die of hunger, mainly in the developing countries. One reason of this reality are the former colonial policies of The United Kingdom, France, Spain and other colonial states, which used colonies only as sources and did not support their economy. However, there are also great local problems, mainly in central Africa. There are conflicts among tribes that often finish like a bloody war.
Now developed states are trying to help to supply money for food and the basic needs of the people but I think the most important thing is that people from Africa and other poor states should realize that work is more important than war.
DISEASES
There are many diseases that give us trouble all over the world. We can divide them into many categories such as curable and terminal or infectious and hereditary and so on. Diseases are a big problem mainly in developing countries because there are not as good and available health services as in developed countries and it means disease like influenza, which is not difficult for us and we can cure it, is often terminal. But there are many really dangerous diseases (e.g.: AIDS, Leprosy, TBC, Malaria, Cancer, Cholera and so on). There is only one warranted way how to remain healthy. This way we call prevention. We should try to live a healthy way of life, which means we should have a good proportion of work to free time. We should practice sports, at least swim or go for walks, we should eat healthy food with lots of vitamins and we should not smoke or drink too much alcohol because it is true that prevention is better than a cure.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights are rights of everybody, which make us possible to live like a human. This idea has many social and political consequences. Human rights, because they rest on being human, are universal, equal and inalienable. They should be held for every person against the state and society. Human rights include e.g.: the universal right to vote, freedom of speech, right to education, right to nationality, right to creed of religion, right to work connect with the right for fair wages. This rights were described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was accepted on the 10th of December 1948 by the UN General Assembly.
HELP
There are lots of organizations (charity or benefaction), which try to help people who need it. Probably the most known organization all over the world is the Red Cross (the Red Croissant in Asia) but there are many other benefit organizations e.g.: Doctor Without Frontiers or Adra. A very known organization is also Amnesty International. It is a worldwide organization, independent of any government or political party. This organization tries to protect the observance of human rights. It fights mainly opposite the governments, which keep in prison men and women not because they have broken the law, but because of their ideas, color, language or religion. The organization tries to get fair and early trials by putting pressure on their governments to practise basic human rights.
Mass media
Media is something that influences our lives a lot, because all information that we get are usually from some sort of media. The thing is, that we can never know if this information is true (it doesn’t have to be a lie, just a little bit modified truth)
Usually we can guess the credibility of each source, no one can be hundred percent sure.
In this presentation I would like to mention the main types of media (such as the newspapers, TV or internet).
The print media (newspaper, magazines)
The press is the oldest way of distributing information. It history goes as far as 1455, when the print was founded by Johannes Gutenberg.
Press can be divided into several groups. Most common are newspapers, which are issued daily. In second group, there are magazines and they are issued weekly, monthly or in another period.
The Daily newspapers can be divided into two large groups. The first are the quality papers and the second are the tabloids. The only common thing for these newspapers is usually sport and the weather forecast.
• The quality papers are the more credible ones.
o These newspapers are mainly old, some with more than a hundred-year tradition.
o They contain political, industrial and cultural news and they devote pages to finance matters and international news.
o The articles are mostly long and they have not very large headlines.
o In the Czech Republic, the most important daily broad-sheets are Lidové Noviny, Mladá Fronta Dnes or Právo.
o In the UK: The Times, The Guardian or The Daily Telegraph belong to the quality papers.
• The tabloids are newer than the quality papers
o the most popular in our country is Blesk (British equivalent would be The Sun).
o They are printed on papers twice smaller than broadsheets and they use colours.
o Word ‘tabloid’ was originally a pharmaceutical term, used for substances which were compressed into pills. So tabloids try to say information in minimal words.
o They contain sensational stories about famous people. Sometimes they exaggerate a lot to just to make the story interesting. They are less informative and more emotional than quality papers and they use large headlines and many pictures.
o In our country we call tabloids “bulvár”- this derived from the French word “boulevard”, because at the beginning of the 19th century when this kind of newspaper began to spread, these newspapers were sold by news-boys in the street – in boulevards.
• The hoax, is some information that is not really true and is meant to confuse people’s opinion. It usually appears in the newspaper (both quality and tabloids) on the April’s Fools Day (1st April). The origin of the English word hoax is based on a hoax. Hoax derives from hocus, as in hocus pocus. Hocus pocus is not real Latin, it is imitation Latin, used by travelling illusionists and jugglers to make their tricks look real. In Czech we call this “the journalistic duck”. This derived from German expression NT, which is a shortcut that was written under articles that were hoax. It was a shortcut for non testatum= not verified. If you spell this NT in German, you get Ente, which is in German a duck.
Well I think that tabloids have changed the shape of credible information a lot, when you read a quality paper, it is very hard to determine if it is true or not, but in tabloids you can’t believe anything except the sport news and weather forecast. And celebrities have become more important due to this fact, because tabloids try to publish their scandals, shameful photos and any details from their lives. On one hand, it brings them an amount of popularity, but behaviour of paparazzi is sometimes unbelievably rude (we can mention the case of Lady Diana).
Magazines
Magazines are usually issued a week or a fortnight. Our oldest one is Květy (issued weekly) established by J. K. Tyl in 1804. They have been a very popular family magazine together with Vlasta magazine. Some magazines are for whole family, some are just for woman, they are about cosmetics and fashion, some are about famous people and their lives and some give you advice how to improve your household. There are also many magazines for teenagers where they can read about their popular singers and actors (with attached posters).
The broadcast media (
- radio stations, television stations)
Radio
The radio is the oldest media in broadcast media. In 1922 started the regular broadcasting of the BBC, and only a year later, on 13th May 1923, there was a first Czech radio station - Radiožurnál. The Czech word “rozhlas” is very young; it was created in 1924, when Radiožurnál announced a contest for a name how we should call the radio. It was first used in an article in Národní Listy Newspaper, until that day the word “radiožurnál” was used when talking about radio in general.
TV
The word derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele - far, and Latin vision, sight. Commercially is TV available since the late 1930s, it has become a common household equipment, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s, video recordings and later, digital playback systems such as DVDs, have enabled the television to be used to view recorded movies and other programs.
Usual broadcasting in TV isn’t restricted by censorship (except "programme with a star" after 10 p.m.). But I think that not every film or programme is suitable for viewers of all ages; I mean the children, of course. It should be parents who control the programmes which their children watch, but parents can not guard them night and day.
But it goes with our an instant lifestyle - children spend more time in front of TV and it influences them so much, that they often consider situations and lives shown in television as normal, so they become more violent.
But TV isn’t absolutely bad, it can educate us, give us new information, news and knowledge. Watching news in TV is a very good example on the differences of our broadcasting companies. Talking about the news, I usually watch the Czech TV, because I get more information that are interesting for me, but when the Czech TV extended the time for news (now it is like an hour long) I was disappointed, because the result of it is, that even though they said important information, they also need some crappy ones to fill the remaining time up. And due to this they got closer to Nova TV.
