Hledejte v chronologicky řazené databázi studijních materiálů (starší / novější příspěvky).

Varieties of English

Varieties of English

• English Language is the chief medium of communication of people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and numerous other countries, among the biggest and probably most important is India (it was a British colony until 1949). It is the official language of many nations in the Commonwealth of Nations and is widely understood and used in all of them. It is spoken in more parts of the world than any other language and by more people (420 million speak it all over the world) than any other tongue except Chinese.

• English as a first language is the one that children learn as their first and is also the official in the country; second language know most of the people in the country and is official too (English as a second language is learned in many countries to understand foreigners, when the first language is not very spread among foreign people); and English as a foreign language is the one we learn to know an international language, is not official in the state and it depends to each country how many people learn it

• we know 5 types of English - British, Indian, African, American and Australian

• English that is learned in schools is called Standard English (SE), but people on the top of the social scale (about 3%) speak with Received Pronounciation (RP)

• The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary. There are slighter differences in spelling, pitch, and stress as well. It is often difficult to determine whether a work was written in England, the United States, or any other part of the English-speaking world.

• in American English there are series of spelling reforms (-er instead of British -re, -or to replace-our, check instead of cheque) and sometimes Americans use different words for the same thing that British (bug, to mean insects in general rather than bedbug in Great Britain, corn, to designate what the British call maize, elevator X lift, truck X lorry, windshield X windscreen, sidewalk X pavment, commercial X advertisment)

• English is the main language of science (especially computer science, medicine) and after the WWII. English became the main language of diplomacy

History of the English language
• about 5000 B.C. a tribe called the Indo-Europeans lived in central Europe, they had their own language, and when they discovered the wheel around 3000 B.C., they were able to travel; some went on east, some on west and those, who came to Britain, were the Celts

• today the Celts live still in Scotland, Western Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany (northern France)

• after more than 2000 years the Celts were the only people living in Britain; than the Romans arrived and Julius Caesar with his army brought there new language - Latin; but Romans lived only in England, so only very few words entered the Celtic language

• the Romans left in 410 A.D., but 40 years later the Anglo-Saxon invaded the Britain - they came from Holland, Denmark and Germany (England means ‘land of the Angels’); their language was Old English and many of their words are still in dictionaries (sheep, earth, dog, work, field; the, is, you)

• in 597 A.D. Saint Augistine brought Christianity to Britain and hundreds of Latin and Greek words entered Old English

• another words (get, wrong, leg, want, skin, same and low) have their roots in Norse - a language of Vikings, who lived in Scandinavia and invaded Britain between the years 750 and 1050

• 1066 - Norman duke William beat the English king Harold at the battle of Hastings and French words became an important part of English

• in next 200 years, English with Latin, Norse and French changed into Middle English; in this period the first great English writer Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales

• around 1480 the printing press was invented, which played an important role because it fixed the English grammar and spelling

• since William Shakespeare’s times (16th - 17th century) we call the English modern

• when the Normans invaded Britain, the official languages used for government, law, learning or the army were Latin and French (words like judge, military, professor, legal come from these two languages); the daily used language among people was Old English

• from 14th century, many English words were invented or borrowed from other languages, e.g. Ancient Greek (earth + writing > geography, soul + word > psychology), other common Greek words are phone, photo, philo, sophy, mono, poly

• words from Latin : multi, super, sub, mare ...
some words came from outside Europe - alcohol, algebra - Arabic, jungle - India

Varieties of English

Varieties of English

• English Language is the chief medium of communication of people in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and numerous other countries, among the biggest and probably most important is India (it was a British colony until 1949). It is the official language of many nations in the Commonwealth of Nations and is widely understood and used in all of them. It is spoken in more parts of the world than any other language and by more people (420 million speak it all over the world) than any other tongue except Chinese.

• English as a first language is the one that children learn as their first and is also the official in the country; second language know most of the people in the country and is official too (English as a second language is learned in many countries to understand foreigners, when the first language is not very spread among foreign people); and English as a foreign language is the one we learn to know an international language, is not official in the state and it depends to each country how many people learn it

• we know 5 types of English - British, Indian, African, American and Australian

• English that is learned in schools is called Standard English (SE), but people on the top of the social scale (about 3%) speak with Received Pronounciation (RP)

• The most distinguishing differences between American English and British English are in pronunciation and vocabulary. There are slighter differences in spelling, pitch, and stress as well. It is often difficult to determine whether a work was written in England, the United States, or any other part of the English-speaking world.

• in American English there are series of spelling reforms (-er instead of British -re, -or to replace-our, check instead of cheque) and sometimes Americans use different words for the same thing that British (bug, to mean insects in general rather than bedbug in Great Britain, corn, to designate what the British call maize, elevator X lift, truck X lorry, windshield X windscreen, sidewalk X pavment, commercial X advertisment)

• English is the main language of science (especially computer science, medicine) and after the WWII. English became the main language of diplomacy

History of the English language
• about 5000 B.C. a tribe called the Indo-Europeans lived in central Europe, they had their own language, and when they discovered the wheel around 3000 B.C., they were able to travel; some went on east, some on west and those, who came to Britain, were the Celts

• today the Celts live still in Scotland, Western Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany (northern France)

• after more than 2000 years the Celts were the only people living in Britain; than the Romans arrived and Julius Caesar with his army brought there new language - Latin; but Romans lived only in England, so only very few words entered the Celtic language

• the Romans left in 410 A.D., but 40 years later the Anglo-Saxon invaded the Britain - they came from Holland, Denmark and Germany (England means ‘land of the Angels’); their language was Old English and many of their words are still in dictionaries (sheep, earth, dog, work, field; the, is, you)

• in 597 A.D. Saint Augistine brought Christianity to Britain and hundreds of Latin and Greek words entered Old English

• another words (get, wrong, leg, want, skin, same and low) have their roots in Norse - a language of Vikings, who lived in Scandinavia and invaded Britain between the years 750 and 1050

• 1066 - Norman duke William beat the English king Harold at the battle of Hastings and French words became an important part of English

• in next 200 years, English with Latin, Norse and French changed into Middle English; in this period the first great English writer Geoffrey Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales

• around 1480 the printing press was invented, which played an important role because it fixed the English grammar and spelling

• since William Shakespeare’s times (16th - 17th century) we call the English modern

• when the Normans invaded Britain, the official languages used for government, law, learning or the army were Latin and French (words like judge, military, professor, legal come from these two languages); the daily used language among people was Old English

• from 14th century, many English words were invented or borrowed from other languages, e.g. Ancient Greek (earth + writing > geography, soul + word > psychology), other common Greek words are phone, photo, philo, sophy, mono, poly

• words from Latin : multi, super, sub, mare ...
some words came from outside Europe - alcohol, algebra - Arabic, jungle - India

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

• there are 2 types of viewers - the 1st one is addict to TV, they watch it many hours a day and they don’t care much what the program is (they often do something different while watching), and the 2nd one, who watch TV rarely and not periodically - they choose certain programs

• the 1st group is highly influenced by TV, they take many opinions from TV, the 2nd group have their own opinions, they watch TV to get more information (not to create their opinions)

• people with higher education watch usually news, educational programs or some documents, but most people watch movies, series (especially action) and several types of popular TV competitions (quizzes, lotteries ...), house-wives soap operas and children fairy tales

• the main types of TV represent in CR TV Nova and CT1;
news on TV Nova - they are more sensational, emotional, aim on celebrities and people, they start usually with domestic affairs, political and serious world news are at the end, talking to people connected with some sensation (relatives to victims...), jokes of reporters
news on CT 1 - the first in order are political and world news, analysis, exact information, graphs and charts, repetition of important news
TV Nova - for less educated people, action and American films and series, soap operas, competitions
CT 1 - independent and valuable films, documentaries, educational programs, many news
UK - BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) - BBC1 and BBC 2, money from licence fees (all must pay), educ. progs., subject to government directives
- IBA (Independent Broadcasting Authority) - ITV, funded by commercials, educ. progs., subject to government directives
commercials - at breaks and within programs, political, religious and for tabacco forbidden
130 cable TV networks, several satellite TV channels


Do journalists influence public opinion
• many people read the newspapers every day and although the newspapers shouldn’t advance any political party or publicise e.g. racial opinions, journalists sometimes do (they have their opinions and they rather write in accord with them than against them)

• all people can’t be educated in all areas what journalist write about so some themes or problems know the readers only from newspaper articles (e.g. the Temelin - only few people know enough about the problem, so there are 2 groups - one say that it is dangerous and one say that it doesn’t spoil the nature and it is safe and effective

• sometimes the journalists say what they shouldn’t, which is a conflict between freedom of opinions and one’s privacy and ethic (e.g. shooting our president in an hospital room when he didn’t know about it, or the book 7 dni ... - the author is telling sometimes lies and sometimes a little changed true, but when the readers connect it all together, the result is, that Havel and Dagmar are stupid, senile and they have all bad qualities - what the author did was that he violated their privacy, collected their mistakes (that everyone sometimes does) and wrote a whole book about it)

• the biggest mistake that journalists do is that they take one part (usually sensational) from one’s speech, they rip it out from the context (don’t let the author explain what he wanted to say) and than the thing alone sounds like sensation - that’s why many people don’t like to talk to journalists


Television destroys man’s imagination and activity
• people who watch TV many hours a day (who are kind of addict) usually don’t make sports and are sometimes fat, because they rather watch all activities in TV - they can see all kinds of sports and of course action movies (with runs, jumps, fights ...) so TV is for them sort of substitute for these actions, and better, because they can see actions that they couldn’t do in real (shooting, killing people, car chase ...)

• the spreading and development of TVs and videos breaks the communications and relationships between people - the family sit together, they watch a program and are silent (rarely make a comment about the program); in past they talked to each other, played games (cards, chess ...) and the communication was more natural

• I’m not against watching TV, but not all the evening (especially while eating) and choose what I’m interested in, not to switch it on anytime; and I prefer doing something together and communicate (e. g. playing scrabble or any game with children)

• when I have children I won’t let them watch TV more than 2 or 3 hours a day, I will try to persuade them to go out with friends, to draw or whatever, and I’ll abolish them to watch action and bloody movies - it destroys their perception of the world and they can think that the real world is about killing and violence (it can even end with killing someone like in USA - Arkansas)

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

The influence of TV on a regular viewer

• there are 2 types of viewers - the 1st one is addict to TV, they watch it many hours a day and they don’t care much what the program is (they often do something different while watching), and the 2nd one, who watch TV rarely and not periodically - they choose certain programs

• the 1st group is highly influenced by TV, they take many opinions from TV, the 2nd group have their own opinions, they watch TV to get more information (not to create their opinions)

• people with higher education watch usually news, educational programs or some documents, but most people watch movies, series (especially action) and several types of popular TV competitions (quizzes, lotteries ...), house-wives soap operas and children fairy tales

• the main types of TV represent in CR TV Nova and CT1;
news on TV Nova - they are more sensational, emotional, aim on celebrities and people, they start usually with domestic affairs, political and serious world news are at the end, talking to people connected with some sensation (relatives to victims...), jokes of reporters
news on CT 1 - the first in order are political and world news, analysis, exact information, graphs and charts, repetition of important news
TV Nova - for less educated people, action and American films and series, soap operas, competitions
CT 1 - independent and valuable films, documentaries, educational programs, many news
UK - BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) - BBC1 and BBC 2, money from licence fees (all must pay), educ. progs., subject to government directives
- IBA (Independent Broadcasting Authority) - ITV, funded by commercials, educ. progs., subject to government directives
commercials - at breaks and within programs, political, religious and for tabacco forbidden
130 cable TV networks, several satellite TV channels


Do journalists influence public opinion
• many people read the newspapers every day and although the newspapers shouldn’t advance any political party or publicise e.g. racial opinions, journalists sometimes do (they have their opinions and they rather write in accord with them than against them)

• all people can’t be educated in all areas what journalist write about so some themes or problems know the readers only from newspaper articles (e.g. the Temelin - only few people know enough about the problem, so there are 2 groups - one say that it is dangerous and one say that it doesn’t spoil the nature and it is safe and effective

• sometimes the journalists say what they shouldn’t, which is a conflict between freedom of opinions and one’s privacy and ethic (e.g. shooting our president in an hospital room when he didn’t know about it, or the book 7 dni ... - the author is telling sometimes lies and sometimes a little changed true, but when the readers connect it all together, the result is, that Havel and Dagmar are stupid, senile and they have all bad qualities - what the author did was that he violated their privacy, collected their mistakes (that everyone sometimes does) and wrote a whole book about it)

• the biggest mistake that journalists do is that they take one part (usually sensational) from one’s speech, they rip it out from the context (don’t let the author explain what he wanted to say) and than the thing alone sounds like sensation - that’s why many people don’t like to talk to journalists


Television destroys man’s imagination and activity
• people who watch TV many hours a day (who are kind of addict) usually don’t make sports and are sometimes fat, because they rather watch all activities in TV - they can see all kinds of sports and of course action movies (with runs, jumps, fights ...) so TV is for them sort of substitute for these actions, and better, because they can see actions that they couldn’t do in real (shooting, killing people, car chase ...)

• the spreading and development of TVs and videos breaks the communications and relationships between people - the family sit together, they watch a program and are silent (rarely make a comment about the program); in past they talked to each other, played games (cards, chess ...) and the communication was more natural

• I’m not against watching TV, but not all the evening (especially while eating) and choose what I’m interested in, not to switch it on anytime; and I prefer doing something together and communicate (e. g. playing scrabble or any game with children)

• when I have children I won’t let them watch TV more than 2 or 3 hours a day, I will try to persuade them to go out with friends, to draw or whatever, and I’ll abolish them to watch action and bloody movies - it destroys their perception of the world and they can think that the real world is about killing and violence (it can even end with killing someone like in USA - Arkansas)

Different types of massmedia

Different types of massmedia

the main types of massmedia are four : TV, newspapers, radio stations and Internet

TV : no doubt that the TV is the most spread massmedia and has the biggest influence
people are offerd an unreal world with adventure, romance, luck or whatever and when they can’t have it, they at least watch it

news : people get the information without effort, the reporters are witty and nice and they can see pictures and videos from several places;

newspapers : there are several types of newspapers from the serious ones (broadsheets) to the shocking ones (tabloids) so all people can choose ther cup of tea
the advantage of newspaper is that they have permanent group of readers so they can full their pages with information that would be in TV for many people boring > the depth of information

radio stations : most widely spread are music radio stations, but some have very serious news with analysis or some interviews > everybody can choose his favourite station

Internet : is developing with unbeliavable speed, people can do shopping through it, booking tickets, ordering, studying ...
the vast amount of information can’t influence someone’s opinion because he chooses what he wants to know
the problem is that the information are not limited or controled so even small children can see what they aren’t allowed to

CR : 2 channels public TV - serious information, programs of all interests, documents
2 channels commercial TV - shocking news, action movies, soap operas, sitcoms, cheap series
radio stations - music, foreign st. - BBC
newspapers - both types, tabloids (Blesk, Hrom, Vecerni Praha) are more expensive, aimed to people with lower education; broadsheets (Dnes, Lidove noviny) have political informations, deeper, analysis



Newspapers in UK/USA

Tabloids Broadsheets
Articles : Are shocking, emotional, aimed Serious inf., national news, world news,
on people, celebrites, disasters, sports background inf., in-depth features

Composition : Short, easy to understand, huge headlines, Long, elaborate, difficult words, complex and plays on words, quotations, exclamations interesting articles

Photos : Many, often colour, especially people 2-3 on every page, places and people, black
and white

Cost : 25p 35p.

Size : 40 cm /28 cm 60 cm / 40 cm

Circulation : 13 million in UK 3 million in UK

Titles : The Sun, The Daily Star, The Daily The Guardian, The Times, The Independent,
Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Daily The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times
Express and Today

Different types of massmedia

Different types of massmedia

the main types of massmedia are four : TV, newspapers, radio stations and Internet

TV : no doubt that the TV is the most spread massmedia and has the biggest influence
people are offerd an unreal world with adventure, romance, luck or whatever and when they can’t have it, they at least watch it

news : people get the information without effort, the reporters are witty and nice and they can see pictures and videos from several places;

newspapers : there are several types of newspapers from the serious ones (broadsheets) to the shocking ones (tabloids) so all people can choose ther cup of tea
the advantage of newspaper is that they have permanent group of readers so they can full their pages with information that would be in TV for many people boring > the depth of information

radio stations : most widely spread are music radio stations, but some have very serious news with analysis or some interviews > everybody can choose his favourite station

Internet : is developing with unbeliavable speed, people can do shopping through it, booking tickets, ordering, studying ...
the vast amount of information can’t influence someone’s opinion because he chooses what he wants to know
the problem is that the information are not limited or controled so even small children can see what they aren’t allowed to

CR : 2 channels public TV - serious information, programs of all interests, documents
2 channels commercial TV - shocking news, action movies, soap operas, sitcoms, cheap series
radio stations - music, foreign st. - BBC
newspapers - both types, tabloids (Blesk, Hrom, Vecerni Praha) are more expensive, aimed to people with lower education; broadsheets (Dnes, Lidove noviny) have political informations, deeper, analysis



Newspapers in UK/USA

Tabloids Broadsheets
Articles : Are shocking, emotional, aimed Serious inf., national news, world news,
on people, celebrites, disasters, sports background inf., in-depth features

Composition : Short, easy to understand, huge headlines, Long, elaborate, difficult words, complex and plays on words, quotations, exclamations interesting articles

Photos : Many, often colour, especially people 2-3 on every page, places and people, black
and white

Cost : 25p 35p.

Size : 40 cm /28 cm 60 cm / 40 cm

Circulation : 13 million in UK 3 million in UK

Titles : The Sun, The Daily Star, The Daily The Guardian, The Times, The Independent,
Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Daily The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times
Express and Today

USA - School system

USA - School system

• elementary and secondary education involves 12 years of schooling, the successful completion of which leads to a high school diploma

• the first possible school children can attend is a Kindergarten (actually nursing school), than elementary school and high school


Elementary schools :
• the first elementary school was established in 1630 in Masachussets, because the Puritans wanted to read the Bible

• basic subjects are : math, language, geography, history, arts, science ...

• about 85% are public schools and 15% privat schools - they are sometimes religious

High schools :
• 90% of students go to public schools, they can't choose which school they want to attend
• sport plays an important role in schools as well as the spirit (which is big in small cities)

Colleges :
• the first college founded in America was Harvard and was founded in Massachusets in 1636

• in 1944 the GI Bill of Rights was issued, which helped veterans from the WWII to get higher education (government paid their scholarships) and in 1960's the Affirmative Action Program was introduced - certain numbers of minotity students had to be admited on colleges

• every students takes an SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) from math and English on which bases they are admited to college or not

• the trend of 1970's and 1980's was to be educated in technical subjects

• there is not any difference in quality of education between public and privat schools, the privat ones require much higher fees; all schools are funded from student fees, donations and government funding

• colleges are based on a credit system, science program and research makes the university of a high or low prestige

USA - School system

USA - School system

• elementary and secondary education involves 12 years of schooling, the successful completion of which leads to a high school diploma

• the first possible school children can attend is a Kindergarten (actually nursing school), than elementary school and high school


Elementary schools :
• the first elementary school was established in 1630 in Masachussets, because the Puritans wanted to read the Bible

• basic subjects are : math, language, geography, history, arts, science ...

• about 85% are public schools and 15% privat schools - they are sometimes religious

High schools :
• 90% of students go to public schools, they can't choose which school they want to attend
• sport plays an important role in schools as well as the spirit (which is big in small cities)

Colleges :
• the first college founded in America was Harvard and was founded in Massachusets in 1636

• in 1944 the GI Bill of Rights was issued, which helped veterans from the WWII to get higher education (government paid their scholarships) and in 1960's the Affirmative Action Program was introduced - certain numbers of minotity students had to be admited on colleges

• every students takes an SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) from math and English on which bases they are admited to college or not

• the trend of 1970's and 1980's was to be educated in technical subjects

• there is not any difference in quality of education between public and privat schools, the privat ones require much higher fees; all schools are funded from student fees, donations and government funding

• colleges are based on a credit system, science program and research makes the university of a high or low prestige

Prague

Prague

• Prague is a city in west central Czech Republic, the capital of the country; it is located in the central Bohemia region, situated on both sides of the Vltava River; its population is about 1.3 million


History :
• the settlement of Prague dates from the 9th century, when it was the site of several Bohemian castles

• the city began to grow in the 13th century with the establishment of German communities by Wenceslas I, king of Bohemia; the German colonists developed the city rapidly, building the Old Town as a trading centre in 1232 and, expanding to the southeast, establishing the New Town a century later; the key personality for expansion of Prague was the King Charles IV, who let build the Charles University in 1348 as the first in middle Europe

• Prague prospered as the capital of the powerful province of Bohemia and during the 14th century became the largest European city after Paris, in 1442 it was conquered by the Hussites and continued to grow in wealth and power

• it was much damaged during several wars, notably in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in 1744 the city surrendered to Frederick II, king of Prussia, who, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), defeated the Austrian forces at Prague

• in 1848, Prague was bombarded by Austrian troops to quell a Czech revolution, and in 1866 the city surrendered to Prussian forces during the Seven Weeks' War

• upon the establishment of the republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Prague became its capital; During World War II the city was occupied by German forces from March 1939 until May 1945 but escaped major damage

• the city was again the scene of turmoil when, in August 1968, Soviet troops invaded Prague and massive demonstrations ensued and also was the site of massive nonviolent demonstrations that led to the downfall of Czechoslovakia's Communist regime in 1989

• when the country divided into two republics on January 1, 1993, the city became capital of the independent Czech Republic



Cultural life

• the cultural life in Prague is wide and one can chose from several activities he would like to do - from going to opera or National Theatre to seeing a hockey or football match

• if you feel like to see some theatre performance of a high value, I recommend you to go to the National Theatre, situated on the right bank of Vltava; the interior is painted by famous Czech painters, e.g. Mikolas Ales, and you can see the best Czech actors casting in the most famous Czech and foreign plays; or if you would like to see some more informal performance, there are many possibilities where to go, but if you visit the Archa theatre, you will be satisfied; because many performances are in English, or even Czech ones are with English subtitle; and don’t worry to wear jeans, nobody gets mad

• if you would like to see some paintings or sculptures, you can visit the National Gallery in Prague, e.g. the collection of ancient art in Sternbersky palac on Hradcanske square 15

• from Prague museums I recommend the National museum on Venceslas square, where you can find paleontological, mineral or zoological collections, ancient history of Czech, Moravia and Silezia and scelets of many animals, including ancient man

• and if you admire classical music, there is not more prestigeous and honor place than the Rudolphinom on Alsovo sqare, on the bank of Vltava

• probably the most famous festival that is held every year is the classical music festival Prague spring, that begins every year on May 12th and ends on June 2nd; concerts can be seen in more concert halls in Prague, but it always begins with Dvorak’s Ma vlast in Rudolphinom; siniliar to this is Prague autumn, but is younger and not so famous

• I would recommend to everybody to see some performance on Krizikova fountain; this fountain is a little miracle of technology and it is wonderful that it was build so long ago; at recent days spectators can see spectacular performances full of colours, playing in warm summer nights on music by Queen, Vangelis or songs from world-reknown musicals



Municipal House of the Capital of Prague and Powder gate

• Municipal House was built on the place of former King’s court in 1905 to 1911 as a representative palace of the town in the style of Prague Art nouveau; the group of halls around the central Smetana Hall is decoratedby the works of the foremost artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; the Municipal House was the place of declaration of independent Czechoslovak stateon October 28th in 1918 and also the scene of negotiations of the representatives of Civic Forum , who after November 17th 1989 undertook the political powers

