Last Saturday, Annie gave us an abundant of the history of English language.
AD43, Romans invaded England and Britain becomes part of the Roman Empire.
The invasion affected Britain's language, culture , geography and architecture.
The old English is around AD450 -1100 and Angle, Saxon and Jute (the Anglo-Saxons) invaded.
Several written works have survived from the old English period.
The most famous is a heroic epic poem called "Beowulf". It is the oldest known English poem.
Middle English is around 1100-1500AD.
During the period, Black Death broke out and some wars happened such as The Hundred Year's War and
The wars of Roses.
Modern English developed after William Caxton established his printing press at Westminster Abbey in 1476.
By the time of Shakespear's writings (1592-1616), the language had become clearly recognizable as Modern English.
There were three big developments in the world at the beginning of Modern English period: the Renaissance,
the Industrial Revolution, and the British Colonialism.It was during the English Renaissance that most of the words from Greek and Latin entered English.
Annie also introduced some Victorian poetry to us.
"Grow old with me!The best is yet to be."
"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways."
In addition, do you know how English flag makes?
When Scotland, England and Ireland united to United Kingdom of Great Britain,
they combined their flags to become English flag.
The upcoming Saturday, Genie is going to introduce some short literary pieces to the members and share a relaxing afternoon in the world of literature.
Below is her tentative agenda.
The beauty of Literature and Life
Tentative schedule on 21 July. 2012
14:00-14:20 Introduce yourself and something you’ve read recently.
14:20-14:30 The adapted piece (contemporary writer)
14:30-14:50 The original text
Talk about the differences noticed and share your own thoughts
14:50-15:10 BREAK TIME
15:10-15:50 Introduction to Limerick and Poem (Activity & Sharing)
15:50-16:20 Short Story about life (American writer)
16:20-16:40 Discussion TIME