Children and TV

Nowadays television has a great influence on our society and not the good one I should say. I think parents should avoid their children from their watching habits to save them from violence or cruelity shown in different programmes.

Of course there are some interesting programmes for children which at the same time can entertain a child and teach him something useful. But there are a lot of low-challeging sleezy programmes as well. That’s why there certainly must be a notional watershed after which more violent and intimate scenes can be shown so that children can’t see them.

To my mind children should more socialize, play with their friends, attend some courses may be by their interests, but not watching TV too much.

Radio in GB

Radio services provide a range of programmes for both national and local audiences and cater for widely differing tastes. There are five national BBC radio stations: the BBC regional radio services for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and BBC local radio stations in England, and independent local radio services provided by stations throughout Britain.

BBC NATIONAL RADIO SERVICES (BBC- British Broadcasting Corporation)

Each have a distinct character and together provide for the listener a wide immediate choice throughout the day.

Radio 1 is a rock and pop music station, catering for all tastes from the charts to new music, classic oldies, heavy metal, dance and world music There are also documentaries, comedy, quizzes, news, social action campaigns and live concerts.

Radio 2 prides itself on being a 24-hour entertainment network with a daytime mix of good music and conversation, complemented by Jazz, big bands, country, folk, blues and light classical music In the evenings and at weekends.

Radio 3 is the BBC’s classical music network. During the day, it also broadcasts Jazz and traditional music from around the world, and speech programmes about music. In the evenings,BBC Radio 3 becomes a mixed cultural network though still music led. Programmes Include drama, documentaries, science, poetry and arts discussions.

Radio 4 is news and current affairs channel. It broadcasts news of the day, political discussions, traffic information, weather forecasts, topical plays and daily variety of special interest programmes and programmes for people with disabilities. There are plays every day and humour with sit-coms, quizzes and satire.

Radio 5 is Britain’s newest national network and combines sport, education, programmes for young people and a selection of BBC World Service broadcasts.

In addition to the five national BBC Radio networks, services exist for listeners in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC local radio station provide programmes of local news and information.

BBC EXTERNAL SERVICES

The BBC English by Radio and Television Service is the most extensive language teaching undertaking in the world. English lessons are broadcast weekly by radio with explanations in other languages, and recorded lessons are supplied to the stations in about 90 countries!

7. The calendar of English customs and traditions.

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life of people than in other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. Foreigners coming to England are struck at once by quite a number of customs and peculiarities in English life. Some ceremonies are rather formal, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping the Colour, the State opening of Parliament.

There are only six public holidays a year in Great Britain, that are days on which people need not go to work. They are: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring Bank Holiday and Late Summer Bank Holiday. Most of these holidays are of religious origin, though it would be right to say that for the greater part of the population they have long lost their religious significance and are simply days on which people relax, eat, drink and make merry.

Besides public holidays, there are other festivals, anniversaries and simply days, for example Pancake Day and Bonfire Night, on which certain traditions are observed, but unless they fall on a Sunday, they are ordinary working days.

Holidays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday and in Scotland it is not observed at all. But six days later, on New Year’s Eve the Scotts begin to enjoy themselves. All the shops and factories are closed on New Year’s Day. People invite their friends to their houses. Greetings and presents are offered. In London many people go to Trafalgar Square on New Year’s Eve. There is singing and dancing and at midnight on December 31st.

A popular Scottish event is the Edinburg Festival for music and drama each year. A truly Welsh event is the Eisteddfod, a national festival of traditional poetry and music, with a competition for the best new poem in Welsh.

There are a lot of traditional competitions in Britain. Some of them are very old. One of them is the Boat Race on the river Thames. A boat with a team from Oxford university and one with a team from Cambridge University hold a race. Hours before the race people arrive and sit along the river.

The British think that the Grand National is the most exciting horse race in the world. It is at the Aintree Race Course, near Liverpool, every year. Sometimes it takes place on the same day as the Boat Race, sometimes a week later. Amateur riders as well as professional jockeys can take part in it. It is famous because the jumps are very high and the course is very long.

Recently a new tradition has been born in Britain. Every year a large number of ancient motor-cars drive from London to Brighton. Some of these veterans cars look very funny. This run from London to Brighton is a colourful demonstration. People are dressed in the clothes of those times. It is not a race, and most of the cars come to Brighton, which is sixty miles from London, only in the evening.

