1. What are the most important geographical features of the United Kingdom?

1. Its island position. The main islands are Great Britain and Ireland. The British Isles

are separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.

Small ones are the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly ['sɪli], the Orkneys, and the island groups of  Hebrides and Shetland. (the climate mild, trade relying on the sea, people and culture different from those on the continent). (archipelago - [ˌɑːkɪ'peləgəu])

It does not include the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands which are not part of the United Kingdom, instead being self-governing dependent territories with their own legislative ['leʤɪslətɪv] and taxation systems.

2. Diversity of landscapes (mountains in Scotland - the Highlands, plains in the south - the Lowlands --> a popular tourist destination and rich land for mining). The north and west of England are mountainous, but all centre, and south-east — a vast plain

3. The mountains, the Atlantic Ocean, and the warm waters of Gulf Stream influence on the climate of the British Isles. It is mild the whole year round.

2. How was the United Kingdom formed?

The formation of UK took centuries, and a lot of struggle was involved.

1. The Celts - 600-300 BC Celtic tribes called the Scots came in such large amounts that the name of Scotland was given to the northern part of the island.

2. The Britons held the southern parts, and when the Romans came in 43 AD they called the country Britannia and gave Britain its name.

3. After the withdrawal of Roman legions in 410 AD waves of Jutes, Angles and Saxons

arrived from German lands, and then England got its name Angle-land. The new invaders

called the Celts "welsh" which means foreigners. The first state appeared in 829 when King Egbert united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms under his rule.

4. The Anglo-Saxons contended with Danish invaders for control (8th - 11th c AD).

5. The last successful invasion was by French-speaking Normans in 1066 who united the country with their dominions in France. English dynastic claims to large parts of France led to the Hundred Years' War in 1337 - 1453 and the defeat of England. A long civil war, the War of the Roses (1455 - 1485) ended with the establishment of the powerful Tudor monarchy. In the 15th century a Welsh prince Henry Tudor became King Henry VII of England, and his son Henry VIII united England and Wales on the one parliament in 1536.

6. In Scotland, a similar thing happened. The King of Scotland inherited the crown of England and Wales in 1603. The Parliaments of England, Scotland and Wales were united a century later, in 1707 (Queen Anne)  "Great Britain"

7. The whole of Ireland was united with Great Britain from 1801 (The Second Act of Union was passed by George III ) up until 1922. In that year the independent republic of Ireland, or Eira, was formed in the south while Northern Ireland became part of the UK.

3. What are the capital cities of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? What do you know about them?

The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh.

This is the 7th largest city in UK and the 2nd popular tourist destination. Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland since 1437. It consists of two parts, the Old and the New City. There is the seat of the Scottish parliament, St. Giles' cathedral, Edinburgh Vaults, Dean Cemetery, and the Edinburg castle there. Every year, the Edinburgh festival and the annual Hogmanay celebrations take place there.

The capital of Wales is Cardiff, which is also the largest city in Wales. A major tourist attraction is the Cardiff castle first built by the Romans in 55 AD, others are St David's Hall, Llandaff Cathedral, the Millennium Stadium, Pierhead Building the Welsh National Museum and the Senedd, the home of the National Assembly for Wales. Annual events in Cardiff that have become regular appearances in Cardiff's calendar include Sparks in the Park, The Great British Cheese Festival, Cardiff Mardi Gras, Cardiff Winter Wonderland and Cardiff Festival.

The capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast. Despite the fact it was only granted the city status in 1888, this is and has always been the key city for the British industry (linen, tobacco, rope-making and shipbuilding), and there are a lot of things to see there. One of the city's main shipbuilders, Harland and Wollf, designed Titanic. The sightseeings include the Belfast Castle, Ulster Museum, Victoria Square, Albert Clock, Belfast City Hall and many others.

4. What are the national emblems of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

The Union Jack's elements symbolizing its parts include the St. George's cross of England, St. Andrew's of Scotland, and St. Patrick's of Northern Ireland. The Welsh flag is very famous, too, and it's called the Welsh dragon.

However, the floral emblems are traditionally used for representing the countries, they are: the rose for England (white and red since the War of Roses), the thistle (чертополох) of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and the shamrock (['ʃæmrɔk] трилистник) of Northern Ireland.