TV is a mass medium which is accessible to a big amount of people. This advantage is suitable for charity programmes or volunteer campaigns.
The Internet
The Internet has taken over advertising, commerce, sending messages. Only twenty years ago, the Internet was available only to programmers, college professors and military persons. But now the Internet is available to almost everyone. The Internet has created a whole new way of communicating, advertising, finding work, finding out about news. 20 years ago parents and teachers were concerned that children were losing the ability to write. E-mail has brought writing back as young people write to their parents and other friends on e-mail. It has taken over the radio station (you can listen to them online), it has taken over the post services (why should we use the snail mail, if we can send a message that will be delivered in few seconds?), over the printed newspaper (why should I buy them, if they are available on the web?). It is a very wide source of information, but this is maybe its disadvantage – the credibility of the information is only up to you.
Usually we can guess the credibility of each source, no one can be hundred percent sure.
In this presentation I would like to mention the main types of media (such as the newspapers, TV or internet).
The print media (newspaper, magazines)
The press is the oldest way of distributing information. It history goes as far as 1455, when the print was founded by Johannes Gutenberg.
Press can be divided into several groups. Most common are newspapers, which are issued daily. In second group, there are magazines and they are issued weekly, monthly or in another period.
The Daily newspapers can be divided into two large groups. The first are the quality papers and the second are the tabloids. The only common thing for these newspapers is usually sport and the weather forecast.
• The quality papers are the more credible ones.
o These newspapers are mainly old, some with more than a hundred-year tradition.
o They contain political, industrial and cultural news and they devote pages to finance matters and international news.
o The articles are mostly long and they have not very large headlines.
o In the Czech Republic, the most important daily broad-sheets are Lidové Noviny, Mladá Fronta Dnes or Právo.
o In the UK: The Times, The Guardian or The Daily Telegraph belong to the quality papers.
• The tabloids are newer than the quality papers
o the most popular in our country is Blesk (British equivalent would be The Sun).
o They are printed on papers twice smaller than broadsheets and they use colours.
o Word ‘tabloid’ was originally a pharmaceutical term, used for substances which were compressed into pills. So tabloids try to say information in minimal words.
o They contain sensational stories about famous people. Sometimes they exaggerate a lot to just to make the story interesting. They are less informative and more emotional than quality papers and they use large headlines and many pictures.
o In our country we call tabloids “bulvár”- this derived from the French word “boulevard”, because at the beginning of the 19th century when this kind of newspaper began to spread, these newspapers were sold by news-boys in the street – in boulevards.
• The hoax, is some information that is not really true and is meant to confuse people’s opinion. It usually appears in the newspaper (both quality and tabloids) on the April’s Fools Day (1st April). The origin of the English word hoax is based on a hoax. Hoax derives from hocus, as in hocus pocus. Hocus pocus is not real Latin, it is imitation Latin, used by travelling illusionists and jugglers to make their tricks look real. In Czech we call this “the journalistic duck”. This derived from German expression NT, which is a shortcut that was written under articles that were hoax. It was a shortcut for non testatum= not verified. If you spell this NT in German, you get Ente, which is in German a duck.
Well I think that tabloids have changed the shape of credible information a lot, when you read a quality paper, it is very hard to determine if it is true or not, but in tabloids you can’t believe anything except the sport news and weather forecast. And celebrities have become more important due to this fact, because tabloids try to publish their scandals, shameful photos and any details from their lives. On one hand, it brings them an amount of popularity, but behaviour of paparazzi is sometimes unbelievably rude (we can mention the case of Lady Diana).
Magazines
Magazines are usually issued a week or a fortnight. Our oldest one is Květy (issued weekly) established by J. K. Tyl in 1804. They have been a very popular family magazine together with Vlasta magazine. Some magazines are for whole family, some are just for woman, they are about cosmetics and fashion, some are about famous people and their lives and some give you advice how to improve your household. There are also many magazines for teenagers where they can read about their popular singers and actors (with attached posters).
The broadcast media (
- radio stations, television stations)
Radio
The radio is the oldest media in broadcast media. In 1922 started the regular broadcasting of the BBC, and only a year later, on 13th May 1923, there was a first Czech radio station - Radiožurnál. The Czech word “rozhlas” is very young; it was created in 1924, when Radiožurnál announced a contest for a name how we should call the radio. It was first used in an article in Národní Listy Newspaper, until that day the word “radiožurnál” was used when talking about radio in general.
TV
The word derived from mixed Latin and Greek roots, meaning "far sight": Greek tele - far, and Latin vision, sight. Commercially is TV available since the late 1930s, it has become a common household equipment, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s, video recordings and later, digital playback systems such as DVDs, have enabled the television to be used to view recorded movies and other programs.
Usual broadcasting in TV isn’t restricted by censorship (except "programme with a star" after 10 p.m.). But I think that not every film or programme is suitable for viewers of all ages; I mean the children, of course. It should be parents who control the programmes which their children watch, but parents can not guard them night and day.
But it goes with our an instant lifestyle - children spend more time in front of TV and it influences them so much, that they often consider situations and lives shown in television as normal, so they become more violent.
But TV isn’t absolutely bad, it can educate us, give us new information, news and knowledge. Watching news in TV is a very good example on the differences of our broadcasting companies. Talking about the news, I usually watch the Czech TV, because I get more information that are interesting for me, but when the Czech TV extended the time for news (now it is like an hour long) I was disappointed, because the result of it is, that even though they said important information, they also need some crappy ones to fill the remaining time up. And due to this they got closer to Nova TV.
TV is a mass medium which is accessible to a big amount of people. This advantage is suitable for charity programmes or volunteer campaigns.
The Internet
The Internet has taken over advertising, commerce, sending messages. Only twenty years ago, the Internet was available only to programmers, college professors and military persons. But now the Internet is available to almost everyone. The Internet has created a whole new way of communicating, advertising, finding work, finding out about news. 20 years ago parents and teachers were concerned that children were losing the ability to write. E-mail has brought writing back as young people write to their parents and other friends on e-mail. It has taken over the radio station (you can listen to them online), it has taken over the post services (why should we use the snail mail, if we can send a message that will be delivered in few seconds?), over the printed newspaper (why should I buy them, if they are available on the web?). It is a very wide source of information, but this is maybe its disadvantage – the credibility of the information is only up to you.
