Late Modern English

(from 1950)

Now, English language teaching is an important international industry. After World War II, the United States became (9) ______________ economic and cultural power in the world, and a world market in audio-visual communication began. CNN International began in 1990s. English became a global language, (10) _____________.

Прочитайте текст и вставьте в пропуски (1-10) буквы (a-j), соответствующие данным ниже фразам:

a) with about two billion speakers

b) first English language

c) to North America … to India

d) what is now Sweden

e) the Normans invaded England

f) in the fourteenth century

g) Johnson’s Dictionary

h) William Shakespeare

i) the most important

j) French, Latin and English.

Text 3. THE FUTURE OF ENGLISH

Have you ever wondered how many people there are who speak English? It’s quite a number! The exact figure is impossible to tell, but it is around 400 million people.

Geographically, English is the most widespread language on earth, and it is second only to Chinese in the number of people who speak it. It is spoken in the British Isles, the USA, Australia, New Zealand and much of Canada and South Africa.

English is also a second language of another 300 million people living in more than 60 countries.

If you add to this the enormous number of the people who learn to understand and speak English (like yourself), you will realize that English is indeed a “world language”.

Did you know?

· About 5,000 languages and dialects are still spoken in the world today. About 845 come from India.

· After English and Chinese, the next commonly spoken language is Spanish.

· Sixty-five different alphabets are used in the world today.

· The language with most letters is Cambodian. It has 72 letters!

· The language with most vowels is Sedang, a Vietnamese language, with 55 vowel sounds.

· The language with the least vowel is Abkhazian. It has only 2 vowel sounds!

· Chippewa, the North American Indian language of Minnesota, has 6,000 verb forms!

· No language is known without the vowel a.

Прочитайте текст и ответьте на вопросы:

1. Is 400 million people speaking English the exact figure?

2. What language is the first in the number of people who speak it?

3. Is English spoken in Asia?

4. Can English be called a “world language”?

5. How many languages and dialects are spoken in India?

6. What language is the third most wide-spread?

7. What is the largest number of letters in a language? What language is it?

8. What languages have the most and the least vowels?

9. What letter is there in all languages?

Text 4. INSATIABLE BORROWER

(Ненасытный заимствователь)

English is mixing with and marrying other languages around the world. It is probably the most insatiable borrower. Words newly coined (созданные) or in vogue (в море) in one language are very often added to English as well. There are words from 120 languages in its vocabulary, including Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

French influence

Have you ever wondered why the English language has different words for animals and meats?

When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, French became the official language of the court. The English would look after the animals and cook the meat, still calling the animals pig, sheep and cow. The Normans, when they saw the cooked meat arrive at their table, would use French words – pork, mutton and beef.

An amazing 10,000 loan words entered English during this period, including such words as table, chair, carpet, country, state, nation, law, army, battle, peace, design, beauty, romance – and, of course, many words for food.

How many is enough?

Scientists say that the average vocabulary of a native speaker is 5,000 words. William Shakespeare, however, used 30,000 words!

Some Facts about English

· There were only 30,000 words in Old English. Modern English has the largest vocabulary in the world – more than 600,000 words.

· There are about 60,000 words in common use.

· About 450-500 words are added to the English vocabulary every year.

· 70 per cent of the English vocabulary are loan words and only 30 per cent of the words are native.

· The most frequently used words in written English are: the, of, and, to, a, in, that, is, I, it, for and as.

· The most frequently used word in conversation is I.

· The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis (a lung disease), with 45 letters.

· The longest words in common use are disproportionableness and incomprehensibilities (21 letters).

· The commonest letter is “e”. More words begin with the letter “s” than any other.

· The most overworked word in English is the word set. It has 126 verbal uses and 58 noun uses.

· The newest letters added to the English alphabet are “j” and “v”, which are of post-Shakespearean use.

· The largest English language dictionary is the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, with 21, 728 pages.

· The commonest English name is Smith. There are about 800,000 people called Smith in England and Wales, and about 1,700,000 in the USA.

