Easter Celebrations in Great Britain

Visit the sites below and you will learn about Easter traditions in Great Britain. The sites provide text material and videos.

http://www.squidoo.com/british-easter-traditions-in-the-uk

http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Folklore-Year-Easter/

Animal Farm

Born in 1903 in what was once known as British India, George Orwell came to be known for his politically-charged writings, both fiction and non-fiction. His most famous works include Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. The latter is an allegorical and dystopian novel that anthropomorphizes animals to transmit its message. 

Animal Farm has been adapted to film twice. The 1954 Animal Farm film was an animated feature and the 1999 Animal Farm film was a TV live action version. Both differ from the novel, and have been accused of taking significant liberties, including sanitizing some aspects.

Watch any of the screen versions of the novel. You will surely like it.

Cute animals: UK-bound great white shark continues path towards Cornish coast

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/great-white-shark-uk-bound-lydia-3225466  

London Webquest

Taking the Tube, doing the Jack the Ripper walk, listening to a famous architect, looking into a 1940s house and who are Jeeves, the Hammers and the Eagles?

Introductory quiz

Find out some facts about the UK. Look at the website and answer the following questions. You will have to browse the site to find the information.

1. What is the nation's current favourite food?
2. Where is the ‘home’ of the sport golf?
3. What is the artist Chris Ofili famous for?
4. What song is sung on New Year’s Eve in the UK?

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline/explore/journey/uk/ukindex.htm

Group planning

The second exercise involves orientation. You have arrived at Heathrow Airport and want to travel to London Bridge. Look at the London Tube website and answer the following questions:

1. What line(s) do you take to travel from Heathrow to London Bridge?
2. Where do you change trains?

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/im/SI-SE.html

Reading comprehension

Now let’s go and explore one of London’s famous legends. Go to the Jack the Ripper walk website, and then follow the link to read the full history of the Jack the Ripper murders. Look at the text and try to put the following events in the correct order (in real time).

a) The killer was never found
b) Elizabeth Stride was killed
c) Mary Nicholl’s body was found
d) Louis Deimschutz disturbed the ripper
e) Catherine Edowes was attacked
f) Mary Nicholl’s throat was cut
g) Angry mobs attacked suspects

http://www.jack-the-ripper-walk.co.uk/ 

Reading and history

Visit this 1940s house that has been recreated by the Imperial War Museum and have a look around. Compare the house to the house you live in. What differences and similarities are there? Take some notes. Is the furniture very different? Is there anything you can see or read that indicates that life in 1940 was very different from now? Discuss with a partner.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/1940s_house_gallery.shtml

Reading and culture

Visit the sites in order to find the authors of a number of London books written between 1850 and 1950. Now use the following links to answer the following questions. You may have to search a little.

Charles Dickens lived at _____________ when he wrote the __________ Papers. He moved there in ______ and lived there for ______ years.

http://www.dickensmuseum.com/

Which writer from the Bloomsbury group wrote a book called Where Angels Fear to Tread?

http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/a319/bloom-04.htm

The writer P.G. Wodehouse was famous in particular for two characters. What were those characters’ names?

• What jobs did the characters do?
• What kind of characters were they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._G._Wodehouse

Listening

You are going to listen to Richard Rogers, the architect who designed London’s Lloyds Building and the Millennium Dome. What does he say about the planning and the construction of Lloyds Building?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwABGZa3T5I

Time out

Work in small groups (three to five). You are going to spend 24 hours in London. Where will you go? What will you do? Plan out your 24 hours. Be careful that you know how to get to each place (use the Transport Map from task two).

http://www.timeout.com/london/

London web quiz

Answer the questions. Below there is a list of all websites used to get the information.

1. At what gate in which famous tower was the ghost of Sir Thomas Becket seen striking a wall with a crucifix?
2. What are the nicknames of the following London football teams: Crystal Palace and West Ham?
3. Which two tube stations beginning with a ‘w’ are best for going to the London Eye?
4. Name the dinosaur that lived in England in the Middle Jurassic period, which was carnivorous and could measure up to nine metres long.
5. What is the name of the pub in the London soap opera Eastenders?
6. What is ‘Kew Gardens’ and where can you find it? 