• the Powder Gate was constructed as a representative entry into the Old Town at King’s court by Matyas Rejsek in the 2nd half of 15th century in the Lately Gothic style; in the end of 19th century was renovated in the Neo-Gothic style by J. Mocker; the gate is 65m high and is decorated by stoneworks and sculptures


Vyšehrad
• the second seat of the Bohemian princes and kings of the Premyslides dynasty was founded in the 10th century; the original castle figured in romantic legends about the beginning of Prague and the Bohemian state; it contains Rotunda of St Martin, Chapter church of St Peter and Paul, the chapels of St Ludmila and of Virgin Mary in Walls, remnants of Gothic fortifications, a baroque fortress of the 17th century, a park with so called “devil’s Column and four statues depicting figures of Bohemian mythology by J. V. Myslbek; you can find there also Vysehrad Museum and a cemetery, where since the 19th century important personalities of the Czech nation have been buried


Old Town Hall
• was built probably in 1299 at the Big square (market place) as the seat of self-government of the Prague Old Town; the oldest part of the Town Hall complex was built in the High Gothic style and contains the tower, oriel chapel and rich coat of arms decorations; the astronomical clock was made before 1410 by Nicholas of Kadan and completed in the end of 15th century; the calendar sheet and new statues of Apostles were were placed in 19th and 20th centuries

Prague

Prague

• Prague is a city in west central Czech Republic, the capital of the country; it is located in the central Bohemia region, situated on both sides of the Vltava River; its population is about 1.3 million


History :
• the settlement of Prague dates from the 9th century, when it was the site of several Bohemian castles

• the city began to grow in the 13th century with the establishment of German communities by Wenceslas I, king of Bohemia; the German colonists developed the city rapidly, building the Old Town as a trading centre in 1232 and, expanding to the southeast, establishing the New Town a century later; the key personality for expansion of Prague was the King Charles IV, who let build the Charles University in 1348 as the first in middle Europe

• Prague prospered as the capital of the powerful province of Bohemia and during the 14th century became the largest European city after Paris, in 1442 it was conquered by the Hussites and continued to grow in wealth and power

• it was much damaged during several wars, notably in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), in 1744 the city surrendered to Frederick II, king of Prussia, who, during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), defeated the Austrian forces at Prague

• in 1848, Prague was bombarded by Austrian troops to quell a Czech revolution, and in 1866 the city surrendered to Prussian forces during the Seven Weeks' War

• upon the establishment of the republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Prague became its capital; During World War II the city was occupied by German forces from March 1939 until May 1945 but escaped major damage

• the city was again the scene of turmoil when, in August 1968, Soviet troops invaded Prague and massive demonstrations ensued and also was the site of massive nonviolent demonstrations that led to the downfall of Czechoslovakia's Communist regime in 1989

• when the country divided into two republics on January 1, 1993, the city became capital of the independent Czech Republic



Cultural life

• the cultural life in Prague is wide and one can chose from several activities he would like to do - from going to opera or National Theatre to seeing a hockey or football match

• if you feel like to see some theatre performance of a high value, I recommend you to go to the National Theatre, situated on the right bank of Vltava; the interior is painted by famous Czech painters, e.g. Mikolas Ales, and you can see the best Czech actors casting in the most famous Czech and foreign plays; or if you would like to see some more informal performance, there are many possibilities where to go, but if you visit the Archa theatre, you will be satisfied; because many performances are in English, or even Czech ones are with English subtitle; and don’t worry to wear jeans, nobody gets mad

• if you would like to see some paintings or sculptures, you can visit the National Gallery in Prague, e.g. the collection of ancient art in Sternbersky palac on Hradcanske square 15

• from Prague museums I recommend the National museum on Venceslas square, where you can find paleontological, mineral or zoological collections, ancient history of Czech, Moravia and Silezia and scelets of many animals, including ancient man

• and if you admire classical music, there is not more prestigeous and honor place than the Rudolphinom on Alsovo sqare, on the bank of Vltava

• probably the most famous festival that is held every year is the classical music festival Prague spring, that begins every year on May 12th and ends on June 2nd; concerts can be seen in more concert halls in Prague, but it always begins with Dvorak’s Ma vlast in Rudolphinom; siniliar to this is Prague autumn, but is younger and not so famous

• I would recommend to everybody to see some performance on Krizikova fountain; this fountain is a little miracle of technology and it is wonderful that it was build so long ago; at recent days spectators can see spectacular performances full of colours, playing in warm summer nights on music by Queen, Vangelis or songs from world-reknown musicals



Municipal House of the Capital of Prague and Powder gate

• Municipal House was built on the place of former King’s court in 1905 to 1911 as a representative palace of the town in the style of Prague Art nouveau; the group of halls around the central Smetana Hall is decoratedby the works of the foremost artists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; the Municipal House was the place of declaration of independent Czechoslovak stateon October 28th in 1918 and also the scene of negotiations of the representatives of Civic Forum , who after November 17th 1989 undertook the political powers

• the Powder Gate was constructed as a representative entry into the Old Town at King’s court by Matyas Rejsek in the 2nd half of 15th century in the Lately Gothic style; in the end of 19th century was renovated in the Neo-Gothic style by J. Mocker; the gate is 65m high and is decorated by stoneworks and sculptures


Vyšehrad
• the second seat of the Bohemian princes and kings of the Premyslides dynasty was founded in the 10th century; the original castle figured in romantic legends about the beginning of Prague and the Bohemian state; it contains Rotunda of St Martin, Chapter church of St Peter and Paul, the chapels of St Ludmila and of Virgin Mary in Walls, remnants of Gothic fortifications, a baroque fortress of the 17th century, a park with so called “devil’s Column and four statues depicting figures of Bohemian mythology by J. V. Myslbek; you can find there also Vysehrad Museum and a cemetery, where since the 19th century important personalities of the Czech nation have been buried


Old Town Hall
• was built probably in 1299 at the Big square (market place) as the seat of self-government of the Prague Old Town; the oldest part of the Town Hall complex was built in the High Gothic style and contains the tower, oriel chapel and rich coat of arms decorations; the astronomical clock was made before 1410 by Nicholas of Kadan and completed in the end of 15th century; the calendar sheet and new statues of Apostles were were placed in 19th and 20th centuries

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean; it consists of Northern and Southen island, separated by the Cook Strait , and small Stewart Island

• its area is 270,000 square kilometres, population 3,7 million and consists of 90% British and 10% Maori aborigines; the religions are about 50% Christianity, some sects (Mormons) and Maori religions

Northern island - rather flat land, variet, low mts., plains, volcanos and geizirs
Southern island - high mts. - Southern Alps with the highest peak Mt. Cook (3740m)
Rivers - short; Waganui and Waikato

• New Zealand is a Parliamentary democracy, where the Head of State is a Governor-general, representing the monarch of Great Britain; Head of Government is a Prime minister; it has an Unicameral legislature - only ane chamber of the parliament, which is the House of Representatives (99 members)

• the capital is Wellington and other important cities are Auckland, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch

• the languages spoken in NZ are English (similiar to British English) and Maori; some famous personalities are Hillary, Rutherford, Snell ...

• NZ is a rich agriculture country with important industry; the main agriculture products are wheat, vegetable, wool, meat, butter, milk and cheese and NZ is a big exporter of many kinds of food products

• the first people to settle NZ were the Polynesian tribes - the Maoris - in the 8th century
NZ was discovered by James Cook in 1769
Colonization began in the 19th century after the treaty of Waitagno, when the Maori chiefs acknowledged the sovereignity of the British Crown in return for the protection of their lands
However there were disputes between Maoris and British settlers over land ownership which led to war; it lasted about 10 years and by 1871 all Maori resistance was crushed

In 1907 NZ was granted the status of dominion
• Maoris are good in carving and making personal ornaments, e.g. necklesses, earings and amulets

New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country lying in the Pacific Ocean; it consists of Northern and Southen island, separated by the Cook Strait , and small Stewart Island

• its area is 270,000 square kilometres, population 3,7 million and consists of 90% British and 10% Maori aborigines; the religions are about 50% Christianity, some sects (Mormons) and Maori religions

Northern island - rather flat land, variet, low mts., plains, volcanos and geizirs
Southern island - high mts. - Southern Alps with the highest peak Mt. Cook (3740m)
Rivers - short; Waganui and Waikato

• New Zealand is a Parliamentary democracy, where the Head of State is a Governor-general, representing the monarch of Great Britain; Head of Government is a Prime minister; it has an Unicameral legislature - only ane chamber of the parliament, which is the House of Representatives (99 members)

• the capital is Wellington and other important cities are Auckland, Queenstown, Dunedin and Christchurch

• the languages spoken in NZ are English (similiar to British English) and Maori; some famous personalities are Hillary, Rutherford, Snell ...

• NZ is a rich agriculture country with important industry; the main agriculture products are wheat, vegetable, wool, meat, butter, milk and cheese and NZ is a big exporter of many kinds of food products

• the first people to settle NZ were the Polynesian tribes - the Maoris - in the 8th century
NZ was discovered by James Cook in 1769
Colonization began in the 19th century after the treaty of Waitagno, when the Maori chiefs acknowledged the sovereignity of the British Crown in return for the protection of their lands
However there were disputes between Maoris and British settlers over land ownership which led to war; it lasted about 10 years and by 1871 all Maori resistance was crushed

In 1907 NZ was granted the status of dominion
• Maoris are good in carving and making personal ornaments, e.g. necklesses, earings and amulets

Canada

Canada is a federated country in the northern part of North America, member of the Commonwealth of nations

• its area is 9.9 million square kilometres, which makes it the 2nd largest country in the world, the population is 28 million and consists of 45% British, 25% French, German, , Italy and Ukraine origins; the aborigines are Indians and Eskymos

• 46% of population are Roman catholics and 41% Protestants; the official languages are French and English

• Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy with the Governor-general, representing the British monarch, as a head of the state; the Head of Government is a Prime minister; Canada has a Bicameral legislature which consists of House of Commons (295 members) and Senate(112 senators)

• Canada is washed by the Arctic ocen from the north, North Atlantic ocean from the east and North Pacific ocean from the west; among the islands in the north the biggest are Baffin Island, Queen Elizabeth Islands and Victoria island; there are two main bays - Hudson and Baffin

• the country is divided into ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and two territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory); there are big lakes - Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg and portions of the Great Lakes under Canadian jurisdiction; the highest peak Mt Logan lies in the Rocky mts

• the climate is mostly continental with rain and snow falls, typical animals are bears, seals and grizzlys

• Canada was discovered in 1497 by John Cabot; in 1763 French were defeated by British and it became an English colony; in 1867 Canada became the 1st British dominion

• Canada belongs to the richest countries of the world, its main products are wheat, wood, petrolium, iron ore, oil and gold, main industrial products are motor vehicles and paper



The Republic of Ireland lies on the island west from UK in the Atlantic ocean

• its area is 70,000 square kilometres, the population is 3,5 million (from which 96% are Irish) and the religions are Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Jewish; the capital is Dublin

• the Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy and the head of the state is the president, voted directly for 7 years

• the relief could be described as a lowland (the highest mts. reach only about 1,000 metres), the biggest river is the Shannon river; the lakes are of glacier origin

• the original inhabitants were Celts
432 - Christianity was brought to Ireland by St Patrick
12th century - the English first invaded Ireland
17th century - Cromwell gave the land in Ireland to Protestant settlers from England
1690 - in the battle of Boyne Ireland became an English colony
half of 19th century - 5 million people emigrated because of the great famine;
1905 - Shinn Fein, the nationalist party was founded and during the failed Easter rebellion the leaders were executed
1921 - the 26 nationalist counties in the southern Ireland became the Irish Free State
1949 - was the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin

• Ireland consists of 4 historical provinces - Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster; the provinces are divided into 32 counties and 6 of them in Ulster are administred by UK

• the typical Irish music instrument is a Celtic harp; some famous Irish authors are J. Swift, J. B. Yeats, O. Wilde, J. Joyce, S. Becket


Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
CANADA
Canada
Canada
Články na hledaný výraz "Canada" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

Canada

Canada is a federated country in the northern part of North America, member of the Commonwealth of nations

• its area is 9.9 million square kilometres, which makes it the 2nd largest country in the world, the population is 28 million and consists of 45% British, 25% French, German, , Italy and Ukraine origins; the aborigines are Indians and Eskymos

• 46% of population are Roman catholics and 41% Protestants; the official languages are French and English

• Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy with the Governor-general, representing the British monarch, as a head of the state; the Head of Government is a Prime minister; Canada has a Bicameral legislature which consists of House of Commons (295 members) and Senate(112 senators)

• Canada is washed by the Arctic ocen from the north, North Atlantic ocean from the east and North Pacific ocean from the west; among the islands in the north the biggest are Baffin Island, Queen Elizabeth Islands and Victoria island; there are two main bays - Hudson and Baffin

• the country is divided into ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and two territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory); there are big lakes - Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg and portions of the Great Lakes under Canadian jurisdiction; the highest peak Mt Logan lies in the Rocky mts

• the climate is mostly continental with rain and snow falls, typical animals are bears, seals and grizzlys

• Canada was discovered in 1497 by John Cabot; in 1763 French were defeated by British and it became an English colony; in 1867 Canada became the 1st British dominion

• Canada belongs to the richest countries of the world, its main products are wheat, wood, petrolium, iron ore, oil and gold, main industrial products are motor vehicles and paper



The Republic of Ireland lies on the island west from UK in the Atlantic ocean

• its area is 70,000 square kilometres, the population is 3,5 million (from which 96% are Irish) and the religions are Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism and Jewish; the capital is Dublin

• the Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary democracy and the head of the state is the president, voted directly for 7 years

• the relief could be described as a lowland (the highest mts. reach only about 1,000 metres), the biggest river is the Shannon river; the lakes are of glacier origin

• the original inhabitants were Celts
432 - Christianity was brought to Ireland by St Patrick
12th century - the English first invaded Ireland
17th century - Cromwell gave the land in Ireland to Protestant settlers from England
1690 - in the battle of Boyne Ireland became an English colony
half of 19th century - 5 million people emigrated because of the great famine;
1905 - Shinn Fein, the nationalist party was founded and during the failed Easter rebellion the leaders were executed
1921 - the 26 nationalist counties in the southern Ireland became the Irish Free State
1949 - was the proclamation of the Republic of Ireland in Dublin

• Ireland consists of 4 historical provinces - Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster; the provinces are divided into 32 counties and 6 of them in Ulster are administred by UK

• the typical Irish music instrument is a Celtic harp; some famous Irish authors are J. Swift, J. B. Yeats, O. Wilde, J. Joyce, S. Becket


Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
CANADA
Canada
Canada
Články na hledaný výraz "Canada" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

New York - history, boroughs, immigration

¨NY history, boroughs, immigration

History :
• the New York Bay area had been inhabited for centuries by Native Americans; the first European to visit the area was an Italian navigator in the service of France, who landed there in 1524; Henry Hudson, whose expedition sailed under the Dutch flag, explored the Hudson River in 1609; the Dutch bought the island and called it New Amsterdam; later a wall against the Indians was biuld there, at a place of recent Wall street

• during the mid-17th century, further colonization of Manhattan Island took place, and other settlements were begun in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; in 1664 the colony was surrendered to the English and renamed to New York

• during the War of Independence New York was for four years the capital of the country, the American Congress met in New York and George Washington was inaugurated as the first United States president here in 1789

• between 1820 and 1840, the immigrants, particularly Irish, German, Jewish, and Italian, began to arrive in large numbers; the city's population more than doubled and by 1850 it had doubled again

• by the late 19th century the population was swelled by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China; the Ellis Island, in upper New York Bay near Manhattan, is best known for the immigration centre located there between 1892 and 1954; an estimated 20 million immigrants passed through this island

• In 1904 construction of the complex underground transport system linking the boroughs was begun and integrated the boroughs into the pattern recognizable today; in the period during and after World War II, the city received numerous black immigrants, largely from the southern states; immigration from Puerto Rico and from other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America followed in the 1950s


City of NY :
• New York is subdivided into five boroughs; in descending order of area, the boroughs are Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Manhattan; almost all of the Bronx is situated on the mainland, but the other boroughs are situated on, or comprise, islands; in all, New York comprises some 50 islands

• when looking on the city plan, streets lay horizontally and avenues vertically; the exception is Broadway, which predates the plan and lays irregularly

Boroughs :
Queens - there are two international airports - La Guardia and John F. Kennedy, both are major air-cargo terminals

Bronx - famousfor the International Wildlife Conservation Park (commonly known as the Bronx Zoo), one of the world's largest, and an Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees professional baseball team

Brooklyn - the most populous borough of New York City

Neighbourhoods :
Harlem - home to a predominantly black and Puerto Rican population, during the 1920s, black culture exploded on to the scene with the Harlem Renaissance movement in literature and with jazz

Greenwich Village - began to attract artists, writers, actors, and political theorists from all parts of America and Europe, and continues to provide a focus for café life
Chinatown - where Chinese immigrants began to settle in the 1850s
SoHo - a former warehouse and factory district


Sights in NY
The statue of liberty - was donated to the American people by France in 1886 as a symbol of French-American friendship and their alliance during the American revolution; it is located on Liberty Island

The financial district of Lower Manhattan - centred on Wall and Broad streets, includes the New York Stock Exchange, World Trade Center (one of the world's tallest structures) and a United States Federal Reserve bank as well as other prominent banking, brokerage, and financial institutions

Empire State Building (1931) - the2nd highest building in New York with 2 observations and a restaurant on the top

St. Patrick - one of the most beautiful churches in USA in Gothic style

Broadway - the original Indian path, now a famous theater center

UN HQ - 39 -storey monolith structure of glass and steel

Rockefeller Center - the group of 21 buildings, mostly scyscrapers in Manhattan; consists of skating ring, gardens, promenades, statues, shops, restaurants ...

Fifth and Madison avenues - in Manhattan, especially famous for their elegant shops

Skyscrapers dominate the skyline - the Flatiron Building, completed in 1902, was one of the first in the city; others include the Chrysler Building (1930), the Woolworth Building (1915), the Empire State Building (1931), the group of buildings that constitute (begun 1931), Rockefeller Center (begun 1931), and the World Trade Center (1977)

New York Public Library - with some 10 million volumes

Times Square - the hub of the city's theatre district with more than 30 theatres
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - a large cluster of buildings that includes the Metropolitan Opera House

New York - history, boroughs, immigration

¨NY history, boroughs, immigration

History :
• the New York Bay area had been inhabited for centuries by Native Americans; the first European to visit the area was an Italian navigator in the service of France, who landed there in 1524; Henry Hudson, whose expedition sailed under the Dutch flag, explored the Hudson River in 1609; the Dutch bought the island and called it New Amsterdam; later a wall against the Indians was biuld there, at a place of recent Wall street

• during the mid-17th century, further colonization of Manhattan Island took place, and other settlements were begun in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; in 1664 the colony was surrendered to the English and renamed to New York

• during the War of Independence New York was for four years the capital of the country, the American Congress met in New York and George Washington was inaugurated as the first United States president here in 1789

• between 1820 and 1840, the immigrants, particularly Irish, German, Jewish, and Italian, began to arrive in large numbers; the city's population more than doubled and by 1850 it had doubled again

• by the late 19th century the population was swelled by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China; the Ellis Island, in upper New York Bay near Manhattan, is best known for the immigration centre located there between 1892 and 1954; an estimated 20 million immigrants passed through this island

• In 1904 construction of the complex underground transport system linking the boroughs was begun and integrated the boroughs into the pattern recognizable today; in the period during and after World War II, the city received numerous black immigrants, largely from the southern states; immigration from Puerto Rico and from other parts of the Caribbean and Latin America followed in the 1950s


City of NY :
• New York is subdivided into five boroughs; in descending order of area, the boroughs are Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, the Bronx, and Manhattan; almost all of the Bronx is situated on the mainland, but the other boroughs are situated on, or comprise, islands; in all, New York comprises some 50 islands

• when looking on the city plan, streets lay horizontally and avenues vertically; the exception is Broadway, which predates the plan and lays irregularly

Boroughs :
Queens - there are two international airports - La Guardia and John F. Kennedy, both are major air-cargo terminals

Bronx - famousfor the International Wildlife Conservation Park (commonly known as the Bronx Zoo), one of the world's largest, and an Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees professional baseball team

Brooklyn - the most populous borough of New York City

Neighbourhoods :
Harlem - home to a predominantly black and Puerto Rican population, during the 1920s, black culture exploded on to the scene with the Harlem Renaissance movement in literature and with jazz

Greenwich Village - began to attract artists, writers, actors, and political theorists from all parts of America and Europe, and continues to provide a focus for café life
Chinatown - where Chinese immigrants began to settle in the 1850s
SoHo - a former warehouse and factory district


Sights in NY
The statue of liberty - was donated to the American people by France in 1886 as a symbol of French-American friendship and their alliance during the American revolution; it is located on Liberty Island

The financial district of Lower Manhattan - centred on Wall and Broad streets, includes the New York Stock Exchange, World Trade Center (one of the world's tallest structures) and a United States Federal Reserve bank as well as other prominent banking, brokerage, and financial institutions

Empire State Building (1931) - the2nd highest building in New York with 2 observations and a restaurant on the top

St. Patrick - one of the most beautiful churches in USA in Gothic style

Broadway - the original Indian path, now a famous theater center

UN HQ - 39 -storey monolith structure of glass and steel

Rockefeller Center - the group of 21 buildings, mostly scyscrapers in Manhattan; consists of skating ring, gardens, promenades, statues, shops, restaurants ...

Fifth and Madison avenues - in Manhattan, especially famous for their elegant shops

Skyscrapers dominate the skyline - the Flatiron Building, completed in 1902, was one of the first in the city; others include the Chrysler Building (1930), the Woolworth Building (1915), the Empire State Building (1931), the group of buildings that constitute (begun 1931), Rockefeller Center (begun 1931), and the World Trade Center (1977)

New York Public Library - with some 10 million volumes

Times Square - the hub of the city's theatre district with more than 30 theatres
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts - a large cluster of buildings that includes the Metropolitan Opera House

William Shakespeare

• Shakespeare's day of birth is traditionally held to be April 23, it is known he was baptized on April 24 in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was probably educated at the local grammar school, was apprenticed to a butcher and than he became a schoolmaster. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other contemporary dramatists. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer and he is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in the deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London in about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as an actor and a playwright. He established his reputation as a gifted and popular Renaissance poet with his erotic narrative poems and his Sonnets. He was a sharer in his playing company called The Chamberlain's Men, later The King's Men and owned also a part of the Globe Theatre. After 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and it seems that he spent more time in Stratford. There he had established his family. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on.

his dramatic career is generally divided into four periods:
(1) the period up to 1594,
(2) the years from 1594 to 1600,
(3) the years from 1600 to 1608, and
(4) the period after 1608.


1) Chronicle history plays were a popular genre of those times and he wrote e.g. Henry VI and Richard III , or a comedy of characters The Taming of the Shrew


2) Outstanding among the comedies of the second period is A Midsummer Night's Dream with its fantasy-filled insouciance, and a tragedy Romeo and Juliet , famous for its poetic treatment of the ecstasy of youthful love.


3) Shakespeare's third period includes his greatest tragedies and his so-called dark or bitter comedies :
Hamlet - his most famous play, Shakespeare goes far beyond other tragedies of revenge in picturing the mingled sordidness and glory of the human condition. The interpretation of Hamlet’s motivation and hesitation continues to be the subject of considerable controversy

Othello - portrays the growth of unjustified jealousy in the protagonist, Othello, a Moor serving as a general in the Venetian army. The innocent object of his jealousy is his wife, Desdemona. In this tragedy, Othello's evil lieutenant Iago draws him into mistaken jealousy in order to ruin him

Macbeth - Shakespeare depicts the tragedy of a great and basically good man who, led on by others and because of a defect in his own nature, succumbs to murderous ambition. In getting and retaining the Scottish throne, Macbeth dulls his humanity to the point where he becomes capable of any amoral act


4) In Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale characters suffer great loss and pain, but are reunited. Perhaps the most successful product of this particular vein of creativity may be Shakespeare's last complete play The Tempest

• from Shakespeare I’ve read only Hamlet and have seen Romeo and Juliet; if I should be honest, I must say that what I brought from Romeo and Juliet is only very strong story of love and in Hamlet, I was attracted by the description and depiction of one’s character - I think that Shakespeare managed to portray hesitating but also willing Hamlet perfectly


Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
20, William Shakespeare
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare
Články na hledaný výraz "William Shakespeare" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

William Shakespeare

• Shakespeare's day of birth is traditionally held to be April 23, it is known he was baptized on April 24 in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He was probably educated at the local grammar school, was apprenticed to a butcher and than he became a schoolmaster. That Shakespeare was allowed considerable leisure time in his youth is suggested by the fact that his plays show more knowledge of hunting and hawking than do those of other contemporary dramatists. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a farmer and he is supposed to have left Stratford after he was caught poaching in the deer park. Shakespeare apparently arrived in London in about 1588 and by 1592 had attained success as an actor and a playwright. He established his reputation as a gifted and popular Renaissance poet with his erotic narrative poems and his Sonnets. He was a sharer in his playing company called The Chamberlain's Men, later The King's Men and owned also a part of the Globe Theatre. After 1608, Shakespeare's dramatic production lessened and it seems that he spent more time in Stratford. There he had established his family. He died on April 23, 1616, and was buried in the Stratford church. Shakespeare's modern reputation is based mainly on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on.

his dramatic career is generally divided into four periods:
(1) the period up to 1594,
(2) the years from 1594 to 1600,
(3) the years from 1600 to 1608, and
(4) the period after 1608.


1) Chronicle history plays were a popular genre of those times and he wrote e.g. Henry VI and Richard III , or a comedy of characters The Taming of the Shrew


2) Outstanding among the comedies of the second period is A Midsummer Night's Dream with its fantasy-filled insouciance, and a tragedy Romeo and Juliet , famous for its poetic treatment of the ecstasy of youthful love.


3) Shakespeare's third period includes his greatest tragedies and his so-called dark or bitter comedies :
Hamlet - his most famous play, Shakespeare goes far beyond other tragedies of revenge in picturing the mingled sordidness and glory of the human condition. The interpretation of Hamlet’s motivation and hesitation continues to be the subject of considerable controversy

Othello - portrays the growth of unjustified jealousy in the protagonist, Othello, a Moor serving as a general in the Venetian army. The innocent object of his jealousy is his wife, Desdemona. In this tragedy, Othello's evil lieutenant Iago draws him into mistaken jealousy in order to ruin him

Macbeth - Shakespeare depicts the tragedy of a great and basically good man who, led on by others and because of a defect in his own nature, succumbs to murderous ambition. In getting and retaining the Scottish throne, Macbeth dulls his humanity to the point where he becomes capable of any amoral act


4) In Cymbeline and The Winter's Tale characters suffer great loss and pain, but are reunited. Perhaps the most successful product of this particular vein of creativity may be Shakespeare's last complete play The Tempest

• from Shakespeare I’ve read only Hamlet and have seen Romeo and Juliet; if I should be honest, I must say that what I brought from Romeo and Juliet is only very strong story of love and in Hamlet, I was attracted by the description and depiction of one’s character - I think that Shakespeare managed to portray hesitating but also willing Hamlet perfectly


Další zdroje o tomto tématu naleznete zde:
20, William Shakespeare
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (1564-1616)
William Shakespeare
Články na hledaný výraz "William Shakespeare" naleznete na bezuceni.cz

History of Great Britain

History of Great Britain

7th - 1st century BC - arrival of Celtic tribes

43 - 48 - Roman invasion of Britain, Britannia - the province - created

450 - 9th century - Raids on Britain by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

871 - Alfred, king of Wessex, halted the advance of Danes in England.

1066 - Norman conquest of England. The Saxon King Harold II was defeated at Hastings by William Duke of Normandy, who became William I (the Conqueror). William initiated the Domesday survey of property in England, which was completed in 1086.

1172 - Henry II began the English conquest of Ireland; effective English power was largely limited to the Irish Pale, around Dublin, until the 14th century.

1215 - King John conceded to the demands of powerful English barons and signed Magna Carta.

1338 - Beginning of Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Final defeat of English at the Battle of Castillon in 1453 saw the end of this conflict.

1455-1485 - The Wars of the Roses; the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. Edward IV became the first of the rulers of the House of York in 1461.

1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field established Henry VII, the first of the Tudors, on the English throne. Henry VII began the process of establishing English supremacy over Ireland.

1534 - Henry VIII of England broke with Rome; by the Act of Supremacy he exerted control over the English Church. In 1541 he declared himself king of Ireland.

1558 - 1603 - Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne.

1588 - The invasion of Britain by Spain was thwarted by the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1603 - Union of English and Scottish crowns. James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the first of the Stuart rulers.

1642 - Outbreak of English Civil War.

1649 - Charles I was beheaded, and a republic was declared. Oliver Cromwell’s ruthless supression of Irish rebellion culminated in the slaughter of an Irish garrison at Drogheda.

1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, a position he retained until his death in 1659.

1660 - Restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II.

1707 - Scotland was annexed to England > Great Britain

1801 - An Act of Union took effect which incorporated Ireland into Great Britain.

1837 - 1901 - the reign of Queen Victoria, 1876 - creation of India colony

1914-1918 - Great Britain and the other Allies fought the Central Powers during World War I. Although the Allies won, the war had shattering economic and social effects on the kingdom.

1921 - The Irish Free State was created. The British kingdom was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1940 - Victory in the air during the Battle of Britain prevented a German invasion.

1947 - The British colonies of India and Pakistan became independent nations. Many other British colonies became independent in the following years.

1982 - Great Britain defeated Argentine forces after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

1979-1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister and was replaced by fellow Conservative John Major.

1991 - Large numbers of the armed forces took part in the Gulf War.

History of Great Britain

History of Great Britain

7th - 1st century BC - arrival of Celtic tribes

43 - 48 - Roman invasion of Britain, Britannia - the province - created

450 - 9th century - Raids on Britain by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

871 - Alfred, king of Wessex, halted the advance of Danes in England.

1066 - Norman conquest of England. The Saxon King Harold II was defeated at Hastings by William Duke of Normandy, who became William I (the Conqueror). William initiated the Domesday survey of property in England, which was completed in 1086.

1172 - Henry II began the English conquest of Ireland; effective English power was largely limited to the Irish Pale, around Dublin, until the 14th century.

1215 - King John conceded to the demands of powerful English barons and signed Magna Carta.

1338 - Beginning of Hundred Years’ War between England and France. Final defeat of English at the Battle of Castillon in 1453 saw the end of this conflict.

1455-1485 - The Wars of the Roses; the conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne. Edward IV became the first of the rulers of the House of York in 1461.

1485 - The Battle of Bosworth Field established Henry VII, the first of the Tudors, on the English throne. Henry VII began the process of establishing English supremacy over Ireland.

1534 - Henry VIII of England broke with Rome; by the Act of Supremacy he exerted control over the English Church. In 1541 he declared himself king of Ireland.

1558 - 1603 - Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne.

1588 - The invasion of Britain by Spain was thwarted by the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

1603 - Union of English and Scottish crowns. James VI of Scotland became James I of England, the first of the Stuart rulers.

1642 - Outbreak of English Civil War.

1649 - Charles I was beheaded, and a republic was declared. Oliver Cromwell’s ruthless supression of Irish rebellion culminated in the slaughter of an Irish garrison at Drogheda.