Food and gastronomy
Gastronomy is a term which means the art of food eating. Gastronomy includes the preparation of meals, dining, eating customs and everything related to food and drinks. Gastronomy – eating and drinking are some of the most important things that influence our health.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. Some say that a rich breakfast is the best way to start the day. Others prefer their breakfast to be healthy, light and easy to digest. The majority of people eat a breakfast that consist of bread, bread rolls and bagels, with butter, salami, ham, honey, cheese or jam. Instead of bread we can have something sweet – cakes, doughnuts or gingerbread. Those who prefer a healthy breakfast might have yoghurt with fresh fruit, muesli with milk etc. Many people accompany their meal with tea, warm or hot milk, coffee, hot chocolate or glass of juice.
10:00 a.m. is the usual time for a mid-morning snack. At this time it is good to eat something light and healthy, like fruit or vegetables.
At midday, it is lunchtime, usually the time for the main meal in our country. Most people go to a school, office or factory canteen, but some prefer going to a restaurant or having a fast lunch in a buffet or a snack bar or buying something at street stalls. Often lunch consists of soup a main course, something to drink and salad or a dessert.
Soups are either vegetable soups (tomato, potato, pea, bean, carrot, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef, chicken, and hen). Some people cook fruit soups (strawberry soup).
The main course is usually cooked meat, fish, poultry with side dishes of potatoes or rice, Czech dumplings, pasta or bread.
The dessert could be cake, ice cream, or fruit.
Snack at 4:00 p.m. – sandwiches or fruit cakes with tea or coffee.
The last meal of the day is dinner served between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. In many families the menu usually consists of another warm meal. But another possibility is a cold dinner it may be cheese, salami, ham, vegetables and bread.
Czech cuisine
Czechs, in general, like fatty meals with lard and flour. Our typical dish is roast pork, sauerkraut and dumplings, goulash with dumplings or roast sirloin of beef in cream sauce again with dumplings. Czechs often eat meat loaf and many kinds of smoked-meat products, the same as Germans. Wiener schnitzel, which is a pork steak, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried, is a popular dish as well. The typical Czech soup is tripe soup. Here are some more traditional Czech dishes: bread dumplings with bacon or dumplings filled with plums or stuffed pork ribs. Our traditional dishes are certainly attractive to foreign visitors and everyone should have the opportunity to taste them.
Sweets and cakes are typical of Czech cuisine as well. Most of them we can buy in normal shops, such as doughnuts, stuffed cakes, apple pies, marble cake, Christmas cakes or Easter cakes. The Czech food manufacturing industry can boast excellent Carlsbad Waffles or Pardubice gingerbread.
Typical Czech meals include: tripe soup, potato soup, "kulajda" soup (mushrooms and potatoes boiled in a little bit of sour cream soup), roasted pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, roasted goose and sauerkraut and dumplings, Wiener schnitzel with potato salad, roasted sirloin beef in sour cream sauce and Czech dumplings, Moravian sparrows (roasted fat pork offcuts), Spanish birds (rolled beef steak filled with salami, pickle, eggs and mustard), potato pancakes, fruit dumplings with cream, baked yeast dumplings, potato or "hairy" dumplings, fried cheese etc. Most meat is served with potatoes or dumplings. At present many families prefer to cook more vegetable meals, they become vegetarians or try some kind of foreign (Chinese) food.
Czech beer is famous all over the world for its taste and potency. Bohemian and Moravian wines are well known as well. The most popular spirit drink is "Slivovice", a plum brandy, but best of all is the herb-based drink, wonderfully aromatic "Becherovka"
British cuisine
The traditional perception of British cuisine is of overcooked vegetables, tasteless meat and a lot of grease, but British eating habits have changed over last thirty years.
Many families now prefer to eat out at restaurants or cafes or to buy take-away Chinese or Indian meals to eat at home.
Traditional English breakfast (sometimes called full or cooked) is quite rich and hot. You start with orange juice, then you have cereal (e.g. cornflakes with milk and sugar), fried eggs and tomato, bacon or sausages. Baked beans in tomato sauce are also popular nowadays. Then there is a crisp piece of toast with butter and marmalade (which is made from oranges), and tea with milk. Continental breakfast is much lighter. It starts with orange juice followed by a croissant (a French roll) with butter and jam, and coffee or tea. Sundays are reserved for their big cooked breakfast called BRUNCH - breakfast and lunch together.
Lunch is a midday meal. It is not the main meal of the day. It is very common to have something light - like sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, salad or pies. A sandwich consists of two slices of bread with different fillings in between and it usually has a triangular shape. (The origin of the word "sandwich" is interesting. An 18th century aristocrat, the Earl of Sandwich, loved playing cards. He used to play all day and night and hated to stop for his meals. So he thought of a way of putting meat between two slices of bread. In this way he could eat and play at the same time.) A pie can be sweet -e.g. apple pie or savoury - e.g. chicken pie. It is meat or vegetable or fruit baked in pastry. School children do not usually have their lunches at the school canteen. They bring packed lunch from their homes in special lunch boxes. You can find there: popular sandwiches, some fruit or vegetable, something sweet, some biscuits or a chocolate bar, a soft drink and a small packet of crisps (we use the American expression ,,chips" for them in our country). The most popular are those with salt and vinegar or cheese and onion. Only some children have a hot meal in the school canteen. Because it is big and hot, it is called a ,,school dinner".
Tea is Britain's favourite drink. People usually drink quite strong tea with milk. But tea is also a meal in the afternoon at around 5 o'clock. You can expect cucumber sandwiches and scones (plain cakes with jam and cream), or chocolate cakes.
Dinner is a hot evening meal and it is more filling. It can be served from 6 to 8 p.m. It is usually eaten when the whole family is together. It usually includes meat, sauce and green vegetables cooked in hot water. It may be also cold - depending on the time of the year. The English are fond of cakes and pies. They are a nation with a very "sweet tooth". Later at night, after a theatre or cinema performance, you can have your supper - something light like cheese and biscuits before you go to bed.
The original British fast food is ,,fish and chips". Many types of fish are sold (cod, plaice). It is a piece of fish fried in batter and served hot with chipped fried potatoes. People in Britain like chips with salt and vinegar.
British people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in February or March. In some parts of Britain there are pancakes races on Shrove Tuesday. People race with a frying pan in one hand. They have to '"toss" the pancake, throw it in the air and catch it again in the frying pan.
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - it is the traditional Sunday lunch from Yorkshire in the north of England. It is popular all over Britain now. Yorkshire pudding is not sweet. It is a mixture of eggs, flour and milk.
Some people make Christmas pudding months before Christmas. A lot of families have their own Christmas pudding recipe. Some, for example, use a lot of brandy. Others put in a lot of fruit or add a silver coin for good luck. Real Christmas puddings always have a piece of holly on the top. Holly bushes and trees have red berries at Christmas time, and so people use holly to decorate their houses for Christmas. The holly on the pudding is a part of the decoration. Also, you can pour brandy over your pudding and light it with a match.