5. What are the languages spoken in the United Kingdom?

The official language of the country is English and spoken by over 90% of the country’s population. It is also spoken in Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda[bə’mju:də], Canada, China, Japan, Norway, Mexico, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, USA, Zimbabwe [zɪm'bɑːbwɪ], and among others. French and German are usually trained as the second languages in Scotland and England. Students are required to learn a second language to some level.

There are various minority Celtic languages, and speakers of these are invariably bilingual English speakers. In Scotland 1.4% speak Scottish Gaelic as well as English.; in Northern Ireland 6.6% of the population are bilingual in Irish Gaelic and English; in Wales, 21% also speak Welsh. Welsh is the only Celtic language that enjoys official status. There are also large numbers of community languages, brought into the country and sustained by recent immigrant communities, which account for more than 5.5% of the population. The largest group (spoken by

2.7% of the total UK population) are South Asian languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi and Gujarati. Other community languages include Cantonese, Italian, Polish, Greek and Turkish. 45% of the total ethnic minority population lives in London, but community languages are spoken throughout the United Kingdom.

6. What did the present-day English develop from? What influences have made English the

Language it is today?

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain

during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from

what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language.

But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales,

Scotland and Ireland.

Viking invasions, begun in the 8th Century, gave English a Norwegian and Danish influence which lasted

until the Norman Conquest of 1066. In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy , invaded and

conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which

became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of

linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th

century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called

Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer, but it would still be difficult for native English

speakers to understand today.

Modern English is often dated from the Great Vowel Shift, which took place mainly during the 15th century.

English was further transformed by the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and

administration and by the standardising effect of printing. By the time of William Shakespeare (mid-late 16th

century), the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English. Since the time of Shakespeare,

English has continued to change. Settlers from Britain moved across the world - to the USA, Australia,

New Zealand, India, Asia and Africa, and in each place, the language changed and developed, and took in

words from other local languages. For example, 'kangaroo' and 'boomerang' are native Australian Aborigine

words, 'juggernaut' and 'turban' came from India. With the increase in communication, travel, radio and

television, all these different types of English have mixed. So in Britain now, because of American and

Australian TV programming, we use many parts of Australian and American English. And words from many

other languages - French, German, Spanish, Arabic, even Nepali - have been borrowed.

7. What do you understand by the word ‘dialect’? ‘accent’? What dialects and accents of the English

language do you know?

Dialect- A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary,

especially a way of speaking that differs from the standard variety of the language.

Accent- A characteristic pronunciation, especially:

a. One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker.

b. One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native language carried over to his or her use of

another language

Dialects: Southern English engages in r-dropping, that is, r's are not pronounced after vowels, unless

followed by another vowel. Instead, vowels are lengthened or have an /'/ off-glide, so fire becomes /fai'/, far

becomes /fa:/, and so on.

The English of well-bred Londoners, especially graduates of the public schools (e.g. Eton and Harrow)

and "Oxbridge" universities, was the origin of "the Queen's English," also known as Received Pronunciation

(RP), BBC, or "posh."

Cockney- Originally the dialect of the working class of East End London

Estuary English. From London down the Thames and into Essex, Sussex, and even Kent, a new working

and middle class dialect has evolved and is rapidly become "the" southern dialect. It combines some of the

characteristics of Cockney with RP, but makes much less use of Cockney slang.

East Anglian. This dialect is very similar to the Southern

Lancashire. This dialect, spoken north and east of Liverpool, has the southern habit of dropping r's.

Scouse is the very distinctive Liverpool accent, a version of the Lancashire dialect, that the Beatles made

famous

Yorkshire. The Yorkshire dialect is known for its sing-song quality, a little like Swedish, and retains its r's

Scotland actually has more variation in dialects than England! The variations do have a few things in

common, though, besides a large particularly Scottish vocabulary

Welsh English is characterized by a sing-song quality and lightly rolled r's. It has been strongly influenced by

the Welsh language, although it is increasingly influenced today by standard English, due to the large number

of English people vacationing and retiring there.

Also: American English, New Zealand English, Australian English

Accents: