The Irish Music

Ireland is strong and rich in music. The Irish people love to sing, to dance and to make music of all kinds. The harp has always been a very important musical instrument in Ireland. In the wars between the Irish and the English, it was like a national flag for the Irish. In the seventeenth century it became more than that. One very famous harper was O'Carloan. He was born in Westmeath in about 1670. When O'Carloan was about sixteen years old his eyes failed and he became blind. With the help of a kind, rich lady he learned to play the harp. He also wrote poetry and music for the harp. People have saved a lot of his music and harpers still play O'Carloan's beautiful songs.

When they hear the word "nocturne", people usually think of Chopin. Chopin's nocturnes are famous but the first nocturnes came from an Irishman. He was John Field. He was a pupil in London of the great piano player, composer and teacher Clementi. He was one of the really great pianists. We can't hear him today because there were no record of music in his time. Ireland also has its great pop and rock musicians. A very successful group is U2. It started in Dublin in 1979. U2 is a rock group. It knows the young people of Ireland and the things that they feel and want. They speak for young Irish people but they are famous all over the world. Today there are many Irish musicians. A lot of them are internationally famous, and that is wonderful for a country with only five million people.

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Put 10 questions to the text.

Спеціальність: Культурологія

The Most Popular British Writers

William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens remain two of the most popular and widely known British writers all over the world. Dickens began his writing career as a journalist, and all his novels were first published serially in periodicals. Many of his works highlight the injustice of 19th century social institutions and inequalities between the rich and the poor. His most famous works include "Oliver Twist" and "David Copperfield". As to Shakespeare in addition to writing 35 known plays, he wrote 154 sonnets and sometimes acted in small parts in his own plays. He is known to have played the Ghost in "Hamlet". His best known plays include "King Lear", "A Midsummer night's dream" and "Romeo and Juliet". The Bronte sister, Charlotte (1816-55), Emily (1818-48) and Anne (1820-49), were three talented 19th century women novelists whose works are regarded as classics today. Charlotte Bronte is best known for her novel "Jane Eyre". The novels of Jane Austen are known for their subtlety of observation and irony, together with their insights into the provincial life of the middle-class in the early part of 19th century. Her works include "Emma", "Pride and Prejudice" and others.

Vocabulary: to remain - оставаться to highlight - освещать injustice - несправедливость observation - наблюдение 

Questions: 1. Who is the most popular and widely known British writer? 2. When did Dickens begin his career? 3. What plays by Shakespeare do you know? 4. What are the Bronte sisters famous for? 5. What other popular British writers do you know?

Спеціальність: Хореографія

Dancing is a way of life

My name is Maria Shishkina. I am 16 years old. I was born in Cheboksary, Russia and I still live here. I have a family but it isn’t big. It consists of my mother, my father and me. I study in Lyceum #2 in the 10th grade. My class specializes in Law. We extend our knowledge of Social Science, English and the Russian language. I’m going to be a lawyer in the future. I have a hobby. My hobby is dancing. I join a dance group. It is very big. Young people of different ages train and enjoy dancing there. I have a skilled choreographer. For me she is not only a teacher, she is also the person who can give advice or help in difficult situations. She has been dancing for about 30 years and she has a lot of experience. All the costumes for our group she sews herself. Everyone in the group loves and respects her. I have been dancing for 10 years. Every day my dance classes last 3 hours. I can’t live without dancing and I always miss it when I have to take a break from the lessons because of health problems or vacation. Dancing plays the most important role in my life and I can’t imagine my life without it. I have many friends in my dance group. We like to spend our free time together. For example, we go on picnics or go for a walk together. Our dance group is well known in our city. We always take part in different concerts. For example, we danced at the opening ceremonies of the 5th European Cup Race Walking in 2003 and the 22nd World Cup Race Walking in 2008. This year our dance group celebrates the twentieth anniversary. The concert dedicated to it will be held in April, and I will perform dances there. I think that dancing gives me a lot. It gives me flexibility, plasticity, good posture and positive emotions. Maybe for me dancing isn’t just a hobby. It is a way of life and even the life itself.

Read and translate the text. Prepare for а discussion.

Put 10 questions to the text.

Спеціальність: Образотворче мистецтво