Cuisine of the USA
When most people think of American cuisine, the first meal that comes to mind is hamburgers, French fries, and Coca-Cola. Thanks to the spreading of American fast food restaurants around the world, these meals have gained international popularity. The Americans call fast food restaurants "cheapies". These places -McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Mrs. Winner's usually offer beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, tea, coffee, milkshakes ...), and some solid food like roast chicken and chips, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, salads or desserts (apple, cherry pie). You can put pickles, mustard, ketchup, onions or tomatoes on your hamburger, too.
Another typical feature of American lifestyle is popcorn. You can buy it when walking along the streets. Various kinds of popcorn are sold - either sweet with sugar and other flavors, or cooked with salt.
However, the American diet is much more rich and diverse than the standard fast food menu would lead you to believe.
Original American food dates to the pre-Columbian era when indigenous people ate meals of corn, squash, pumpkin, and turkey. Today, these foods remain a regular part of the American diet and are especially celebrated at the Thanksgiving celebration in November. On Thanksgiving Day, American families gather together to share the national meat of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.
The arrival of immigrants throughout the centuries has expanded American cuisine to include a wide array of international dishes and tastes. Today, ethnic foods are very popular and the weekly menu of a typical American family may include pizza (Italian), Tacos or burritos (Mexican), stir fry (Chinese), and American steak and potatoes.
The Americans across the continent share a love of sweet desserts. The favourite American dessert is fruit pie served with vanilla ice cream. The Americans enjoy peach pie, blackberry pie, chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie. Apple pie, however, is considered the mist typical American dessert. A common saying in the US is , "It is as American as apple pie."
As many Americans, both men and women, work long hours outside the home, convenient processed and frozen foods have become a staple of the diet. TV dinners are common among many families. These complete frozen meals include a main dish, cooked vegetables and dessert and they can be bought ready-made at the supermarket. Heated up in the microwave, TV dinners provide an instant meal to be eaten while watching TV.
Take-out food from restaurants is also popular. After work, the Americans often stop by a restaurant to pick up Chinese food, deli sandwiches, fried chicken, ribs, or fish and chips to bring home and eat with their family at the dining table. Another alternative is home delivered pizza. The Americans regularly phone the local pizza parlour to place an order, and within a half an hour, a fresh pizza is delivered to their house.
In addition, the Americans enjoy snacks throughout the day. Doughnuts, sweet rolls, and muffins are eaten during the morning hours, along with the newly favourite Jewish bagels. Later in the day, the Americans like to munch on popcorn, cookies, or potato chips.
Breakfasts are usually quick and easy meals eaten before school or work. Many people have a bowl of cereals and milk as a quick start to the day. Others may have toast spread with butter or jam and a glass of juice or milk. Most Americans begin their day with a cup of coffee. A common saying is, "Don't talk to me until I've had my cup of coffee," because coffee gives people the boost they need to participate in the fast working world.
At the weekends, when people have more time, families prepare a heavy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, egg omelettes, or pancakes with maple syrup. On Sundays, families often enjoy going out to restaurants for a large brunch (served between breakfast and lunch, hence the name - BRUNCH) served with champagne.
Lunch is also commonly a simple light meal. Sandwiches are a favourite lunch meal - easy to make at home and bring to work or school in a paper bag. Tuna, salami, cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are eaten with a piece of fruit, some potato chips or crackers, and a bottle of juice or soda. Many schools and workplaces have a cafeteria serving lunch. Some people like to eat out at a restaurant for lunch.
Dinner is the large hot meal of the day served between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. The Americans like to eat a complete meal at dinner that includes a main meat or vegetarian dish, salad, cooked vegetables, and potatoes, pasta, or rice.
The Americans drink juice, water, or wine with dinner. Children usually have a glass of milk. Beef and pork used to be the most popular meat dishes served at dinner. However, as the Americans are becoming more health conscious, they often prefer white meat such as chicken and fish and try to avoid eating red meat.
A favorite pastime on summer weekends is to grill meat with family and friends in the backyard, at the park, or on the beach. These events are called barbecues and the grilled meat is served with fresh salad, garlic bread, beer or lemonade.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. Some say that a rich breakfast is the best way to start the day. Others prefer their breakfast to be healthy, light and easy to digest. The majority of people eat a breakfast that consist of bread, bread rolls and bagels, with butter, salami, ham, honey, cheese or jam. Instead of bread we can have something sweet – cakes, doughnuts or gingerbread. Those who prefer a healthy breakfast might have yoghurt with fresh fruit, muesli with milk etc. Many people accompany their meal with tea, warm or hot milk, coffee, hot chocolate or glass of juice.
10:00 a.m. is the usual time for a mid-morning snack. At this time it is good to eat something light and healthy, like fruit or vegetables.
At midday, it is lunchtime, usually the time for the main meal in our country. Most people go to a school, office or factory canteen, but some prefer going to a restaurant or having a fast lunch in a buffet or a snack bar or buying something at street stalls. Often lunch consists of soup a main course, something to drink and salad or a dessert.
Soups are either vegetable soups (tomato, potato, pea, bean, carrot, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef, chicken, and hen). Some people cook fruit soups (strawberry soup).
The main course is usually cooked meat, fish, poultry with side dishes of potatoes or rice, Czech dumplings, pasta or bread.
The dessert could be cake, ice cream, or fruit.
Snack at 4:00 p.m. – sandwiches or fruit cakes with tea or coffee.
The last meal of the day is dinner served between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. In many families the menu usually consists of another warm meal. But another possibility is a cold dinner it may be cheese, salami, ham, vegetables and bread.
Czech cuisine
Czechs, in general, like fatty meals with lard and flour. Our typical dish is roast pork, sauerkraut and dumplings, goulash with dumplings or roast sirloin of beef in cream sauce again with dumplings. Czechs often eat meat loaf and many kinds of smoked-meat products, the same as Germans. Wiener schnitzel, which is a pork steak, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried, is a popular dish as well. The typical Czech soup is tripe soup. Here are some more traditional Czech dishes: bread dumplings with bacon or dumplings filled with plums or stuffed pork ribs. Our traditional dishes are certainly attractive to foreign visitors and everyone should have the opportunity to taste them.
Sweets and cakes are typical of Czech cuisine as well. Most of them we can buy in normal shops, such as doughnuts, stuffed cakes, apple pies, marble cake, Christmas cakes or Easter cakes. The Czech food manufacturing industry can boast excellent Carlsbad Waffles or Pardubice gingerbread.
