What
do you know about England?
England enjoys a wide variety of festivals and
traditions, such as St. George Day (St. George's Day, national patron),
Halloween or Easter (Easter).
- Christmas: It is celebrated on December 25 in
England, with a Christmas dinner for the whole family. During the weeks before
Christmas, letters are sent, they see plays and births and go to the carol
services. Houses and churches are also decorated with green leaves, colored
paper decorations and electric lights.
Many of the Christmas customs began long before Jesus
was born. They came from previous festivals that have nothing to do with the Christian
church. A long time ago people did festivals in winter when the days are
shorter and the sunlight is weaker. They believed that their ceremonies would
give the sun their power again. The Romans, for example, celebrated the
Saturnalia festival around December 25. Their houses decorated with evergreens
to remind them of Saturn, god of their harvest, to return in the following
spring.
Some of these customs and traditions were adopted by
the early Christians as part of their Jesus birthday celebrations. In the
Victorian era some new ideas, such as Santa Claus, Christmas cards and cookies
have been added to the celebrations.
Tales
Jack and the Beanstalk (Jack and the Beanstalk) is an
English story of oral tradition, turned into a universal myth, 1 that continues
to inspire editions, theater shows and movie films. Erroneously attributed to
Hans Christian Andersen, the first literary version first appears in 1730 in
the book Round About our Coal-Fire: or Christmas Entertainments.
The story was rewritten in 1807 by Benjamin Tabart in
his version "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" and later, in
1890, in his best known version, by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales.
The English philologist Flora Annie Steel, in her
edition of English Popular Stories (1918), began the story like this: “Many
years ago, when the world was young and all things seemed good, a boy named
Jack lived in the country”
Plot
Jack is a distracted and happy child with a sick
father and a mother who spends the day working in the garden. When winter
threatens the house and the cow Milky-White stops giving milk, there is no
choice but to sell the cow in the market. The distraught mother sends Jack with
the mission of getting a good price. But Jack finds in the forest a strange old
man who greets him by his name, and who exchanges his cow for five magic beans.
"Two in each hand and one in the mouth." Jack returns home to his
house at sunset. The disappointed mother punishes her son and throws the beans
out the window, except for one that Jack swallows, and that will be his only
dinner.
When the sun rises, they completely cover Jack's
window, which jumps in surprise over the bean bush, seeing that it rises to the
sky, and begins to climb it. "That weird old man had told the truth."
After climbing several hours, Jack finds a narrow, very long white path between
the clouds, and begins to walk, until he arrives before a bright white house
with stairs. There he meets a very tall woman who removes crumbs in a
casserole. Jack is hungry and asks for something to eat. Although the lady
warns her that her husband the Ogre likes to have chubby children breakfast,
the arrogant Jack replies that "I will be fatter if I have breakfast
before." The lady laughs and keeps Jack in the oven when they hear that
the hungry Ogre is about to arrive.
While she feeds him, the Ogre counts gold coins. When
the Ogre falls asleep, Jack takes the opportunity to steal one of the bags of
gold and escape through the clouds. When going down the bean kill, the weight
of the sack forces him to drop the coins, which fall on the garden like a rain
of gold that the mother collects admired. As soon as Jack steps on land, the
kill disappears.
After a while, the gold runs out and the family fears
that they will go hungry again. Before going to sleep, Jack waters under his
window. At dawn the bean leaves announce that a new bush has grown to the sky,
and Jack throws himself up. On this second trip, and on a later third, Jack
will again deceive the Lady and the Ogre, steal a chicken that lays golden
eggs, and a magic harp that sings filling the air with joy. Finally, Jack will
have to cut the bush with an ax if he doesn't want the ogres to come down to
claim their treasures.
Riddles
the one who bought it
didn’t need it, in my face, I will look you in the eye
the one who used it
didn’t see it” and I will never lie"
Answer: Coffin o Casket Answer: Mirror
Fables
The
Gruffalo
He has terrible tusks, and terrible toes, and terrible
teeth in his terrible jaws He’s the Gruffalo, Gruffalo, Gruffalo. He’s the
Gruffalo! He has nobbly knees and turn-out toes and a poisonous wart at the end
of this nose He’s the Gruffalo, Gruffalo, Gruffalo. He’s the Gruffalo! His eyes
are orange, his tongue is black, he has purple prickles all over his back He’s
the Gruffalo, Gruffalo, Gruffalo (x2) He’s the Grrrr Grrrr Grrr Gruffalo! He’s
the Gruffalo!
Myths
and Legends
1. King Arthur
(King Arthur)
He is a legendary
character of myths and English literature. He is known for his leadership in
the battles against the Saxons and for his qualities of intelligence, loyalty
and courage.
This character is
related to Excalibur, the sword embedded in a rock that would make the king of
England who could extract it. Arturo achieves it while still a teenager and is
proclaimed king.
Within the legend,
characters such as the magician Merlin are also mentioned, who is said to be
Arthur's teacher. In addition, we can also find mentions of characters such as
the Knights of the Round Table, places like Camelot and entrusts such as the
search for the Holy Grail by Arturo and his knights.
2. Robin Hood:
This is another of
the mythical characters of English culture. Robin Hood is known as a nobleman,
a fugitive from the law, who was dismissed from his noble titles by the
monarchy.
Hood was hiding in
a forest near Nottingham, where he led a group of peasants charged with
fighting the king. He is known for being a defender of the poor and oppressed.
He was one of the
best archers and led his group in activities of assault and illegitimate
appropriation of the wealth of the nobility and the king, wealth that he later
distributed among the most needy. He was considered a man of great heart.
3. The Loch Ness
Monster:
This is perhaps
one of the most popular legends of the United Kingdom and English culture. It
goes back to Scotland, where Loch Ness is located and where it is said that a
mythological creature lives.
There have been several
testimonies of people who claim to have seen the monster, which they named as
Nessie. This myth dates back more than 1500 years ago, the date on which the
first appearance of the monster is recorded.
Several versions
of this one have appeared. Many say it is a giant fish, others that are shaped
like a sea snake, some others say it is like a giant crocodile, but nobody
knows for sure what Nessie looks like.
Although it is
only a legend and several scientific studies and hypotheses that deny its existence
have been made, Nessie remains a deep-rooted belief among the region's
inhabitants and tourists.
POETRY
For
Patricia
The young couples
in the crushed Amsterdam bar dance to Barry White in the old-fashioned way Later,
aloft on Belgian beer, I murmur that I love you, but then slip away, like the
dancers, into the night, knocking over bicycles chained to bollards, and
singing; into my reverie so faring which we sit again drinking under the wooden
ape Almost human it grins at us both with more teeth than the accordion it
fumbles. This is all times becoming a new time which is a now time becoming
all, a swoon through cracks in the paving where vanished children crouch over
hidden play. Next day, a narrow canal house lips at its reflection; we stand in
front of it to stand for ourselves.
REFLECTION
Culture is the
most striking and strategic way to capture attention and interest when it comes
to learning a new language, since awakening that need to learn new things such
as holidays, myths, tales, legends, etc.
Adhering to a
culture and its diversity makes the learning of the new language easier to
grasp, because topics of interest to students are being treated, this will
allow what they want to teach to capture more quickly and that the Learning be
efficient.
When we talk about
learning a language such as English, we must take into account that it is
necessary to relate several aspects that have to do with the language and that
are part of the culture as activities or festivities that are developed in a
country of speech English
What happens in
England make use of their culture to achieve efficient learning in their
students in addition to perfecting their language and making their students
have sufficient knowledge about their country and culture.
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