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk
The Tower of London: http://www.camelotintl.com/tower_site/index.html
Crystal Palace: http://www.c-palace.org/cp_home.htm
West Ham: http://www.whufc.com/page/Home
London Eye: http://www.londoneye.com/
The Natural History Museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/nature-online/dino-directory/
Kew Gardens: http://www.kew.org/

Topic: City

Visit the listed below sites. Listen to the interviews. Do the vocabulary and comprehension quizzes.

http://www.elllo.org/english/0101/123-Jason-TravelTips.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0101/137-Jason-Accents.htm  

http://www.elllo.org/english/0051/064-Tara-Hometown.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0001/043-Cat-England.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0151/153-Matt-Manchester.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0201/247-Marion-Dublin.htm

http://www.elllo.org/english/0551/551-Mark-CityCountry.html

Strong and weak forms

Words	Strong Forms	Weak Forms (quantitative reduc­tion, qualitative reduction, elision of sounds)	Examples
Articles the	ði:	ðə + consonant	glʊk ət  ðə ╲bʊk
		ði･, ði, ðI  + vowel	aIl gteIk  ðI Ig ╲zæm
a	eI + C	ə + С	hIəz ə ╲letə
an	æn + V	æn + V	hIəz æn ╲æpl
Prepositions at	æt	ət	ət ╲həʊm
from	frɒm	frəm	frəm ╲lLndən
of	ɒv	əv, v	ə  gʤLg  əv ╲mIlk
to	tu:	tə + C	gspi:k  tə ðə ╲di:n
		tu･, tʊ + V	gkLm tʊ  ə  kən╲klu:ʒn
into	Intu:	Intə + C	gkLm  Intʊ  ðə ╲ru:m
		Intʊ + V	gpʊt   It  Intʊ   ə ╲bɒks
for	fɔ: + C	fə + C	gkLm  fə ╲ti:
	fɔ:r + V	fər + V	gkLm  fər ə  ╲tɔ:k
Pronouns you	ju:	ju･,  ju, jʊ	ju ə ╲raIt
he	hi:	hi･, hi, hI	hIz ╲fri:
she	ʃi:	ʃi･,  ʃi,  ʃI	ʃIz  ╲prItI
we	wi:	wi･,  wi,  wI	wI  ə╲gri:
me	mi:	mi･,  mi,  mI	glet mI ╲si:
her	hɜ: + C	hɜ･, hə, ə + C	gnIkz  hə ╲sLn
	hɜ:r + V	hər, ər + V	gtel hər  ╲ɔ:l
his	hIz	Iz	aI glaIk  Iz ╲feIs
him	hIm	Im	gsend  Im ə ╲wɜ:d
us	Ls	əs, s	gli:v  əs In ╲pi:s
them	ðem	ðəm,  əm	gɑ:sk  ðəm tə ╲du: It
your	jɔ: + C	jɔ･,  jɔ, jə + C	ghIəz jə ╲hæt
	jɔ:r + V	jɔ･r,  jɔr, jər + V	aIm  jər gəʊld ╲frend
our	aʊə + C	aə + C	gbraʊnz  aə ╲neIbə
	aʊər + V	aər + V	hIz  aər gəʊld ╲frend
Verbs be	bi:	bi･,  bi,  bI	gdəʊnt bI ╲nɔ:tI
been	bi:n	bi･n, bin, bIn	aIv  bIn ╲qIŋkIŋ
am	æm	m – after I,  əm	aIm ╲taIəd
are	ɑ: + C	ɑ･, ə + C	jʊə ╲leIt
	ɑ:r + V	ɑ･r, ər + V	jʊər  ə╲ləʊn
is	ɪz	z – after voiced consonants and vowels	gweəz ╲nɪk
		s – after voiceless consonants	gðæts╲ raɪt
		ɪz – after s, z,  ʃ, ʒ tʃ, dʒ	ðə ghaʊs ɪz ╲lɑ:dʒ
was	wɒz	wəz	gwɒt wəz ╲rɒŋ
were	wɜ: + C	wɜ･,  wɜ,  wə + C	ðə gtri:z wə ╲gri:n
	wɜ:r + V	wɜ･r,  wɜr,  wər + V	ðə gbɔɪz wər ╲ɒnɪst
have	hæv	həv, əv, v – after personal pronouns	ðə gkɑ:z əv ╲stɒpt
has	hæz	həz, əz, z – after voiced consonants and vowels s – after voiceless consonants	ðə gdɒktə həz ╲kʌm
had	hæd	həd, əd, d – after personal pronouns	mnɪk həd ˈfɪnɪʃt ɪt baɪ ╲faɪv
can	kæn	kən, kn	ðeɪ kən ╲steɪ
could	kʊd	kəd, kd	ðeɪ kən ╲fəʊn
must	mʌst	məst, məs	aɪ məst ╲wɔ:n ɪm
will	wɪl	l	ðeɪl ə╲gri:
would	wʊd	wəd, əd, d – after personal pronouns	ðə ggɜ:l wəd ╲steɪ
shall	ʃæl	ʃəl, ʃl – after personal pronouns	wɪ ʃəl ╲wɜ:k
should	ʃʊd	ʃəd, ʃd – after personal pronouns	aɪ ʃəd glaɪk tə ╲steɪ
do	du:	du･,  du, dʊ, də	gwɒt də ðeɪ ╲nəʊ
does	dʌz	dəz	gwen dəz ɪ ╲kʌm
Conjunctions and	ænd	ənd, ən, n	beɪkn ənd ╲egz
but	bʌt	bət	bət gwaɪ ╲nɒt
that	ðæt	ðət	jʊ gnəʊ ðət jʊə ╲rɒŋ
than	ðæn	ðən, ðn	ɪts gwɔ:mə ðən ╲jestədɪ
as	æz	əz	əz gsu:n əz ╲pɒsɪbl
or	ɔ: + C	ɔ･, ɔ, ə + C	gred ɔ ╲waɪt
	ɔ:r + V	ɔ･r, ɔr, ər + V	gtɒm ɔr ╲æn
Particles to	tu:	tə + C	gtraɪ tə ╲du: ɪt
		tʊ + V	gtraɪ tʊ ╲i:t ɪt
there	ðeə	ðə + C	ðə wə ╲letəz
		ðər + V	ðər ə ╲tʃɪldrən