Typical Czech meals include: tripe soup, potato soup, "kulajda" soup (mushrooms and potatoes boiled in a little bit of sour cream soup), roasted pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, roasted goose and sauerkraut and dumplings, Wiener schnitzel with potato salad, roasted sirloin beef in sour cream sauce and Czech dumplings, Moravian sparrows (roasted fat pork offcuts), Spanish birds (rolled beef steak filled with salami, pickle, eggs and mustard), potato pancakes, fruit dumplings with cream, baked yeast dumplings, potato or "hairy" dumplings, fried cheese etc. Most meat is served with potatoes or dumplings. At present many families prefer to cook more vegetable meals, they become vegetarians or try some kind of foreign (Chinese) food.
Czech beer is famous all over the world for its taste and potency. Bohemian and Moravian wines are well known as well. The most popular spirit drink is "Slivovice", a plum brandy, but best of all is the herb-based drink, wonderfully aromatic "Becherovka"
British cuisine
The traditional perception of British cuisine is of overcooked vegetables, tasteless meat and a lot of grease, but British eating habits have changed over last thirty years.
Many families now prefer to eat out at restaurants or cafes or to buy take-away Chinese or Indian meals to eat at home.
Traditional English breakfast (sometimes called full or cooked) is quite rich and hot. You start with orange juice, then you have cereal (e.g. cornflakes with milk and sugar), fried eggs and tomato, bacon or sausages. Baked beans in tomato sauce are also popular nowadays. Then there is a crisp piece of toast with butter and marmalade (which is made from oranges), and tea with milk. Continental breakfast is much lighter. It starts with orange juice followed by a croissant (a French roll) with butter and jam, and coffee or tea. Sundays are reserved for their big cooked breakfast called BRUNCH - breakfast and lunch together.
Lunch is a midday meal. It is not the main meal of the day. It is very common to have something light - like sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, salad or pies. A sandwich consists of two slices of bread with different fillings in between and it usually has a triangular shape. (The origin of the word "sandwich" is interesting. An 18th century aristocrat, the Earl of Sandwich, loved playing cards. He used to play all day and night and hated to stop for his meals. So he thought of a way of putting meat between two slices of bread. In this way he could eat and play at the same time.) A pie can be sweet -e.g. apple pie or savoury - e.g. chicken pie. It is meat or vegetable or fruit baked in pastry. School children do not usually have their lunches at the school canteen. They bring packed lunch from their homes in special lunch boxes. You can find there: popular sandwiches, some fruit or vegetable, something sweet, some biscuits or a chocolate bar, a soft drink and a small packet of crisps (we use the American expression ,,chips" for them in our country). The most popular are those with salt and vinegar or cheese and onion. Only some children have a hot meal in the school canteen. Because it is big and hot, it is called a ,,school dinner".
Tea is Britain's favourite drink. People usually drink quite strong tea with milk. But tea is also a meal in the afternoon at around 5 o'clock. You can expect cucumber sandwiches and scones (plain cakes with jam and cream), or chocolate cakes.
Dinner is a hot evening meal and it is more filling. It can be served from 6 to 8 p.m. It is usually eaten when the whole family is together. It usually includes meat, sauce and green vegetables cooked in hot water. It may be also cold - depending on the time of the year. The English are fond of cakes and pies. They are a nation with a very "sweet tooth". Later at night, after a theatre or cinema performance, you can have your supper - something light like cheese and biscuits before you go to bed.
The original British fast food is ,,fish and chips". Many types of fish are sold (cod, plaice). It is a piece of fish fried in batter and served hot with chipped fried potatoes. People in Britain like chips with salt and vinegar.
British people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in February or March. In some parts of Britain there are pancakes races on Shrove Tuesday. People race with a frying pan in one hand. They have to '"toss" the pancake, throw it in the air and catch it again in the frying pan.
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - it is the traditional Sunday lunch from Yorkshire in the north of England. It is popular all over Britain now. Yorkshire pudding is not sweet. It is a mixture of eggs, flour and milk.
Some people make Christmas pudding months before Christmas. A lot of families have their own Christmas pudding recipe. Some, for example, use a lot of brandy. Others put in a lot of fruit or add a silver coin for good luck. Real Christmas puddings always have a piece of holly on the top. Holly bushes and trees have red berries at Christmas time, and so people use holly to decorate their houses for Christmas. The holly on the pudding is a part of the decoration. Also, you can pour brandy over your pudding and light it with a match.
Cuisine of the USA
When most people think of American cuisine, the first meal that comes to mind is hamburgers, French fries, and Coca-Cola. Thanks to the spreading of American fast food restaurants around the world, these meals have gained international popularity. The Americans call fast food restaurants "cheapies". These places -McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Mrs. Winner's usually offer beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, tea, coffee, milkshakes ...), and some solid food like roast chicken and chips, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, salads or desserts (apple, cherry pie). You can put pickles, mustard, ketchup, onions or tomatoes on your hamburger, too.
Another typical feature of American lifestyle is popcorn. You can buy it when walking along the streets. Various kinds of popcorn are sold - either sweet with sugar and other flavors, or cooked with salt.
However, the American diet is much more rich and diverse than the standard fast food menu would lead you to believe.
Original American food dates to the pre-Columbian era when indigenous people ate meals of corn, squash, pumpkin, and turkey. Today, these foods remain a regular part of the American diet and are especially celebrated at the Thanksgiving celebration in November. On Thanksgiving Day, American families gather together to share the national meat of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.
The arrival of immigrants throughout the centuries has expanded American cuisine to include a wide array of international dishes and tastes. Today, ethnic foods are very popular and the weekly menu of a typical American family may include pizza (Italian), Tacos or burritos (Mexican), stir fry (Chinese), and American steak and potatoes.
The Americans across the continent share a love of sweet desserts. The favourite American dessert is fruit pie served with vanilla ice cream. The Americans enjoy peach pie, blackberry pie, chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie. Apple pie, however, is considered the mist typical American dessert. A common saying in the US is , "It is as American as apple pie."
As many Americans, both men and women, work long hours outside the home, convenient processed and frozen foods have become a staple of the diet. TV dinners are common among many families. These complete frozen meals include a main dish, cooked vegetables and dessert and they can be bought ready-made at the supermarket. Heated up in the microwave, TV dinners provide an instant meal to be eaten while watching TV.
Take-out food from restaurants is also popular. After work, the Americans often stop by a restaurant to pick up Chinese food, deli sandwiches, fried chicken, ribs, or fish and chips to bring home and eat with their family at the dining table. Another alternative is home delivered pizza. The Americans regularly phone the local pizza parlour to place an order, and within a half an hour, a fresh pizza is delivered to their house.
In addition, the Americans enjoy snacks throughout the day. Doughnuts, sweet rolls, and muffins are eaten during the morning hours, along with the newly favourite Jewish bagels. Later in the day, the Americans like to munch on popcorn, cookies, or potato chips.
