My Favourite English Writer

William Shakespeare (1564 –1616) was one of the greatest and famous writer in human history. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town in the middle of England. His father wanted his son to be a well educated person and William was sent to the local grammar school. Studying at school the boy actually did not have any free time. But he spent his rare spare hours walking in the forest or watching the river Avon. Those days were not a lot of theatres in towns and actors and actresses had to travel moving from one place to another with their shows. Sometimes they visited Stratford–upon-Avon. William liked to watch them playing. He got fond of their profession and he decided to become an actor.

He went to London and there he became an actor. At that time he began to write plays too. Shakespeare was at the same time an actor and a playwright. In his works he reflected events of his contemporaries’ life. His plays were staged in many theatres, translated into many foreign languages. That made Shakespeare a very popular man.

Most famous of his plays are ”Othello,” “King Lear,” “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet.” They are still popular and you can watch his plays in almost any country of the world. He produced thirty-seven plays at all. He had connections with the best English theatres for about 25 years.

William Shakespeare wrote also a lot of poetry including his unbeatable sonnets. There numerous songs written with his poems. He is still most often published author of the world and well-known among people. We do not know much about his life. Sometimes one hardly tell facts of his life from the later myths. We can only guess what kind of man he was analyzing the legends and a few documents of the time.

Shakespeare died in 1616, but millions people today still admire his plays.

Music and Outstanding Composers of Great Britain

Henry Parcel (1659-1695) lived in the 17-th century. He was the founder of the British opera. His opera “King Arthur,” was very popular among the common people. The main idea of this great influence of Henry Parcel has been seen today in the works of Benjamin Britten.

B.Britten is a well-known British composer (1913-1976). He has composed a large amount of music of all kinds, also operas and choral works. His music is very expressive. One of his greatest works is opera “Peter Brimes.” It’s an exciting story about a poor fisherman who was falsely accused and driven out of his native village.

Great Britain has also good traditions of folk music. There are traditional folk clubs in most towns.

Modern music is also of great popularity. Most talented and famous composers of contemporary life are John Lennon and Paul McCartny, the founder of the legendary group “The Beatles,” whose music still influences new generations.

Lesson 19

Education in Great Britain

Match the following English words with their Ukrainian equivalents

Playgroup	Магістр
Nursery school	Аспірант
Preparatory school	Лекційна аудиторія
Headmaster|/ Mistress	Дитячий ігровий майданчик
Deputy head	Початкова школа
School leaver	Директор школи
Postgraduate	Дитячий садок
Lecture theatre	Ясла
Bachelor of Arts(BA)	Підготовча школа
Master of Science (MA)	Завуч
Primary school	Бакалавр
playground	Випускник школи

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