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VOCABULARY - THE BEDROOM

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:29:03 GMT

Mirror : Specchio

Flower : Fiore

Lamp : Lampada

Perfume : Profumo

Brush : Spazzola

Vase : Vaso

Alarm clock : Sveglia

Bedside cabinet: Comodino

Knob : Pomello

Drawer : Cassetto

Chest of drawers : Cassettiera

Bedspread or cover : Copriletto

Pillow : Cuscino

Sheet : Lenzuolo

Bed : Letto

Carpet : Tappeto

THE HISTORY OF BRITAIN

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:29:02 GMT

The history of Britain is fascinating and interesting, and hopefully with this section you will learn to love it too. You could think that you don't like history: maybe you didn't like it even at school!

However , understanding the history of a country will help you to understand the British people and its language. In fact, how many of you want to know why English has such a difficult pronunciation? Do you know why today English, Welsh , Scottish and Irish are languages so different from one another? Would you like to know who the Celts were? Do you know where the first inhabitants of Britain came from? By reading this section you will know, because our voyage around the centuries will join the history of Britain and the history of the English language. So, let's start our ride !

THE BEGINNINGS - THE IBERIANS

Of course, like all European Countries, there was a time when there were no inhabitants in Britain, and the island was a green, luxuriant land full of thick forests, water, game and fish, and with a mild climate. However, man has always wanted to discover new things and places, and about 2000 years before Christ the first men arrived by sea on the British island; Where did they come from? You'll probably never guess it, but the first inhabitants were the Iberians, so called because they probably came from Iberia, that is , the modern Spain. The southern and eastern coasts of Britain are low, have good natural harbours and also have navigable rivers; The western and northern coasts are not so accessible, so we assume that the Iberians arrived on the southern coasts. The Iberians were short , had dark hair and lived in the western and southern parts of Britain because they didn't have many tools and couldn't penetrate the thick forest present in the rest of the island. The lands where they lived weren't very fertile in comparison with the rest of Britain, especially because they were uplands, that is, mountainous regions.

However, the Iberians were probably very good at agriculture because they terraced the hills (some of these terraced hills can still be seen today in Britain), and cultivated different kinds of cereals, using the hoe and the spade . They also bred goats , oxen and pigs, but were also hunters and were good at weaving and at building .

In picture 1 you can see the typical barrow, similar to a sort of hill. This one is found in Ninewells.

There are different kinds of barrows: in pictures 2 and 3 it is shown the barrow in West Kennet (picture 2 shows the entrance of the barrow, while picture 3 shows the inside), and in picture 4 you can admire the barrow of Ballowell. As you can see. they are all structured in different ways. The barrows in Britain are hundreds, mainly divided in 4 main types depending on the use the Iberians made of them.

This is sure because, apart from the terraces, they built an incredible number of huge monuments which can still be admired today: the BARROWS , which were large tombs in the shape of a hill made of earth and stone, the HENGES , which were great circles of ditches and earthen banks in which often a megalithic temple rose, made of enormous stones. The term "henge" means hanging stone, and in fact they were often made of two vertical stones and one horizontal stone on top of them (the best known is Stonehenge; next month there will be an article about it in the Monuments on Britain page). The henges were centres of religious, political and economic power.

The henges also show that the Iberians had conspicuous knowledge of building techniques, since elevating those stones required great skills. The idea we can have of this people is that it was quite developed and civilised. From their buildings we learn that they were a very well organised people and we are able to know more about them than about the Celts or other tribes living after them. But there's a lot more to know about the Iberians. However, it's better to know little by little. That's why our fascinating travel will continue in the next issue, where we'll learn more about the life, culture, language and inheritance of the Iberians. Don't miss it!

This, below, is a particular of the henges of Stonehenge : you can see the typical megalithes formed by two vertical stones and one horizontan stone at the top. These buildings are so enormous that their construction surely needed a lot of organisation and good co-operation. In fact the stones came from a distant place and different kinds of transport were needed in order to bring them in the same place.

