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Wednesday 19 October 2011

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: THE ANGLOSAXONS



Link to the video


Old English was the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons. It is very diffrent to today´s English (Contemporanean English). If a Spanish person reads a text in Old Spanish, he or she could understand most of it, but if an English person reads a text in Old English, very little could be understood.

Why has English changed more than Spanish throughout the centuries? Because of the many invasions England had: Vikings, Danish, Normans...



Watch the video "BARBARIANS: SAXONS. PART 1 OF 5" and answer these
Questions:
  1. Why were the Saxons recruited for the Roman army?
  2. What Gods did the Saxons/Germans have?
  3. Why were the Saxons forced to emigrate?
  4. Why did the Romans abbandon Britain?
  5. Why did the Britons call the Saxons to come to Britain?
  6. What was the difference between the first and the second Saxon migrations to Britain?

Check this vocabulary before watching the video:

Raid, Raiders
mighty warriors
Merciless brutality,  (mercy)
Treachery (traitor) = betrayal (betrayer)
Conquest, conqueror
380 AD ( Anno Domini)  ; BC: Before Christ
Norse: Nordic, Scandinavian
Wotan= Odin; Thor
Villages were washed away= flooded, flood
The Romans ruled Britain with an iron fist
Ravage
Slaughtered
Famine, to starve
Tyrant= dictator, dictatorship
Lavish feast
He squealed when I sliced him open
Rewards: prize
For good
supplies    
to settle, settler, settlement 

Tuesday 18 October 2011

PHONETICS: CONSONANTS

This pictures will help you to learn the phonetic symbols of the consonats.

                                                             Download the picture

PHONETICS: VOWELS

This picture will help you to learn the phonetic symbols of the vowels