8. The British style of life: traditional and modern.

English life is full of traditions and the English are said to be steeped in traditions. Traditions can be divided into those connected with sports, with entertainments, with holidays and those with no particular connection.

When foreigners come to England, they are struck at once by a great number of customs and traditions in English life. They may seem strange to visitors but the English still keep up these old customs and traditions.

The English are great lovers of sports and when they are neither playing nor watching games, they like to talk about them. Such sports and games as football, volleyball, basket-ball, and tennis are quite popular in England just as all over the world. But there are games which the English are especially fond of. They are cricket and golf. They like to discuss these games for hours. Racing is also very popular in Britain. There are all kinds of racing: motor-racing, three-legged acing, horse-racing and even racing for dogs and donkey. Boat racing has been popular since the 19^th century. Very often there are neither cups nor medals.The only reward is the satisfaction and pride of taking part in it, win or lose. The annual boat competition between Oxford and Cambridge Universities dates back to 1829. It takes place in London on the Thames.

Much time is spent in the gardens. Most English people like gardening and this is one of the reasons why so many people prefer to live in the country. Flower-shows and vegetable-shows are very popular in Great Britain.

Britain is a nation of animal lovers. Everybody knows that. They will speak affectionately of their dogs and cats whom they consider to be their friends and family. The English people are great pet lovers. Practically every family has a dog or a cat or both. They have special shops sailing food, clothes and other things for dogs. There are dog hairdressing saloons and dog cemeteries.

One of the traditional features of the British character is their self-discipline and politeness. They are never tired in saying "Thank you", ''I'm sorry"

The most important and spectacular traditions are those connected with Parliament and Government. One of them IS the opening of Parliament. The Queen drives in a state coach pulled by six horses from Buckingham Palace to Westminster. The ceremony takes place in the House of Lords with a few members of the House of Commons standing opposite the throne. This is also dictated by the tradition. Traditional uniforms are still preserved in Great Britain. You can see a group of cavalrymen riding on black horses through the central streets of London. They wear red uniforms, shining helmets, long black boots and long white gloves. They carry swords. These men are Life Guards and their special duty is to guard the king or queen. In the Tower of London you can see the warders (or Beefeaters) with their funny flat hats. On each second Saturday in November, the newly–elected Lord Mayor of London rides in procession through the streets of the city in his medieval carriage. This Lord Mayor's show is a great traditional event for Londoners. There are a number of other formal ceremonies, such as the Changing, of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, Trooping the Colour which is performed on Horse Guards Parade every year on the Queen's official birthday.

Among other traditions that most Englishmen observe is 5 o'clock tea which people can have at any time between 4 and 6 o'clock p.m. It is a very light, meal and the time when “everything stops for tea” in England and this became a kind of ritual. Beer is also a popular drink in England and the best place where you can try different kinds of beer is the pub. You can have a glass of it, called a pint, or a small glass, which they call a half. English pubs open at 10.30 in the morning and close at 11 in the evening; they are very popular both with the local people and with the visitors.

Sunday is a very quiet day in London. All the shops, the theatres and most of the cinemas are closed. Londoners like to get out of town on Sundays. The sea is not far – only 50 or 60 miles away and people like to go down to the sea in summer.

All these traditions mix with the everyday life in the streets of busy London and together they make the strength of the country.

9. Problems of societal multilingualism and their solution in Europe and America

"To have another language is to possess a second soul." -Charlemagne

According to the latest estimates, there are five to eight thousand different ethnic groups residing in approximately 160 nation states. Moreover, scholars estimate that there are over 5,000 distinct languages spoken in that same number of nations. What is evident from these figures is that very few nations are monolingual or mono-ethnic. Each of the world's nations has groups of individuals living within its borders who use other languages - in addition to the national language - to function in their everyday lives. For example, according to the 2000 United States Census, one in six or 46.9 million people speak a language other than English in their home. In the past, second generation children were encouraged to adopt the customs, culture, and language of what was identified as the majority culture. Today, with greater recognition and celebration of cultural differences, people are more likely to maintain and share their primary language with their children and to promote bilingualism as a reflection of ethnic pride and identity.

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