Have you ever heard of English Language Day? It was first celebrated on 23rd April, 2010. It was chosen on such a day because Shakespeare was born on April 23rd, 1564. The purpose of it is to tell people the history, culture and achievements of the language.
The story of the English language began when Germanic tribes (部落) invaded (入侵) Britain and brought their languages with them. Later, Scandinavian Vikings invaded and lived with their languages too. In 1066, Norman-French became the language of the official activity.
By Shakespeare’s time, modern English had developed. Printing had been invented and people had to start to agree on “correct” spelling and vocabulary (词汇). In both 1500s and 1600s, the English language was going through a lot of changes. And Shakespeare’s creativity in the language meant he gave hundreds of new words and phrases that are still used today. Shakespeare influenced modern English greatly.
A Special Day—English Language Day | |
| The date of the special day | April 23rd—Shakespeare’s |
| The | Telling people the history, culture and achievements of the language |
| The period of time during which the English language was going through a lot of changes | In the 16th and 17th |
| The person having a | Shakespeare, whose |
May 21, 2020 marks the first International Tea Day (TD). It
Tea was discovered in China. When the
3 . Marco Polo was born in Italy in 1254. When he was 17, he travelled across Europe and Asia along the Silk Road with his father, who wanted to do trade with the Chinese. Finally they arrived in Beijing. Although Marco was young, he was very clever and could speak four languages. The Emperor was impressed by him and they became friends. He asked Marco to serve in his court and sent him to do many important tasks across the country. Marco was amazed by how beautiful and powerful China was.
There were inventions and developments in China which couldn’t be found in Europe at that time. Marco was surprised to see Chinese people using paper money in the markets. In Europe, people didn’t pay for goods with paper! He was also puzzled by the black stones people used to burn to produce heat. The black stones were coal, but Marco had never seen coal before!
In 1291, after 17 years of service to the Emperor, Marco returned to Italy. He was now a very wealthy man. A writer wrote down all the stories that Marco told him in a book called The Description of the World, which became one of the best-selling books in Europe.
Although people enjoyed reading the book, many of them thought that Marco’s stories about China were too fantastic to be true. But Marco always stood by his tales. Just before he died, aged 70, Marco was asked the question, “Was it all true?” And this was his answer, “I have only told a half what I saw!”
1. Marco Polo and his father travelled to China to2. Marco was amazed by how beautiful and
3. Marco Polo found Chinese people using
4. The Description of the World by
5. Many people in Europe thought Marco’s stories about China were