Прочитайте текст и отметьте данные ниже предложения как истинные (T) и ложные (F):

1. English has borrowed words from Russian, Greek, Arabic and other languages. ¨

2. The vocabulary of Modern English is the largest in the world. ¨

3. There are more native words in the English vocabulary than loan words. ¨

4. The most frequently used letter is “a”. ¨

5. The word “set” has the largest number of meanings. ¨

6. Letters “j” and “v” were widely used by W. Shakespeare. ¨

7. In XIth century English was the official language in court. ¨

8. Pig and pork, sheep and mutton, cow and beef are English words. ¨

9. Ten thousand French words entered English in the XI th century. ¨

10. W. Shakespeare used five hundred words. ¨

Text 5. 20^th CENTURY ENGLISH

1. During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries many dictionaries and books about language were published including, in Britain, the Oxford English Dictionary, which was begun in 1858. In 1926 Fowler’s A Dictionary of Modern English Usage presented a traditional view of grammar but rejected the more extreme rules, and was held in great respect for a long time. The development of radio promoted standard English and Received Pronunciation (RP), which became known as BBC English. Many older British people still consider this to be “correct” English, and complain about falling standards in school and the media.

2. In the US, General American English spoken with a Midwestern accent is the standard. In the past English helped to unite immigrants from many countries, but now some people are worried that recent Hispanic immigrants are continuing to use Spanish, There have been attempts to prevent this by making English the only official language. In the 1980s the political correctness movement had a lasting influence on American English by trying to get rid of words with negative associations, e.g. those describing disabled people, and to replace them with positive-sounding expressions.

3. English is now an international language and is used as a means of communication between people from many countries. As a result the influences on the English language are wider than ever and it is possible that World English will move away from using a British or American standard and establish its own international identity.

Прочитайте текст и подберите к пронумерованным абзацам заголовки из данного ниже списка. Поставьте рядом с выбранным заголовком номер абзаца:

· No Grammar at School ¨

· Language Problems in the USA ¨

· Standards of the Good English ¨

· Foreign words in English ¨

· The Future of World English ¨

Text 6. SPOKEN ENGLISH AND BROKEN ENGLISH

G.B. Show

…If you are learning English because you intend to travel in England and wish to be understood there, do not try to speak English perfectly because if you do, no one will understand you.

…Though there is no such thing as perfectly correct English, there is presentable English which we call “Good English”, but in London nine hundred and ninety nine out of every thousand people not only speak bad English but speak even that very badly. You may say that even if they do not speak English well themselves they at least understand it when the speaker is a foreigner, the better he speaks the harder it is to understand him. Therefore the first thing you have to do is to speak with a strong foreign accent, and speak broken English: that is English without any grammar. Then every English person will at once know that you are a foreigner, and try to understand and be ready to help you.

He will not expect you to be polite and to use elaborate grammatical phrases. He will be interested in you because you are a foreigner. If you say: “Will you have the goodness, sir, to direct me to the railway terminus at “Charring Cross”, pronouncing all the vowels and consonants beautifully, he will suspect you of being a beggar. But if you shout, “Please! Charring Cross! Which way?” you will have no difficulty. Half a dozen people will give you directions at once.

Прочитайте текст и ответьте на вопросы:

1. Why must you not speak perfect English?

2. How do 999 Londoners out of 1000 speak English?

3. When is it harder to understand a foreigner?

4. What is broken English?

5. Who will you be suspected to be if you pronounce every sound beautifully?

6. How should you ask the way?

Тема 2. The World of the Language we learn

I. Прочитайте тексты и выполните задания к ним:

Text 1. THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN

AND NORTHERN IRELAND

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the UK) occu­pies most of the territory of the British Isles. It consists of four main parts which are: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capitals are London. Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the official name of the state which is sometimes referred to as Great Britain or Britain (after its major isle), England (after its major historic part) or the British Isles.

The UK is an island state: it is composed of some 5,500 islands large and small. The two main islands are Great Britain (in which are England, Wales and Scotland) to the east and Ireland (in which are Northern Ireland and the independent Irish Republic) to the west. They are separated by the Irish Sea.

The UK is one of the world's smallest countries (it is twice smaller than France or Spain), with an area of some 244, I 00 square kilometres. The UK is situated off the west coast of Europe between the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest and the North Sea on the east and is separated from the European continent by the English Channel (or La Manche) and the Strait of Dover (or Pas de Calais). The population of the United Kingdom is over 57 million people. There are fourteen other countries in the world with more people.

English is not the only language which people use in the UK. English is the official language. But some people speak Gaelic in western Scotland, Welsh - in parts of northern and central Wales.

The flag of the United Kingdom, known as the Union Jack, is made up of three crosses. The upright red cross is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of Eng­land. The white diagonal cross is the cross of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scot­land. The red diagonal cross is the cross of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The Welsh flag, called the Welsh dragon, bears the red dragon on the white and green background. St. David as the patron saint of Wales.

The humid and mild climate of Great Britain is good for plants and flowers.

Some of them have become symbols in the UK. Probably you know that the poppy is the symbol of peace, the red rose is the national emblem of England, the thistle is the national emblem of Scotland and the Edinburgh International Festival. The daf­fodils and the leek are the emblems of Wales, the shamrock (a kind of clover) is the emblem of Ireland.

1. Отметьте предложения, соответствующие информации текста: T – правильная, F – неправильная, N – нет информации.

1. The UK occupies the whole territory of the British Isles. □

2. Great Britain, Britain and English are three different countries. □

3. Northern Ireland and Irish Republic can be named Ireland. □

4. Ireland is the largest island. □

5. The UK lies between Europe and America. □

6. All people of the UK speak English. □

7. Gaelic is spoken by some Scotts. □

8. The flag of the UK is made up of the flags of England, Ireland and Scotland. □

9. The symbols of England, Scotland and Wales are: red rose, thistle and daffodils and leek. □

10. Shamrock is the symbol of Wales. □

2. Напишите номера предложений в последовательности, отражающей информацию:

1. The UK flag is called Union Jack.

2. The Irish Sea separates the two main islands.

3. There are 14 other countries which have larger population.

4. The capitals of the 4 parts of the UK are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.

5. English is the official language.

Text 2. ENGLISH HOLIDAYS AND TRADITIONS

1. If you try to catch a train on 24th of December you may have difficulty in finding a seat. This is the day when many people are traveling home to be with their families on Christmas Day, 25th December. For most British families, this is the most important festival of the year, it combines the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ with the traditional festivities of winter.

2. Most families usually have a Christmas tree in the corner of the front room, glittering with coloured lights and decorations.

3. There are a lot of traditions connected with Christmas but perhaps the most important one is the giving of presents. Family members wrap up their gifts and leave them at the bottom of the Christmas tree to be found on Christmas morning. Children leave a long sock or stocking at the end of their beds on Christmas Eve, 24th December, hoping that Father Christmas will come down the chimney during the night and bring them small presents, fruit and nuts. They are usually not disap­pointed! At some time on Christmas Day the family will sit down to a big turkey dinner followed by Christmas pudding. They will probably pull a cracker with an­other member of the family. It will make a loud crack and a coloured hat, small toy and joke will fall out! 26th December is also a public holiday, Boxing Day, and this is the time to visit friends and relatives or watch football. The "boxing" refers to the boxes of Christmas presents which are usually given on that day.

4. Some English customs and traditions are famous all over the world. Bowler hats, tea and talking about the weather, for example. From Scotland to Cornwall, the United Kingdom is full of customs and traditions. Here are some of them.

5. St. Valentine is the saint of people in love, and St. Valentine's day is Feb­ruary 14th. On that day, people send valentine cards and presents to their husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. You can also send a card to a person you don't know. But traditionally you must never write your name on it. Some British news­papers have a page for Valentine's Day messages on February 14th.

6. April I is April Fool's Day in Great Britain. This is a very old tradition from the Middle Ages. At that time servants were masters for one day of the year. Now April Fool's Day is different. It's a day for jokes and tricks.

7. November 5 is Guy Fawkes's Day. All over the country people built wood fires, or "bonfires", in their gardens. On top of each bonfire is a guy, this is a figure of Guy Fawkes. On November 5 1665, Guy Fawkes tried to kill King James. He and a group of his friends put a bomb under the Houses of Parliament in London. But the king's men found the bomb and Guy Fawkes. They took him to the Tower of London, where his head was cut off. Before November 5 children use guys to make money. They stand in the street and shout: "Penny for the guy".

8. If you arrive in Great Britain you’ll hear the word «tradition» everywhere. In the House of Lords of the British Parliament there are two rows of benches for lords and a sack of wool for the Lord Chancellor to sit on it. This is so because in the old times wool made England rich and powerful. In the House of Commons you will see two rows of benches for the two parties: the government on one side and the opposition - on the other. In front of the benches there is the strip on a carpet and when a member speaking in the House puts his foot beyond that strip, there is a shout «Order!». This dates from the time when the members had swords on them and during the discussion might want to start fighting. The word «order» reminded them that no fighting was allowed in the House.

