Hi, I'm Georgiana, your English teacher.
Thanks for joining me for a new episode of the Speak English Now podcast.
If you want to help, please share the podcast on social media.
That would mean a lot.
Thanks.
Before we start, visit my website, speakenglishpodcast.com and subscribe to my free mini course.
Okay, let's start.
Today, I'm gonna keep talking about William Shakespeare.
Last week, you learned some interesting facts about his life.
So, I will continue sharing some exciting facts about him.
What else do we know about Shakespeare?
Well, one thing is for sure.
Shakespeare's life was anything but boring.
Did you know that we're probably spelling Shakespeare's name wrong?
We don't really know exactly how William Shakespeare wrote his name.
There are almost 80 different versions of Shakespeare's name that appear in the records and other historical documents.
You have to keep in mind that a lot of people were illiterate at that time.
Let's learn some more about his life.
His parents.
His father's name was John Shakespeare, and he was a glove maker and leather worker.
His mother, Mary Arden, was an heiress from a rich family.
His parents were probably illiterate, like many other people at the time, and it's very likely they never learned to read or write, as was often the case with people in their position.
Shakespeare had seven siblings Joan, who only lived two months, Margaret Gilbert, another Joan Anne, Richard and also Edmund.
Did you know that William Shakespeare's father was paid to drink beer?
You might find this interesting, but John Shakespeare was appointed to one of the city's most important public offices.
Official beer taster.
Another word for beer in English is ale.
It may seem like a strange job today, but at the time the ale tasting was an important and highly respected occupation.
William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway.
Yes, I told you last week about this.
What I didn't tell you is that Shakespeare was only 18 years old when he married an older woman who was three months pregnant at the time.
They had three children, a daughter called Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet.
That's right.
Shakespeare's only son was named Hamnet.
And it's speculated that Shakespeare was inspired by his relationship with Hamnet to write Hamlet.
Though sadly, Hamnet died when he was only 11 years old.
As I said before, Shakespeare's life wasn't at all boring.
Well, it turns out that William Shakespeare was quite mysterious because in 1585 he disappeared from the records for about seven years.
Historians refer to this part of the writer's life as the last years.
Did you know that Shakespeare never went to university?
He began his proper education at the King Edward VI Grammar School at the age of 7.
At the age of 14, young Shakespeare was forced to leave school because his father was in financial trouble.
Let's learn more about Shakespeare's work.
As I mentioned in the last episode, at the time there were no female actors, so women's roles were played by men.
That was partly because the audience could be very noisy at times, and even a bit dangerous.
They would yell, boo, and even throw food at the actors they didn't like.
Shakespeare loved birds.
Why am I saying this?
Because it turns out that Shakespeare references birds more than 600 times in his plays.
And that's a lot.
Another interesting thing you should know about Shakespeare is that he played the ghost in Hamlet.
Shakespeare was an actor and a writer, and sometimes acted in his own plays.
One of the roles he was known to play was the ghost of Hamlet's father.
Today, students around the world study Shakespeare's work, and his stories are shown on TV and in movies.
I hope these lessons about Shakespeare will motivate you to learn more about his works.
And now, let's continue with the point of view lesson.
Now, let's practice some grammar.
Don't worry, you don't have to memorize anything.
Just listen carefully because I will tell the same story twice.
In this point of your lesson, we will summarize some facts about Shakespeare.
Are you ready?
Shakespeare was a writer and he wrote 37 plays.
He wrote histories, comedies and tragedies.
Shakespeare also wrote plenty of poetry and published a book of 154 sonnets.
He wasn't just a talented writer, but he was also a skilled actor.
He had an incredible influence on the English language.
He invented almost 3,000 words.
We are not sure how Shakespeare wrote his name.
There are almost 80 different versions of Shakespeare's name that appear in the records and other historical documents.
His father's name was John Shakespeare, and he was a glove maker and leather worker.
His mother, Mary Arden, was an heiress from a rich family.
John Shakespeare was paid to drink beer.
John was appointed to one of the city's most important public offices, official ale taster.
He had seven siblings Joan, who only lived two months, Margaret Gilbert, another Joan Anne, Richard and Edmund.
Shakespeare got married to Anne Hathaway when he was only 18 years old.
They had three children, a daughter called Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet.
Sadly, Hamnet died when he was only 11 years old.
Let's hear the same information again, but from the point of view of a friend of William Shakespeare.
Everyone knows my friend is a writer.
He writes plays and poetry.
He is not only a writer. but also a skilled actor.
Did you know he's also an inventor?
He loves inventing new words.
I think he already invented about 3,000 words in English.
His father's name is John, and he's a glove maker and leather worker.
His mother Mary is an heiress from a rich family.
I envy his father because he has the best job in the world.
John Shakespeare is paid for drinking ale.
Shakespeare has six brothers and sisters.
Margaret, Gilbert, Joan, Anne, Richard, and Edmund.
He had another sister who died when she was only two months old.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway when he was only 18.
They had three children, Susanna, Judith and Hamnet.
Sadly, Hamnet died when he was only 11 years old.
Perfect!
It's the end of this point of view lesson.
Have you seen the power of the point of view technique?
We have checked a lot of grammar by merely using the same story.
It's very easy to compare the different structures because you compare them in parallel.
Let me ask you something.
Is my podcast helping you with your English?
Though the podcast is a useful resource, because of time limitations I can hardly develop these lessons, although they allow you to try out my method.
But if you're serious about learning English, I recommend my premium English courses.
These are complete programs designed to improve your spoken English dramatically.
In fact, the courses contain hours and hours of questions and answers and point-of-view lessons.
It's like a podcast episode but multiplied by 100.
Get my English courses at courses.speakenglishpodcast.com That's it for today.
I will be back next week.
Bye-bye.