1653 - Oliver Cromwell dissolved Parliament and became Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, a position he retained until his death in 1659.

1660 - Restoration of the Stuart monarchy under Charles II.

1707 - Scotland was annexed to England > Great Britain

1801 - An Act of Union took effect which incorporated Ireland into Great Britain.

1837 - 1901 - the reign of Queen Victoria, 1876 - creation of India colony

1914-1918 - Great Britain and the other Allies fought the Central Powers during World War I. Although the Allies won, the war had shattering economic and social effects on the kingdom.

1921 - The Irish Free State was created. The British kingdom was renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

1940 - Victory in the air during the Battle of Britain prevented a German invasion.

1947 - The British colonies of India and Pakistan became independent nations. Many other British colonies became independent in the following years.

1982 - Great Britain defeated Argentine forces after Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.

1979-1990 - Margaret Thatcher resigned as prime minister and was replaced by fellow Conservative John Major.

1991 - Large numbers of the armed forces took part in the Gulf War.

Schools and I

Schools and I

• first school I was attending was a nursery school and when I was 6 I moved to a basic school; the basic school had no specialisation and it even didn’t have extended language teaching, so I was learning only one language (English) and only for 4 years; I was the last class that didn’t have the compulsory 9th class and on the second term I passed the entrance exams to a secondary school, gymnasium; now I would like to enrol at a a university - CVUT, specialisation air traffic controller

school system in CR :
Creche - is the first school, where babies are brought up until they are 3; it’s for mothers, who can’t stay on maternity leave with their children

Nursery school - from 3rd year of baby’s life the maternity leave for mothers finishes and they usually put their children in these school, where they can be until they are 6 or 7

Primary school - is compulsory for all children and the education is 9 years long

Secondary school - is voluntuary and children can choose from :
vocational schools - prepares for a job, emphasises handy work and practical training
technical schools - students are educated in specialised subjects
gymnasium - students are given general education

Supplementary schools - are usually 2 years long and educate students in specialised subjects

University - is the highest possible education; there are more types of them, e.g. technical and academical ones, academies of arts, millitary and police ...


School year in CR
• school year in CR starts on the 1st of September, ends on 31st of June and is divided into two 5-months-long terms; at the end of every term students receive reports

• the first holidays are autumn holidays in October (2 days), then Christas holidays (in an ideal case they are 2 weeks long), half-of-term holiday is held after students receive reports (one day), spring holidays are one week long and are held on different terms depending from which region the student is and after the year report 2 months holidays

• on secondary schools, students of the 4th grade have one week off called “Saint week” before the school-leaving exam, that every student of the secondary school has to take (except some vocational schools)

• during the school year, every school has its own days off (e.g. concerts, sports days, theatres and other actions)

• on basic schools, secondary schools and universities students go on week-long summer or winter courses, with their teachers, where they learn to ski or go swimming, biking and hiking in summer

• the main subjects that most of the schools teach are maths, Czech language, foreign language, geography, history, physics, chemistry, biology ..., but they differ on each secondary schools



Comparing schools in UK/USA and CR

• the biggest difference between our and British school system is, that pupils in CR after 9 years of compulsury education can enter the high school for 4 years and in UK after 11 years of compulsury education they take only 2 years of ‘A’ levels - I think that someone who wants to enrol at a university is much better prepared from the 4-years high school than from 2-years ‘A’ levels

• in CR the better and worse students are together only for 9 years and than they separate, but in UK they have to be mixed for 11 years - I think that the good students must suffer

• children in UK enter the school at the age or 5 and in CR at the age of 6 or 7; I think in this point our system is better, because when children are 5, they are still too young to pay attention and they get quickly tired - that’s why they don’t like going to schools

• the British system is better in the length of compulsory education - during 11 years the pupils learn more than during 9 years

• on the contrary to the USA, students in CR don’t take only written tests, but also oral exams - it is good for expressing; Czech students also learn more theory than make experiments; it has advantages and of course disadvantages too, but basicly I think we are better prepared for studies on the university

Schools and I

Schools and I

• first school I was attending was a nursery school and when I was 6 I moved to a basic school; the basic school had no specialisation and it even didn’t have extended language teaching, so I was learning only one language (English) and only for 4 years; I was the last class that didn’t have the compulsory 9th class and on the second term I passed the entrance exams to a secondary school, gymnasium; now I would like to enrol at a a university - CVUT, specialisation air traffic controller

school system in CR :
Creche - is the first school, where babies are brought up until they are 3; it’s for mothers, who can’t stay on maternity leave with their children

Nursery school - from 3rd year of baby’s life the maternity leave for mothers finishes and they usually put their children in these school, where they can be until they are 6 or 7

Primary school - is compulsory for all children and the education is 9 years long

Secondary school - is voluntuary and children can choose from :
vocational schools - prepares for a job, emphasises handy work and practical training
technical schools - students are educated in specialised subjects
gymnasium - students are given general education

Supplementary schools - are usually 2 years long and educate students in specialised subjects

University - is the highest possible education; there are more types of them, e.g. technical and academical ones, academies of arts, millitary and police ...


School year in CR
• school year in CR starts on the 1st of September, ends on 31st of June and is divided into two 5-months-long terms; at the end of every term students receive reports

• the first holidays are autumn holidays in October (2 days), then Christas holidays (in an ideal case they are 2 weeks long), half-of-term holiday is held after students receive reports (one day), spring holidays are one week long and are held on different terms depending from which region the student is and after the year report 2 months holidays

• on secondary schools, students of the 4th grade have one week off called “Saint week” before the school-leaving exam, that every student of the secondary school has to take (except some vocational schools)

• during the school year, every school has its own days off (e.g. concerts, sports days, theatres and other actions)

• on basic schools, secondary schools and universities students go on week-long summer or winter courses, with their teachers, where they learn to ski or go swimming, biking and hiking in summer

• the main subjects that most of the schools teach are maths, Czech language, foreign language, geography, history, physics, chemistry, biology ..., but they differ on each secondary schools



Comparing schools in UK/USA and CR

• the biggest difference between our and British school system is, that pupils in CR after 9 years of compulsury education can enter the high school for 4 years and in UK after 11 years of compulsury education they take only 2 years of ‘A’ levels - I think that someone who wants to enrol at a university is much better prepared from the 4-years high school than from 2-years ‘A’ levels

• in CR the better and worse students are together only for 9 years and than they separate, but in UK they have to be mixed for 11 years - I think that the good students must suffer

• children in UK enter the school at the age or 5 and in CR at the age of 6 or 7; I think in this point our system is better, because when children are 5, they are still too young to pay attention and they get quickly tired - that’s why they don’t like going to schools

• the British system is better in the length of compulsory education - during 11 years the pupils learn more than during 9 years

• on the contrary to the USA, students in CR don’t take only written tests, but also oral exams - it is good for expressing; Czech students also learn more theory than make experiments; it has advantages and of course disadvantages too, but basicly I think we are better prepared for studies on the university

School system in the Czech Republic

School system in the Czech Republic

In the CR, school attendance is compulsory from the age of 6 till 15 (or 16). It is free of charge and all children have the same possibilities for their future education.
This system includes 4 grades:
a) Pre - school education
In our country there are nursery schools for children from the age of 1 to 3 years. From the age of 3 to 6 children attend kindergarten. This pre-school education is not compulsory.

b) Primary education
From the age of 6 to 15 (or 16) children attend basic schools. There are 2 degrees there. The first degree is from the first to the fifth class. Children learn the 3 R's there: Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic. Second degree is from the 6th to the 9th class. They learn Czech language and literature, foreign language, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, History, Geography, Civics, P. E., Music and Art.

c) Secondary education
Boys and girls over the age 15 (or) 16 attend secondary schools such as Grammar school, Special School and Apprentice centres. At secondary school students are taught most of those subject as at basic school but they are expanded in their content. As for special subjects, they learn economics, typing, accounting, computers, and various kinds of laboratory work. Students finish their studies with the school-leaving examination

d) Tertiary education
Tertiary education refers to universities and Technical Universities. Successful students from secondary schools can enter any university.