High Spirits 1: Culture Club

1 Culture club

Wales 1 Leggi il brano e scrivi i titoli del riquadro al posto corretto. K Culture History Natural beauty Population and language Sport The nation of Wales

1 Wales is part of the United Kingdom, but it is a separate country. The capital city, Cardiff, is in the south-east of Wales. It has got its own parliament – the Welsh Assembly. The Welsh Assembly meets in the new Senedd building in Cardiff. The Welsh flag is a red dragon on a white and green background. The national symbols of Wales are the leek and the daffodil.

2 The population of Wales is 3 million. Three hundred thousand people live in Cardiﬀ. Everyone in Wales can speak English, but a lot of people in Wales speak Welsh, too. It is an ancient Celtic language. The Welsh are very proud of their language and all children learn Welsh at school. There are lots of TV and radio programmes in Welsh. It is very diﬀerent to English.

3 Wales has got some beautiful scenery. Two of the UK’s national parks – Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons – are in Wales. Mount Snowdon (1,085 metres) is a famous mountain in Snowdonia. There are also lots of beautiful beaches in Wales. The beaches are popular 6 with tourists, and they are very good for surﬁng. The Millennium Stadium is a large new stadium in Cardiﬀ for sports matches and concerts. Its roof can open and close! Wales is famous for its national rugby 4 team. Rugby, not football, is the number one sport Wales has got a long and interesting history and there are in Wales! The Welsh team players wear red shirts. The many ancient castles there. The eldest son of the king or crowd sings the Welsh national anthem, ‘Land of My queen of the UK is called the Prince of Wales. Prince Charles Fathers’, at the start of every match. is the present Prince of Wales.

5 4 Glossary Wales is a very musical country, and lots of singers (pop and background sfondo poet poeta classical) come from there. An ancient Welsh tradition is the leek porro choir coro daffodil narciso giallo roof tetto Eisteddfod. It is a competition for singers, dancers, poets and proud of orgoglioso di national anthem storytellers. Eisteddfods are still popular today. Male voice scenery paesaggio inno nazionale choirs are another special Welsh tradition. These are choirs eldest (il) maggiore, with only men singers. primogenito

2 ES Rispondi alle domande. Presentazione orale 1 Which city is the capital of Wales? 4 Project Scegli una regione italiana e prepara 2 How many people live in Wales? una presentazione orale. Prendi degli appunti usando le seguenti domande come ES T 3 What is Snowdonia? aiuto. Parla per circa un minuto. t Where is it in Italy? 4 Who is the present Prince of Wales? t Does it have a special flag or symbol? t What is its population? 5 What is an Eisteddfod? t Do the people speak a different language or dialect? 6 Which is the favourite sport in Wales? t What interesting things can you see there? t What is it famous for? (sports teams, food, famous people, etc.) 3 3.29 Ascolta e leggi questa canzone gallese. Look! We’ll keep a welcome in the hillside Assicurati di sapere pronunciare i numeri con più cifre in inglese, specialmente per un tema We’ll keep a welcome in the hillside. geografico. Ad esempio: We’ll keep a welcome in the vales. 456 four hundred and fifty-six This land you knew will still be singing 3,000 three thousand 6,800 six thousand eight hundred When you come home again to Wales. 70,000 seventy thousand This land of song will keep a welcome 4,000,000 four million

And with a love that never fails, We’ll kiss away each hour of *hiraeth DVD 1 Puoi trovare ulteriori informazioni When you come home again to Wales. sui diversi paesi del Regno Unito nel Culture 1 del DVD e a pag. 34. *hiraeth (Welsh) = homesickness (English) = nostalgia di casa