С — consonant; V — vowel

The weak forms of the words listed in the table should be used in unstressed positions.

The strong forms of auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns and form-words are by far more rarely used. They are used in their strong forms when they are said in isolation, when they become the communicative centres of utter­ances. The following cases should be also remembered as the traditional use of strong forms in the English language.

Prepositions have their strong forms though they might re­main unstressed:

(a)  at the very end of an intonation group or phrase, eg

What are you looking at? [gwɒt ə jʊ _╲lʊkɪŋ æt].

(b)  at the end of an intonation group or phrase when they are followed by the unstressed pronoun. Monosyllabic prepositions are either stressed or not, according to the rhythmic pattern of the phrase, eg

I'm not talking to you.[ aɪm gnɒt _╲tɔ:kɪŋ tu: jʊ]

                             but: [aɪm ^mnɒt _ˈtɔ:kɪŋ tə _╲ju:]

Polysyllabic prepositions followed by a pronoun at the end of a phrase are stressed as a rule, eg

Have a look under it. [^mhæv ə _ˈlʊk _╲ʌndər ɪt].

Auxiliary and modal verbs have their strong forms:

(a)            at the end of an intonation group or a phrase whether stressed or not, eg

Who has done it? — Mary has. [_╲meərɪ hæz].

Are you free? — I am. [aɪ _╲æm].

(b)            At the beginning of general and alternative questions in careful colloquial style, while in rapid colloquial style they are unstressed and reduced, eg

Can you get it by tomorrow? [^mkæn jʊ _ˈget ɪt baɪ tə_╲mɒrəʊ],

but: Have you got any matches? [həv jʊ ggɒt enɪ _╲mætʃɪz].

(c)            In contracted negative forms, eg

1 don’t know the man. [aɪ gdəʊnt _╲nəʊ ðə mæn].

The following form-words should be remembered as having no weak forms whatsoever: what, where, when, how, which, on, in, with, then.

The verb to   have used as a content  verb in   the meaning  of

‘to possess’ has  no weak forms (whether stressed or not) though

often unstressed, eg

I have a little brother [aɪ hæv ə glɪtl _╲brʌðə].

The demonstrative pronoun that is never reduced while the conjunction that is, eg

I know that [aɪ _╲nəʊ ðæt],

but: I know that he is here. [aɪ gnəʊ ðət hɪz _╲hɪə].

Neither are reduced the absolute forms of possessive pro­nouns, eg.

The ball-реп is mine. [ðə gbɔ:l pen ɪz _╲maɪn].

All the form-words, auxiliary and modal verbs, personal and possessive pronouns are generally stressed and consequently have their strong forms in case they become the logical centres of phrases, eg

I’m speaking of your work, not of your sister’s. [aɪm gspi:kɪŋ əv _╲jɔ: wɜ:k | gnɒt əv jə _╲sɪstəz]