The Countries Whose Language I Am Learning

I.)GREAT BRITAIN:

1. The System of Government:
   -UK= Constitutional Monarchy
   -head: Queen Elizabeth II. – no real political power
   -Monarchy = governed by Cabinet –headed by the Prime Minister
   Parliament- the House of Lords
   - the House of Commons (posl. snemovňa)
   - the Houses of Parliament are in Weastminister
   -Constitution (ústava) is not written .
   -Political parties: - Conservative Party
   -Liberal Party
   -Labour Party
2. Geography:
   a)location + states (England, Wales, Scotland, Nothern Ireland)
   b)climate + landscape
   c)population + language
3. Economy:
   a) industry + resources
   b)agriculture
4. Places to visit
5. Ways of life
6. Festivals : New Year`s Eve, St. Valentine`s Day, St. Patrick´s day, Easter, Halloween, Guy Fawke`s Day, Christmas
7. The flag

GEOGRAPHY:

• the official title is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland
• it is situated on the British Isles lying off the north-west coast of Europe
• it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and it is separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel.
• there is mild and rainy climate
• the population is more than 57 million people

ECONOMY:

• it is an industrial country
• major industries include iron and steel engineering, textiles, plastics, cotton, chemicals, wool and shipbuilding
• the chief griculture products are wheat, barley, oat, potatoes, sugar beet, milk and meet

PLACES TO VISIT:

- England:

• the patron is St. George
• it is divided to 39 countries (Essex, Kent, Durham, Yorkshire,...)
• the most important industrial cities are Manchester, Birmingham
• the capital city is London
• the most beautiful natural scenery is Lake District
• the longest rivers are the Severn and the Thames
• there are several place to visit:

Stratford upon Avon – Shakespeare´s birthplace
Oxford – it is a university town, where the oldest university in England is
Cambridge – a university town
Greenwich – the prime meridian of 0 degrees passes trough the old observatory
Canterbury – it is the seat of the archbishop with a magnificent cathedral
Stonehenge – it is a meghalitic monument, there is a huge circle of ruins
-Wales:

• is famous for its long rivers, big lakes and high hills
• the capital is Cardiff
• the highest mountain is Snowdon in Snowdonia
• there are 3 national parks : Snowdonia, Pembrokeshire Coast and the Breacon Beacon National Park
• there are two languages spoken in Wales: English and Welsh
• Scotland:
  -is famous for its mountains, lochs, dramatic coastline and unspoiled countryside
  -we usually imagine a bagpiper in a kilt and the traditional Scotch whiskey
  -the Patron Saint of Scotland is St. Andrew
  -the highest peak is Ben Navis
  -the chief river is the Clyde
  -the most famous lakes are Loch Ness and Loch Lomond
  -the capital is Edinburgh
  -they eat special meal called haggies
  - Northern Ireland:
  - the capital is Belfast
  -the life of people is dominated by religious and economics problems

THE WAY OF LIFE:

• The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech.Their insularity, conservaticism and sticking to traditions are often pointed to.
• They are famous for their politness, self-discipline, reliability and for their specific sense of humour. They never seem to be in a hurry and are seldom nervous.
• They rarely shake hands when they meet (it is common for young people to kiss on the cheek).
• They are fond of animals, and of sports : football (soccer), rugby, golf, tennis,...
• They like to spend their free time outdoors (go for a picnic)

FESTIVALS:

• St. Valentine`s day :
• February 14th
• In the past on that day, pagans asked their gods to give them good fruit and vegetables, and strong animals.
• Then Christians came with a story about man called Saint Valentine.He fell in love with daughter of a man who worked in prison, where he was because he helped a soldier to get married. The day he died he sent her a note.
• People send Valentine´s cards to the person they love (usually anonymously); a man will perhaps give his girlfriend or wife red roses or some chocolate and sweets; a lot of people go to restaurants and have dinner for two with candles and soft music.
• it is lovers´day

St. Patrick´s Day:

• March 17th
• St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland (he brought Christianity to Ireland).
• it is a public holiday in Ireland
• people often wear shamrock on that day
• bands play traditional Irish songs, people eat corned beef sandwiches and drink Irish stouts and ales.