Breakfasts are usually quick and easy meals eaten before school or work. Many people have a bowl of cereals and milk as a quick start to the day. Others may have toast spread with butter or jam and a glass of juice or milk. Most Americans begin their day with a cup of coffee. A common saying is, "Don't talk to me until I've had my cup of coffee," because coffee gives people the boost they need to participate in the fast working world.
At the weekends, when people have more time, families prepare a heavy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, egg omelettes, or pancakes with maple syrup. On Sundays, families often enjoy going out to restaurants for a large brunch (served between breakfast and lunch, hence the name - BRUNCH) served with champagne.
Lunch is also commonly a simple light meal. Sandwiches are a favourite lunch meal - easy to make at home and bring to work or school in a paper bag. Tuna, salami, cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are eaten with a piece of fruit, some potato chips or crackers, and a bottle of juice or soda. Many schools and workplaces have a cafeteria serving lunch. Some people like to eat out at a restaurant for lunch.
Dinner is the large hot meal of the day served between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. The Americans like to eat a complete meal at dinner that includes a main meat or vegetarian dish, salad, cooked vegetables, and potatoes, pasta, or rice.
The Americans drink juice, water, or wine with dinner. Children usually have a glass of milk. Beef and pork used to be the most popular meat dishes served at dinner. However, as the Americans are becoming more health conscious, they often prefer white meat such as chicken and fish and try to avoid eating red meat.
A favorite pastime on summer weekends is to grill meat with family and friends in the backyard, at the park, or on the beach. These events are called barbecues and the grilled meat is served with fresh salad, garlic bread, beer or lemonade.
Literature, my attitude to reading, my favorite book
Literature
Literature is almost always influenced by historical, political or social features of the period. As time went by, literature reflected the opinions and ideas people had and the situations they were in (e.g. invasions by other nations, war, social pressure and injustice, moral degradation, lack of opportunities and uncertain future). These and many more concepts are regular themes appearing in English as well as American fiction.
There are many different genres of literature. Basically we can divide literature into poetry, prose and drama.
• Poetry
o is usually written in verses and it expresses the author's feelings, their interpretation often depends on the reader
o poetry is a way of outlet for sensitive emotional people who want to express their feelings; people often write or read poetry when they are in love
o People read poems to dream, to imagine and to think about their feelings.
• Non-fiction
o is literature of fact;
o e.g. biography or autobiography, travel books, history books, diaries, textbooks, memoirs, etc.
• Fiction
o is an invented story made up by the author's imagination,
o e.g. novels, tales, romances, novellas, short stories, whodunits, adventure stories, spy stories, thrillers, police novels, suspense stories, etc.
• Novel
o is a type of fiction containing interesting stories with a lot of characters and complex actions; novels either end in the way you expected them to or the writer may play tricks on you and will surprisingly change the end
o it has mostly more than one main feature, but it is not compulsory; the main character is often an outlaw.
Children in general like fairy tales and stories, fables, children's rhymes and later juvenile literature.
My attitude to reading
I love reading very much. Books are my great passion. I have already read a lot of books but I can’t tell how many exactly.
When I was younger and had more free time I was reading almost all the time and everywhere. I wouldn’t have fallen asleep without reading. My mum buys me a lot of books and I also borrow books in the library. Now before the graduation exam I have less time for reading but I try to read every free moment.
I can’t tell which book and writer is my favorite. When I was very young I liked of course the fairy-tales. When I visited maybe the forth class I loved the books by Jaroslav Foglar. I loved the stories about the fast arrows and other brave, friendly and fair boys. When I was older I took pleasure in the sci-fi and fantasy stories. I liked the books by Tolkien, Sapkowski, Prattchet and others. They were my favorite writers for a long time. I read almost all their books. Recently I have been keen on thrillers. I like when I am being frightened. For example, Stephan King is awesome. Now I read only exercise-books, because I have to learn very much. As I said I haven’t any favorite writer at present and so I have chosen the book that I read as last and it is Stephen King – The Long Walk. I read this book every time, when I am in stress.
The long way
One hundred teenager boys participate in a walking contest called "The Long Walk." Each Walker must maintain a speed of at least four miles per hour; if he drops below this speed for a total of 30 seconds he receives a verbal warning. Walkers can eliminate a warning by walking for an hour without being warned. If, however, a Walker with three warnings slows down again, he is shot to death. A Walker with no warnings who begins to slow down has a total of two minutes before being killed. However, Walkers may be shot immediately for certain serious violations, such as trying to leave the road or attacking the halftrack. The halftracks use electronic equipment to determine a Walker's speed. .
The Walk begins every year at 9:00 AM on April 30 at the Maine/Canada border and continues down the eastern coast of the United States until the winner is determined. There are no stops, rest periods, or established finish line during a Long Walk, which does not pause for any reason (including bad weather or darkness); the event only ends when one Walker is left alive. They may request a water canteen at any time, and food concentrates are distributed each day of the Walk at 9:00 am.
The winner receives "The Prize": anything he wants for the rest of his life.
The main character of the novel is Ray Garraty, a 16-year-old boy. Garraty becomes closest to Peter McVries, another boy form the Walk.
After five days and hundreds of miles, the Walk eventually comes down to Garraty and Stebbins. At the end of the book, Garraty decides to give up. Garraty catches up with Stebbins to tell him this, but before he can speak, Stebbins grabs his shirt, says "Oh, Garraty!", collapses and dies - Garraty is declared the winner.
Garraty sees a jeep coming towards him, coming to award him the victory. Garraty walks past the jeep towards a hallucination of a dark figure, not far ahead, Garraty somehow finds the strength to run. This is the end of the story.
Literature is almost always influenced by historical, political or social features of the period. As time went by, literature reflected the opinions and ideas people had and the situations they were in (e.g. invasions by other nations, war, social pressure and injustice, moral degradation, lack of opportunities and uncertain future). These and many more concepts are regular themes appearing in English as well as American fiction.
There are many different genres of literature. Basically we can divide literature into poetry, prose and drama.
• Poetry
o is usually written in verses and it expresses the author's feelings, their interpretation often depends on the reader
o poetry is a way of outlet for sensitive emotional people who want to express their feelings; people often write or read poetry when they are in love
o People read poems to dream, to imagine and to think about their feelings.
• Non-fiction
o is literature of fact;
o e.g. biography or autobiography, travel books, history books, diaries, textbooks, memoirs, etc.
• Fiction
o is an invented story made up by the author's imagination,
o e.g. novels, tales, romances, novellas, short stories, whodunits, adventure stories, spy stories, thrillers, police novels, suspense stories, etc.
• Novel
o is a type of fiction containing interesting stories with a lot of characters and complex actions; novels either end in the way you expected them to or the writer may play tricks on you and will surprisingly change the end
o it has mostly more than one main feature, but it is not compulsory; the main character is often an outlaw.
Children in general like fairy tales and stories, fables, children's rhymes and later juvenile literature.
My attitude to reading
I love reading very much. Books are my great passion. I have already read a lot of books but I can’t tell how many exactly.
When I was younger and had more free time I was reading almost all the time and everywhere. I wouldn’t have fallen asleep without reading. My mum buys me a lot of books and I also borrow books in the library. Now before the graduation exam I have less time for reading but I try to read every free moment.
I can’t tell which book and writer is my favorite. When I was very young I liked of course the fairy-tales. When I visited maybe the forth class I loved the books by Jaroslav Foglar. I loved the stories about the fast arrows and other brave, friendly and fair boys. When I was older I took pleasure in the sci-fi and fantasy stories. I liked the books by Tolkien, Sapkowski, Prattchet and others. They were my favorite writers for a long time. I read almost all their books. Recently I have been keen on thrillers. I like when I am being frightened. For example, Stephan King is awesome. Now I read only exercise-books, because I have to learn very much. As I said I haven’t any favorite writer at present and so I have chosen the book that I read as last and it is Stephen King – The Long Walk. I read this book every time, when I am in stress.
The long way
One hundred teenager boys participate in a walking contest called "The Long Walk." Each Walker must maintain a speed of at least four miles per hour; if he drops below this speed for a total of 30 seconds he receives a verbal warning. Walkers can eliminate a warning by walking for an hour without being warned. If, however, a Walker with three warnings slows down again, he is shot to death. A Walker with no warnings who begins to slow down has a total of two minutes before being killed. However, Walkers may be shot immediately for certain serious violations, such as trying to leave the road or attacking the halftrack. The halftracks use electronic equipment to determine a Walker's speed. .
The Walk begins every year at 9:00 AM on April 30 at the Maine/Canada border and continues down the eastern coast of the United States until the winner is determined. There are no stops, rest periods, or established finish line during a Long Walk, which does not pause for any reason (including bad weather or darkness); the event only ends when one Walker is left alive. They may request a water canteen at any time, and food concentrates are distributed each day of the Walk at 9:00 am.
The winner receives "The Prize": anything he wants for the rest of his life.
The main character of the novel is Ray Garraty, a 16-year-old boy. Garraty becomes closest to Peter McVries, another boy form the Walk.
After five days and hundreds of miles, the Walk eventually comes down to Garraty and Stebbins. At the end of the book, Garraty decides to give up. Garraty catches up with Stebbins to tell him this, but before he can speak, Stebbins grabs his shirt, says "Oh, Garraty!", collapses and dies - Garraty is declared the winner.
Garraty sees a jeep coming towards him, coming to award him the victory. Garraty walks past the jeep towards a hallucination of a dark figure, not far ahead, Garraty somehow finds the strength to run. This is the end of the story.
Education in USA/UK and in the Czech Republic
Education in the United Kingdom
• There are separate education systems in England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• Each education system is generally divided into four stages:
o primary education 5-11
o secondary education 11-16
o further education 16-18
o higher education 18-25/28
• Two basic types of education
o State schools (no tuition fees are obliged)
o Public (independent) schools
• Full time education in the United Kingdom is compulsory between the age of 5 and 15) (18 in England)
• Most children in the UK begin their primary education at the age of 5
• Primary education: is divided into infant schools (between ages 5- 7), where children generally take part in games and learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic
• From the age of 7 to 11 children attend junior schools.
o Here a great deal of time is spent on doing informal work, especially art and handicrafts. The workload in academic subjects then gradually becomes more formal
• Secondary education is provided by the following types of schools:
o grammar schools
o secondary modern schools
o secondary technical schools
o comprehensive schools
• Between ages 14 and 15 pupils study for their GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education)
• At the age of 16 pupils can either leave school or stay for another two years and prepare for GCEs (General Certificate of Education) examinations at Advanced levels (A -levels).
o These are used as entrance qualifications for university, other types of higher education, or for many forms of professional training.
• Many students decide to leave school at the age of 16 and go to a Further Education (FE) College.
• Higher education in Britain involves taking a full-lime course or an equivalent of it at a university, an institute of polytechnics or a college of higher education (these include teacher training colleges).
o Candidates are accepted on the basis of their A-level results.
o Universities and institutes of polytechnics normally award degrees to their successful students.
o The most common undergraduate titles are
BA (Bachelor of Arts).
BSc (Bachelor of Science),
MSc (Master of Science)
MA (Master of Arts)
PhD or DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy any subject)
Education in the United States
• Every tenth American teenager attends a private high school, which are mostly religious.
• After graduation from a high school, Americans get a High school diploma and 34% of them continue their education at universities and colleges.
• You have to study 4 years to get Bachelor’s Degree – either in humanities (B.A.) or science (B.S.)
• If you stay at the university, you can get a Master’s Degree. An American university education can be very expensive as the students have to pay the tuition fees. That’s why they usually have a part – time job and/or are offered government loans.
• The best students may receive a scholarship.
• American universities are set in campuses, formed by buildings and green areas.
• Some American universities are famous all over the world and are very selective. The most outstanding belong to so called Ivy League, e.g. Yale (in Connecticut), Harvard (in Massachusetts) , Columbia, Princeton or Pennsylvania
Czech Republic
• School attendance in the Czech Republic is compulsory from the age from 6 to 15
• Most children attend state school, but there are also newly established private and crouch schools.
• Education at state schools up to 18 is free of charge out students at secondary schools must pay for their textbooks Private and church schools charge school fees.
• Children in our school system do not wear uniforms.
• The school year starts on 1st September and ends on 30th June of the following year.
• The school year is divided into two terms (September - January. February - June). A school day is different at different types of schools.
• The average number of lessons at a secondary school is around thirty a week primary schools have fewer lessons, while specialized schools often have more
• Classes begin between 8 and 8:15 and there are from 4 to 6 lessons in a row, followed by a lunch break. Usually 45 minutes long, and then afternoon classes. Afternoon classes end between 4 and 5 at the latest.
• Breaks between the lessons last from 5 to 15 minutes.
• Pupils and students are evaluated by marks from 1 to 5, 1 is the best, 5 is the worst.
• Education in our country includes these stages :
o pre-school
o primary
o secondary
o tertiary.
• Pre-school education
o provided by creches for children up to 3 years of age
o nursery schools for children aged 3 to 6.
o Not many children attend creches but quite a lot of them attend kindergartens.
• Primary schools
o At 6 children start to go to primary schools and they stay there until 15. At the age of 15 the pupils transfer from primary to secondary school.
o Some pupils, whose parents wish then to, can transfer to grammar schools at the age of 11 after they have passed an entrance examination
• At the age of 15 pupils can choose among a variety of secondary schools.
o grammar schools with general and rather academic education which prepare students for university study
o special schools which include technical colleges, specialized in building, chemistry, engineering etc., business academies, agricultural schools, nursing schools, music and an schools which offer professional education
o vocational schools training would-be workers for practical jobs.
• Secondary education
o Usually lasts for 4 years and at grammar and specialized schools it is finished with a school-leaving examination which is required by all universities and colleges.
o This examination is taken in four subjects at grammar schools (Czech, a foreign language and two optional subjects chosen from foreign languages, science subjects or humanities) and in Five or more subjects at specialized schools.
o The examination is held in May and is mostly oral except Czech in which an essay is written about a month before.
o After the graduates have passed their school-leaving exam they receive the School-Lea-, ing Certificate and they can apply for study at universities and colleges.
• Universities and colleges provide tertiary education which lasts from 4 to 6 years. Each secondary school graduate can apply for as many universities and colleges as he /she likes but before he/she is accepted they have to pass an entrance examination in the subjects in which the university specializes. The examination consists of a written test and an interview.
• The university or college students can enroll at three-year courses for a Bachelor's Degree or four and five-year courses for a Master's Degree.
• Medicine usually takes 6 years
• The university or college study is finished with a state examination and every undergraduate also has to write a thesis in order to receive a diploma in a certain field of study. The diploma is handed over at a graduation ceremony.
• Doctoral Degrees are awarded after another few years of study, which may be also individual, and completion of another thesis.
• There are separate education systems in England. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
• Each education system is generally divided into four stages:
o primary education 5-11
o secondary education 11-16
o further education 16-18
o higher education 18-25/28
• Two basic types of education
o State schools (no tuition fees are obliged)
o Public (independent) schools
• Full time education in the United Kingdom is compulsory between the age of 5 and 15) (18 in England)
• Most children in the UK begin their primary education at the age of 5
• Primary education: is divided into infant schools (between ages 5- 7), where children generally take part in games and learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic
• From the age of 7 to 11 children attend junior schools.
o Here a great deal of time is spent on doing informal work, especially art and handicrafts. The workload in academic subjects then gradually becomes more formal
• Secondary education is provided by the following types of schools:
o grammar schools
o secondary modern schools
o secondary technical schools
o comprehensive schools
• Between ages 14 and 15 pupils study for their GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education)
• At the age of 16 pupils can either leave school or stay for another two years and prepare for GCEs (General Certificate of Education) examinations at Advanced levels (A -levels).
o These are used as entrance qualifications for university, other types of higher education, or for many forms of professional training.
• Many students decide to leave school at the age of 16 and go to a Further Education (FE) College.
• Higher education in Britain involves taking a full-lime course or an equivalent of it at a university, an institute of polytechnics or a college of higher education (these include teacher training colleges).
o Candidates are accepted on the basis of their A-level results.
o Universities and institutes of polytechnics normally award degrees to their successful students.
o The most common undergraduate titles are
BA (Bachelor of Arts).
BSc (Bachelor of Science),
MSc (Master of Science)
MA (Master of Arts)
PhD or DPhil (Doctor of Philosophy any subject)
Education in the United States
• Every tenth American teenager attends a private high school, which are mostly religious.
• After graduation from a high school, Americans get a High school diploma and 34% of them continue their education at universities and colleges.
• You have to study 4 years to get Bachelor’s Degree – either in humanities (B.A.) or science (B.S.)
• If you stay at the university, you can get a Master’s Degree. An American university education can be very expensive as the students have to pay the tuition fees. That’s why they usually have a part – time job and/or are offered government loans.
• The best students may receive a scholarship.
• American universities are set in campuses, formed by buildings and green areas.
• Some American universities are famous all over the world and are very selective. The most outstanding belong to so called Ivy League, e.g. Yale (in Connecticut), Harvard (in Massachusetts) , Columbia, Princeton or Pennsylvania
Czech Republic
• School attendance in the Czech Republic is compulsory from the age from 6 to 15
• Most children attend state school, but there are also newly established private and crouch schools.
• Education at state schools up to 18 is free of charge out students at secondary schools must pay for their textbooks Private and church schools charge school fees.
• Children in our school system do not wear uniforms.
• The school year starts on 1st September and ends on 30th June of the following year.
• The school year is divided into two terms (September - January. February - June). A school day is different at different types of schools.
• The average number of lessons at a secondary school is around thirty a week primary schools have fewer lessons, while specialized schools often have more
• Classes begin between 8 and 8:15 and there are from 4 to 6 lessons in a row, followed by a lunch break. Usually 45 minutes long, and then afternoon classes. Afternoon classes end between 4 and 5 at the latest.
• Breaks between the lessons last from 5 to 15 minutes.
• Pupils and students are evaluated by marks from 1 to 5, 1 is the best, 5 is the worst.
• Education in our country includes these stages :
o pre-school
o primary
o secondary
o tertiary.
• Pre-school education
o provided by creches for children up to 3 years of age
o nursery schools for children aged 3 to 6.
o Not many children attend creches but quite a lot of them attend kindergartens.
• Primary schools
o At 6 children start to go to primary schools and they stay there until 15. At the age of 15 the pupils transfer from primary to secondary school.
o Some pupils, whose parents wish then to, can transfer to grammar schools at the age of 11 after they have passed an entrance examination
• At the age of 15 pupils can choose among a variety of secondary schools.
o grammar schools with general and rather academic education which prepare students for university study
o special schools which include technical colleges, specialized in building, chemistry, engineering etc., business academies, agricultural schools, nursing schools, music and an schools which offer professional education
o vocational schools training would-be workers for practical jobs.
• Secondary education
o Usually lasts for 4 years and at grammar and specialized schools it is finished with a school-leaving examination which is required by all universities and colleges.
o This examination is taken in four subjects at grammar schools (Czech, a foreign language and two optional subjects chosen from foreign languages, science subjects or humanities) and in Five or more subjects at specialized schools.
o The examination is held in May and is mostly oral except Czech in which an essay is written about a month before.
o After the graduates have passed their school-leaving exam they receive the School-Lea-, ing Certificate and they can apply for study at universities and colleges.
• Universities and colleges provide tertiary education which lasts from 4 to 6 years. Each secondary school graduate can apply for as many universities and colleges as he /she likes but before he/she is accepted they have to pass an entrance examination in the subjects in which the university specializes. The examination consists of a written test and an interview.
• The university or college students can enroll at three-year courses for a Bachelor's Degree or four and five-year courses for a Master's Degree.
• Medicine usually takes 6 years
• The university or college study is finished with a state examination and every undergraduate also has to write a thesis in order to receive a diploma in a certain field of study. The diploma is handed over at a graduation ceremony.
• Doctoral Degrees are awarded after another few years of study, which may be also individual, and completion of another thesis.
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