VOCABULARY

Hopefully : si spera

However : comunque

Welsh : gallese

Irish : irlandese

join : unire

ride : cavalcata

like : come

inhabitants : abitanti

game : selvaggina

mild : mite

guess : indovinare

that is: cioè

harbour : porto

short : basso di statura

tools : attrezzi, strumenti

to terrace : terrazzare

hoe : zappa

spade : vanga, pala

to breed : allevare

goat : capra

oxen . buoi

weaving : tessitura

huge : enorme

barrow : tumulo

henge : tempio me-galitico

ditch : canale

earthen : di terra

DEFINITE AND INDEFINITE ARTICLES

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:29:00 GMT

INDEFINITE ARTICLES (ARTICOLI INDETERMINATIVI)

NOZIONI BASILARI

In inglese esiste di fatto un unico articolo indeterminativo per i nomi maschili, femminili e neutri, che è " A " (pronuncia "æ", una via di mezzo tra una a e una e). " AN ", l'altro articolo indeterminativo, si usa davanti a nomi sia maschili, sia femminili che neutri, che iniziano per vocale, secondo le regole enunciate qui di seguito:

A - nomi che iniziano per consonanti (a pen, a cat, a dog)- nomi che iniziano per H aspirata (a hotel, a house), perché in inglese “h” è una consonante- nomi che iniziano per W e Y (a watch, a wall, a year, a yard)- nomi che iniziano per U quando si pronuncia "iu" (a university, a uniform)- nomi che iniziano per dittonghi (un dittongo è formato da due vocali in cui l'accento cade sulla seconda vocale): a European, a eunuch. Di fatto, anche W (che si pronuncia come una “u”) e Y concorrono sempre a creare dittonghi, ed è per questo che davanti a parole che iniziano con queste due lettere si mette "A".
AN - nomi che iniziano per vocale, tranne quelli che iniziano per "U" pronunciata "iu": an egg, an apple, an orange- nomi che inizano per "H" muta: an hour, an honest man* * le parole che hanno "H" muta in inglese sono molto poche: hour, honour, honest, heir (erede), e i derivati di tali parole (per esempio honourable). In linea di massima, l'uso degli articoli indeterminativi in inglese è lo stesso dell'italiano, quindi davanti a nomi singolari.

*le parole che hanno "H" muta in inglese sono molto poche: hour, honour, honest, heir (erede), e i derivati di tali parole (per esempio honourable). In linea di massima, l'uso degli articoli indeterminativi in inglese è lo stesso dell'italiano, quindi davanti a nomi singolari.

DEFINITE ARTICLE (ARTICOLO DETERMINATIVO)

In inglese esiste un unico articolo determinativo: "THE", che corrisponde ai nostri: il, lo, la, i, gli e le.

Benché non esista un articolo specifico per nomi che iniziano per vocale o H muta, bisogna sottolineare che c'è è una differenza di pronuncia dell'articolo THE :

- si pronuncia "ðə"* davanti alle stesse parole che corrispondono all'articolo indeterminativo "A" (vedi sopra): the pen = ðə pen

- si pronuncia "ði" davanti alle stesse parole che corrispondono all'articolo indeterminativo "AN" (vedi sopra): the egg: ði egg

* "ð" è il simbolo fonetico che traslittera il suono inglese "TH": si pronuncia pizzicando la lingua in mezzo ai denti e soffiando come se si volesse imitare il sibilo di un serpente, e sonorizzandolo in gola.

MONUMENTS OF BRITAIN:THE BIG BEN AND THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:28:59 GMT

This is a subtitle for your new post

This section is designed to present and give information about all the most important places around Britain: monuments, churches. squares, castles, museums and so on.

It will be a wonderful trip in the discovery of Great Britain. It will also be an important opportunity for all students to learn more things about the culture and life of English people. Moreover , it will provide all of you with more vocabulary and, hopefully, your lexicon will improve .

Since the Big Ben is the logo of Speak English! , it just seems obvious to start our descriptions of Britain's monuments from here, that is, the Houses of Parliament and the "Big Ben". 3 The so-called Houses of Parliament are situated in the Palace of Westminster, which you can see in the picture above. The name "Big Ben" is referred to the bell in the clock tower, and takes its name after the name of its builder. Sir Benjamin Hall (in fact. Ben the abbreviation of Benjamin). It strikes every quarter of hour with the traditional chime . Actually, the original Palace of Westminster was a building dating back to the times of Edward the Confessor (about 1050 BC), which was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1834.

The present Palace of Westminster was rebuilt between 1840 and 1852 in a beautiful neo-gothic style. The Westminster Hall is one of the parts saved by the fire and belonging to the original palace. In this hall many famous people. from Thomas More to Charles 1, were tried .

VOCABULARY

To design : progettare, strutturare, destinare a

Trip : gita, viaggio di piacere

Discovery : scoperta

Moreover : inoltre

Improve : migliorare

Since : dal momento che, poiché

To seem : sembrare, apparire

So-called : cosiddetto

Bell : campana

To strike : rintoccare, battere le ore

Chime : melodia dell'orologio

To date back : risalire

Almost : quasi

To rebuild : ricostruire

To belong : appartenere

To try : processare (in questo contesto)