Easter :

• April
• it is the most important festival in church year:
• lent starts 40 days before Easter Sunday in Ash Wednesday
• Palm Sunday ( kvetná nedeľa) - Jesus´ entry into Jerusalem
• palm branches
• services
• Mounday Thursday (zelený štvrtok) – the day before Jesus´ crucifiction
• Last Supper (posl. večera)
• disciples (učeníci)
• Good Friday (veľký piatok) – services to commemorate the crucifiction
• big fast
• Easter Sunday – celebrating of Jesus resurrection
• for pagans it was a celebration of spring coming
• many animals are born in spring (baby sheep, rabbits, birds,...), nature wakes up. Eggs are an important part of Easter because they mean spring and new life. One Easter British tradition is “egg rolling“- people take the eggs to the top of hill and the eggs roll down. The first egg is winner. In some famillies children must go outside and look for eggs which are hidden in their garden by their parents. Many people eat hot cross buns- it is small loaf of bread, made with fruit and spices with cross on the top. Some women decorate hats, called Easter bonnets and wear them at Easter bonnet parades.

Halloween:

• October 31th
• The pagans who lived in Britain two thousand years ago celebrated New Year on 1st November, then Christians came and people celebrated “Hallowmas“ and slowly the name changed to Halloween. In the past people believed that bad spirits, like ghosts, came in winter. They wanted them to go away, so they made fires outside and made jack o´lantern. A lantern is a kind of light, and some people think Jack was a nightwatchman who had one of these lights. To make jack o´lantern, people cut a hole into a pumpkin, they put a candle in the hole, and cut a face in the side. Another thing people did to make the bad spirits go away was to dress like witches and ghosts.

People often go to Halloween´s parties, put up decorations and play games. The decorations are usually black (for dark night and death) and orange (for the autumn vegetables). Sometimes children go “trick or treating“ – they dress like witches and ghosts, and go to the houses around where they live. People must decide if they give the children a treat (fruit or chocolate) or the children will play a trick of them (it is often throwing eggs at the house). 

Guy Fawkes´ day:

• the night of the November 5th
• for days before many children make a doll- “guy“ out of old clothes stuffed with newspapers and rags. Then they parade this around streets and ask passers-by for a penny for the guy.

On the night there are bonfire parties at which the guy is burnt.
Some people cook sausages on sticks at the fire and potatoes and chestnuts in the embers. There are many fireworks set off.
Guy Fawkes was Catholic trained soldier,who put with his friends boxes of gunpowder in a cellar underneath the Houses of Parliament. They wanted to kill the king. But one of new members of this group decided to forewarn a relative who was a member of parliament, so the plot was discovered and Guy Fawkes was found in a cellar. Under torture on the rack he revealed the names of his accompices and they were killed.

Christmas:

• December 24th
• People commemorate when Jesus Christ was born.
• It is a time for buying and giving presents, having parties, and being with family. Children sing Christmas songs called carols. Many children have Advent calendars with little doors for each day until Christmas. Every day child opens a new door and inside there is a picture or a chocolate.
• Christmas holiday begins on 24th December : Christmas Eve. People cover the presents in special paper, and put them under the tree. If the house has a fireplace, children leave their stockings by the fire because Santa Claus (in Britain he is usually called Father Christmas) comes down the chimney. If they are good he leaves presents in stockings, but if they are bad he leaves them a piece of coal. Some children leave a drink and a mince pie for Santa and some vegetables for his animals-reindeers.
• Children usually wake up very early to look in their stockings and for presents around the tree. Christmas dinner is the biggest meal of the day. Before they start to eat, people pull crackers. Dinner is usually turkey with lots of vegetables and then hot mince pies or Christmas pudding.
• December 26th is called Boxing day from the costum in earlier times of giving postmen, milkmen, dustmen, newspaper boys small sums of monay, For children it marks the beginning of the pantomime season.
• December 31th is New Year´s Eve- people stay up till midnight. In London some people gather in Trafalgar Squere and celebrate the coming of New Year with singing and dancing.
• Hogmanay- is the Scottish name for New Year´s Eve. They sit down to dinner which begins with haggis (Scotland´s national dish).

THE FLAG:

• it is known as the Union Jack. It consists of three crosses – of St. George (England), St. Andrew (Scotland) and St. Patrick (Ireland)