1. Укажите, содержанию каких абзацев соответствуют данные ниже заголовки:

1. A day for jokes and tricks.

2. A smelling symbol.

3. Parliament traditions.

4. Truly English traditions.

2. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What glitters in the corner of the front room on Christmas?

2. When do children put their stockings at the end of their beds?

3. What is the most important festival for most British families?

4. What can you send to an unknown person on February 14th?

5. What happened on November 5, 1665?

6. How do children use guys to get money?

7. What was the Middle Age tradition on April 1?

Text 3. AMERICAN SYMBOLS

1. The Statue of Liberty is a splendid statue, which stands on a small Bedloe's Island at the entrance to New York harbour. Its top reaches 305 feet (nearly 100 metres) above the water level.

2. The Statue of Liberty is the work of the well-known 19th- century French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi. The statue is made from copper sheets and it is hollow inside. 225 tons of metal were used for its construction. Inside there is a circular stairway from the base to the crown. There is also a lift in it.

3. The figure shows a young woman freeing herself from shackles. She holds a torch in her right hand above her head and in her left hand is a tablet with the date "July 4th, 1776" on it, which symbolizes the Declaration of Independence. The torch lights up at night, the statue stands on the east side of Manhattan Island.

4. The Statue of Liberty was built on funds collected in France and symbolizes the friendship of the United States and France of those days. The statue, presented to the United States of America in 1884, became national monument in 1924.

5. The United States' flag is called the "Stars and Stripes". It has thirteen stripes, seven red and six white, and fifty five-pointed white stars on a blue field in the upper left-hand corner. One star is for each state of the United States now (from 1959), and the stripes are for the first thirteen states of the union.

6. Americans enjoy their flag. They use the stars and stripes as a popular design anywhere and everywhere, including clothes, shoes, hats. As a reflection of patri­otic feelings of the American people, the Stars and Stripes stand by the President's desk. It bangs in many offices, in every classroom. During national holidays the Stars and Stripes are everywhere, on the streets, on houses, and in the big parades..

P.S. The flag is also called the "Star-Spangled Banner", the name of the na­tional anthem of the United States. The first documentary reference to the appear­ance of "Stars and Stripes" is dated by March 10, 1774.

1. Найдите в тексте абзацы, в которых говорится:

Ø какое количество штатов было первоначально ¨

Ø что создал статую Свободы ¨

Ø на какие деньги была создана статуя и что она символизирует¨

Ø об отношении американцев к своему флагу ¨

Ø о местонахождении статуи Свободы ¨

Ø о названии американского флага и дается его описание ¨

Ø о другом названии американского флага ¨

Ø что представляет собой статуя Свободы ¨

Подчеркните предложения, в которых дается эта информация.

Text 4. SIGHTSEEING OF WASHINGTON

The Capitol is the seat of the Government of the United States of America. The cornerstone of the Capitol was laid by George Washington on September 18, 1793.

The Capitol is in the very centre of Washington. It is located on Capitol Hill, the highest point in the city. The Capitol is the highest building in Washington. There is a law m Washington not to build houses higher than the Capitol.

The Capitol is the seat of Congress. The Congress first met in the north wing, the Senate Chamber, which was first completed on November, 21 1800. The south wing for the House of Representatives was not under roof until 1807. In August 1814 the unfinished Capitol building was partially destroyed by fire set by invading British troops. Finally, in 1827, the old Capitol was completed.

Thirty years later the building was decorated with marble. The tower-styled iron done, capped by Thomas Crawford's bronze "Statue of Freedom" was fin­ished in 1863. The 36 columns which surround the lower part of the dome repre­sent the states of America at the time the building was designed.

The completed building measures 751 feet in length and 350 feet wide. The dome is 287 feet in height and is 135 feet 5 inches in diameter at its base. The Capitol building contains 540 rooms. It is easy to get lost in the huge building, full of paintings and statues.

The White House is a pleasant, white-painted, neoclassical- style house in which the President of the United States lives and works. It is set close to Penn­sylvania Avenue, easy to see over the railings, and cut off from passers-by only by lawns and trees. The President’s House was first occupied in 1800.

President George Washington decided that the President of the United States must have an official residence. It was he who selected the site and laid the corner­stone in October, 1793. The building was based on a design by James Hoban.

Washington died in 1799, before the house was completed, so the first President to live in the new official residence was John Adams.

In 1814, during the war with England, the White House was burnt down.

After the war the charred remains of the building were whitewashed, so as not to spoil the view. Since that time the residence of the American presidents has been always painted white.

The White House has 132 rooms, 54 of which are reserved only for the pri­vate use of the First Family on the second and third floors. The visitors who line up in East Executive Avenue get to see just five, plus the entrance hall and corri­dors.

1. Подберите ответы к следующим вопросам:

1. What is the seat of the Government?

2. Where is the Capitol?

3. When were different parts of the Capitol completed?

4. What are the decorations of the Capitol?

5. What are the Capitol dimensions?

6. What is the White House?

7. Who selected the place for the residence and who was the 1^st President to live there?

8. Why is White House painted white?

9. Where does the First Family live?

Text 5. ABOUT SOME AMERICAN HOLIDAYS

Some of the American holidays are associated 1 __________________. There are also some holidays that have come to modern 2 ________________. Most of these holidays are not legal holidays. Schools, offices and banks may close or may stay open. Some of the holidays are very popular, especially 3 _______and young people. There are many customs and traditions associated 4______________.

JANUARY 1 - NEW YEAR'S DAY. On this day all banks, schools and offices are closed. New Year's Day celebrates the start of a new year. Americans be­gin to celebrate the holiday on New Year's Eve, the night of December 31. It is a merry holiday. People wish each other "Happy New Year".

THE 3d MONDAY OF FEBRUARY - PRESIDENTS DAY. Americans honour two of their greatest presidents, George Washington (born on February 22) and Abraham Lincoln (born on February 12).

THE 2nd SUNDAY OF MAY - MOTHER'S DAY. It is not a national holiday. It is a day when Americans honour their mothers. They send their mothers a card or a gift, present flowers, prepare dinner for them. It is the custom to wear a red or pink flower if one's mother is living. It is the custom to wear a white flower if one's mother is dead.

THE 3d SUNDAY OF JUNE -FATHER'S DAY. It is not a national holi­day. On that day Americans honour their fathers. Many people send their fathers a card or a gift and prepare a pleasant surprise.

JULY 4 - INDEPENDENCE DAY. It is the biggest national holiday in the USA. It is the birthday of the American nation. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, when the American colonies were fighting for independence against England.

OCTOBER 31 - HALLOWEEN. I t is not a legal or a national holiday. Schools, offices and banks do not close. Halloween is the day or evening before Alhallow's or All Saints' Day. Many Halloween stories and games are hundreds of years old. Halloween customs date back to a time when people believed in devils and witches and ghosts. They thought that these evil spirits could do all kinds of damage to property. Some people tried to scare witches away by painting magic signs on their barns. Others tried to scare them away by nailing a piece of iron, such as a horseshoe, over the door.

It is a holiday for children and young people. In the evening of October 31 they dress up in different old clothes and wear masks. They cut horrible faces in empty pumpkins (тыквa) and put a lighted candle inside. The children go from house to house and knock on the doors, calling "trick or treat". This means that if you give them a "treat"- sweets, cakes, fruits or anything else they like - they go away without "trick". If you don't, they play a trick on you. The most common tricks are making a lot of noise or soaping the windows of houses and cars. They draw pictures on the windows with soap.

THE 4th THURSDAY OF NOVEMBER - THANKSGIVING DAY. It is a legal holiday in the US. This is a family holiday: many people go to church in the morning and at home they have a big dinner 5 __________. People gather to give thanks for all the good things 6 ________________.

Thanksgiving is a harvest festival. The celebration was held in 1621 7_____________ in New England. 8 ___________ the passengers from the May­flower landed in America and started settling there. Only half of the people sur­vived 9____________. In spring the Indians gave the settlers some seeds of In­dian corn and the first harvest was very good.

Later, Thanksgiving Days following harvest were celebrated in all the colo­nies 10___________, but not on the same day. In October 1863 President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving. In 1951, the United States Con­gress named fourth Thursday 11 ___________ a Thanksgiving Day.

1. Вставьте в пропуски (1-11) буквы (A-K), соответствующие данным ниже фразам:

A - with the children ()

B - with the history of the nation()

C - with these holidays ()

D - from the old colonial days()

E - of November ()

F - the terrible winter ()

G - In the end of 1620 ()

H - in their lives ()

I - of New England ()

J - after the first harvest ()

K - with turkey ()

2. Отметьте в тексте предложения, дающие ответы на данные вопросы:

1. What is trick or treat?

2. What evil spirits were through to do damage to property?

3. What is the night of December 31 called?

4. What American presidents are honoured in February?

5. When do American honour their fathers and mothers?

6. What is July 4?

Text 6. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

AND AMERIGO VESPUCCI

1. In the fifteenth century people knew only three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. They knew nothing about such a big continent as America. The man who was thought to be the discoverer of America was born in 1451in Italy. His name was Christopher Columbus. He became a sailor at an early age. Knowing that the earth was round, he decided to reach India by sailing to the west. It was very diffi­cult for him to organize his expedition as nobody wanted to help him. Many years after the Spanish government gave him some money for his expedition. He was able to set sail only in 1492, on the 3rd of August.

2. The voyage was very dangerous and difficult. His men insisted on returning home, but Columbus did everything he could to make them continue their west­ward voyage. On the 12th of October his ships reached land. When they landed they saw strange trees and flowers. Men and women with olive-coloured skins gathered around them and looked at them with great surprise. It was one of the Bahama Islands. But Christopher Columbus thought it was one of the islands which lie off the coast of Asia and called it San Salvador.

3. Columbus’ second voyage to America took place in 1493. This time he dis­covered some other islands of the West Indies and made some settlements there. On the third voyage he came to South America.

4. In 1502 he made his last voyage. This time he coasted along the shores of Central America. In 1506 he died in Spain being sure that he had reached Asia and knowing nothing of his great discovery of the New World.

5. About 1498 another Italian reached America. His name was Amerigo Vespucci. He was an Italian seaman who accompanied several of the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions.

6. Some time later Amerigo Vespucci published his letters describing the lands which he had visited. He wrote that it was not India but a new continent which he called "The New World".

7. For a long time America was called "The New World", and only in 1506 it was decided to name this country after the man who had found it was not India.

1. Укажите, содержанию каких абзацев соответствуют данные ниже заголовки:

1. One more Italian at the American shores. ¨

2. The New World gets its new name. ¨

3. The new continent that remained unknown to its discoverer. ¨

4. He knew it was not India. ¨

5. The first westward voyage to India. ¨

2. Отметьте предложения, соответствующие содержанию текста:

1. Only Europe, Asia and Africa were known five centuries ago. ¨

2. Everybody wanted to help Christopher Columbus. ¨

3. He was sponsored by the Italian government. ¨

4. The voyage was difficult but nobody wanted to return. ¨

5. Trees, flowers and people looked strange. ¨

6. Chr. Columbus thought that he reached his destination. ¨

7. Chr. Columbus discovered Central and South America. ¨

8. It was Amerigo Vespucci who understood it was a new continent. ¨

Text 7. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

William Shakespeare is the greatest of all playwrights and poets of all times.

Not much is known of his life. He was probably the son of a businessman and was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He probably attended the local grammar school and got a classical education. In 1582 he married Anne Hathaway and had three children. Little is known of his life before 1592, when he appeared as a playwright in London. Soon he became an actor playing supporting roles like the ghost in «Hamlet». In 1599 Shakespeare became a part owner of the Globe Theatre in London.

Shakespeare’s work as a playwright is subdivided into three periods. Written in the first period, Shakespeare's plays are mostly history plays (like «Henry VI»), and comedies with strong elements of farce («The Comedy of Errors»). His mas­terpiece of this period is «Romeo and Juliet».

In the second period Shakespeare wrote a number of comedies where he moved away from farce towards romance («As You Like It»). In the third period, after 1600, appeared his major tragedies – («Hamlet», «Othello»). They presented a clear opposition of order to chaos, good to evil.

Shakespeare was a great poet and would be well known for his poetry alone.

His major achievement as a poet is his sonnets; first published in 1609. A sonnet is a poem consisting of 14 lines, with a moral at the end. The sonnets are addressed to some «W.H.» and to the mysterious «Dark Lady of Sonnets». The sonnets deal with the great themes of love, friendship, death, change and immortality. Shake­speare looks at his own poetry as a means of immortality. Shakespeare's sonnets are excellent. They are full of harmony and music; they praise love, friendship and beauty, though there is no sentimentality in them. Shakespeare spent the last years of his life at Stratford, where he died in 1616. He was buried in the church of Strat­ford. A monument was erected to the memory of the great playwright in the Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.

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