Lectures on Britain - 1 (Lectures on Britain)

LECTURE № 1The course is called “The Linguistic culture” and is mostly devoted to theEnglish Language. The English language nowadays comprises (охватывает) avery large number of people across the globe. Nearly one quarter of the world’spopulation, or between 1.2 and 1.5 billion people, are already fluent or competentin English. The British Council estimates that about 375 million people speakEnglish as the first language, another 375 million speak it regularly as the secondlanguage, and about 750 million more people speak English as a foreign language.Today, English is considered the universal language for business, internationalcommunications, entertainment, tourism, trade and technology.

The majority of allresources on the internet are in English, affecting people to learn English to takefull advantage of it. Above all, learning English is important for being able toexchange views and make friends with people all over the world. English has anofficial or special status in more than 70 countries. In Great Britain, the UnitedStates, Canada, Australia and New Zealand the English Language is the native one.Because of the lack of the time I’ll have to concentrate on the English language ofBritain and the United Sates.In the first part of the course I’ll try to introduce the main geographical, economicand cultural aspects of the life of Great Britain.The second part of the course is devoted to the history, political structure,education, science and culture of the United States.

We’ll also speak about thedifference of the British and American variants of the English Language.After the first and the second parts of the course you’ll have a test and you willwrite a composition. The final result (зачет) is put into your check –book.All questions should be asked in writing.You can find in full all the facts and events I’ll speak about in the book “TheUnited Kingdom and the United States of America in Past and Present (2009) inthe library of the faculty.To study the English Language is impossible without learning at least some aspectsof history, geography, culture and customs of Great Britain, as well as the dailyactivities of the British people.

It is but natural that it will be quite difficult tocommunicate with the Britons without knowing and understanding the backgroundand cultural content of their country. For example, many students still confusesuch notions as England, Great Britain and The United Kingdom..The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain andNorthern Ireland. The UK consists of four parts: England, Wales, Scotland andNorthern Ireland. The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England(the southern and middle part of the island), Wales and Scotland (the northern partof the island).The UK is a highly developed industrial and economic country.

It is knownas one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of iron and steel products,machinery and electronics, chemicals and textile, aircraft and navigationequipment. One of the chief industries of the country is shipbuilding. Only 7 percent of the population is engaged in farming.Snapshots of BritainThe British Isles are surrounded by the Irish Sea and the North Sea, the NorwegianSea, the North Channel and the Atlantic Ocean. Owing to the shape of the country,any point in Great Britain is no more than 70 miles from the sea.The total area of the British Isles is 325 000 square km. According to sciencethe British Isles used to form a part of the continent. The rocky highlands ofScotland, for example, resemble the Norwegian coast.

Evidence (доказательство)that the islands were the part of the continent is the shallowness (мель) of theEnglish Channel between them and the mainland.There are no high mountains in Great Britain. Highlands of Scotlandarethe tallest of the British mountains. Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea.

TheThames is the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Some of the Britishgreatest ports are situated on the Thames.Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources; it has some deposits ofcoal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the NorthSea.Answer the following questions:1. What parts does the United Kingdom consist of?2. What’s the difference between the names Great Britain and United Kingdom?3. What is the climate of Great Britain like?4. Do you know any English phrases, connected with the weather?5. Have you ever been to England?6. Which pictures do you imagine when you think of this country?7.

What do you know of Stonehenge?THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LAGUAGEAbout 2.000 years ago the British Isles were inhabited (населены) by the Celtswho had been arriving from Europe from the 8th century BC. , mixed with thepeoples who were already there. A lot of people and tourists come to the South ofEngland just to see the ancient circle of stones, so-called Stonehenge, one of themost famous and mysterious archaeological sites of the world, built between 2500and 1500 BC (before Christ, до нашей эры). It was used by the Druids for theirceremonies.During the next 1.000 years there were many invasions (набеги). The Romanscame in 43 AD, calling the country “Britania”.In the 5th century London, the capital of the United Kingdom was founded by theRomans in 43 A.D.

(лат. нашей эры) and called Londinium. In 61 A.D. the townwas burnt down and when it was rebuilt by the Romans it was surrounded by awall. That area within the wall is now called the City of London. For manycentures it is London's commercial and business and financial centre and containsthe Bank of England, the Stock Exchange (фондовая биржа) and the head officesof numerous companies and corporations.Chester is very important town in the north-west of England.

In the past it used tobe a Roman fort; its name comes from the Latin word “castra”, meaning «fortifiedcamp». In Chester there is a famous museum which contains over 5000 ancient andmodern toys.There are plenty of other historical and cultural cities and towns in England: Kent,Bristol, Bath, Brighton, Bournemouth, and many others.The history of the English language really began in the 5th century with thearrival to the British Isles of three Germanic tribes (племена): the Angles, theSaxons and the Jutes, who crossed the North Sea from what today is NorthernGermany.

Most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders- mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles who came toEngland gave birth to the language called “English”.The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which developed into whatis now called Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English todayand English speakers of today would have great difficulty in understanding it.Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern Englishhave Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, are derivedfrom Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.In 1066 the Duke of Normandy (Northern France), invaded and conqueredEngland after a well-known the Battle of Hastings.

As a result of this the Normanleader became the King of England “William the Conqueror”, who built Tower andSalisbury Cathedral. He was crowned at Westminster Abbey. Salisbury Cathedralis a splendid example of an English Gothic architecture; inside there is one of fourcopies of Magna Charta (the agreement made in 1215 between King John andfeudal barons) and the oldest clock in England.The Normans brought with them the French language, which became the languageof the Royal Court (королевского двора), and the ruling and business classes.

Forabout 300 years there was a kind of linguistic class division, when the lowerclasses spoke English and the upper classes lords and barons spoke French. TheEnglish are the descendants (потомки) of all the invaders, and learners of Englishcan find many words in the English language which originated fro French.In the 14th century so-called Middle English became dominant in Britain. Itwas the language of the great poet Chaucer (1340-1400). Towards the end ofMiddle English, a change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, withvowels being pronounced shorter. Since the 16th century the British had contactswith many nations from around the world. This, and the Renaissance(Bозрождение) of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrasesentered the language.The invention of printing brought standardization to English spelling andgrammar.