Learning a foreign language helps to broaden the student’s knowledge of the countries where it’s spoken and their culture. It’s one of the great benefits of learning. The idea is not new. What I want to accentuate is: to use the potential of the cross-cultural material in the most effective way, the teacher should try to tap into the student’s personal experience as much as possible, ask thought-provoking questions, give realistic speaking tasks, put the material in different contexts and give tasks which encourage the student to present their own views connected with the topic and do their own research. To demonstrate this, here is an example of part of the lesson on “The cityscapes – old and new” based on the text from my book “Hello, England”, adapted for Intermediate or Upper-Intermediate level students.
1) Pre-reading discussion: a) Do you think architecture and its combination with its surroundings affects the people’s mood, feelings and emotions? (give examples) b) What do you know about the following: the City of London, St. Paul’s cathedral, the Great Fire of London, Sir Christopher Wren?
2) Concept-checking the vocabulary from the text:
The contrast between these two houses is really striking! – Are these houses very different? (Yes) Can you see this difference clearly? (Yes) Do you know cities, where you can see a striking contrast between different parts, streets, people and so on?
This picture doesn’t fit in with the rest of the room. – Does the picture match the other decorations in the room? (No) Is there anything in your house, which doesn’t fit in with the rest of it?
This house stands out from the other houses in the street – it’s very smart! - Are all houses in the street smart? (No, only one.) Does your house stand out from other houses in your street?
I didn’t agree with his choice of the hotel, but he got his way. – Did we stay at the hotel I preferred? (No) Did he insist on his choice? (Yes) Can you tell me of a situation, when you got your way, though somebody else disagreed?
When you twist somebody round your finger, do you deceive him, treat him honestly or do something to please him? (deceive him)
We are doing all to meet the demands of our clients. – Do we take into account what our clients want? (Yes) Do we try to satisfy our clients? (Yes) Remember situations when you ordered some products or services – did they meet your expectations?
3) Reading: Read the passage. If you’ve been to the City and St. Paul’s Cathedral, compare your impressions with those of the author. If you haven’t been to the City and St. Paul’s Cathedral, would you like to visit it, why, what is the most interesting thing for you about St. Paul’s Cathedral?
4) Post-reading activities: a) Give the students a picture of St. Paul’s Cathedral. They in turn play the guide, who tells the tourists about it. b) Imagine, that you are Christopher Wren. Give the visitors a tour of your cathedral. c) Your friend hasn’t been to St. Paul’s Cathedral yet. Persuade him to go. d) Would you like to live in the City – give advantages and disadvantages. e) Do you think the modern architects should take into consideration the aesthetic features of the building, its compatibility with the surroundings or only its function, rigidity and cost? Explain your opinion, give examples.
5) Project – exhibition “My favourite and least favourite architectural structures in Great Britain” Bring pictures of your favourite and least favourite buildings or architectural complexes. Present them: What is it? Where is it? Does the design match the functions? Can it affect people’s mood, emotions? What was your first impression when you saw it (entered it) and has it changed? Does it fit in with its surroundings? Would you change anything about it if you could? Is there any interesting history connected with it?
“Welcome to one of my favourite places in the City!”
When I walked around the City for the first time I remember thinking: “Wow, this is really a striking contrast! Some of it is disappointing though. Why did they build so many boxes, which show no imagination at all? They just don’t fit in with such grand, old, magnificent structures as the Tower or St. Paul’s Cathedral!”
Yes, St. Paul’s Cathedral really stands out of this architectural incubator. «I will rise again» are the words carved on the stone laid in the basement of St. Paul’s Cathedral. I stand in awe thinking how these simple words as if by string connect all generations of builders and guardians of the cathedral beginning from ancient Romans, who built here the temple of Diana, Saxon tribes, who erected the cathedral devoted to St. Paul, to Christopher Wren, who designed the present cathedral in 1675, and those who take care and restore it nowadays.
By random coincidence Christopher Wren found the stone with these words among the ruins of the cathedral burnt during the great fire of London in 1666. Having put this stone in the basement, he passed the will of the ancestors to the future generations. So it’s no wonder, that among the blaze of burning London during the World War II the cathedral was standing strong, still more inspiring with might and grandeur of spirit.
Standing under the dome, I kept thinking that St. Paul’s Cathedral reflects Christopher Wren’s character like no other building he designed. Among the vaulting of the cathedral I seem to see his cunning smile and deep eyes with skittish sparkles and acute look. What I admire most of all is that being dependant in everything on the city council, the cathedral dean, the monks’ order and last, but not least, the king, he managed to get his way all the time. That said, he didn’t force his way, but laid it carefully satisfying all and at the same time twisting them round his finger. The result was the second largest in the world wonderful dome.
Probably because the old cathedral had the highest spire in Northern Europe (150 m.) all were insisting on the new cathedral with a high spire and small dome. Instead of arguing Wren took pains to walk an extra mile and drew a design to meet everyone’s demands. After getting the approval, besides the huge dome, which in itself was quite a challenge, he built scaffolding above it to produce an impression he was fulfilling the approved design. Not to mention the fact, that while building the dome Wren deceived the architectural opportunities he had at his disposal, which at that time lacked the technique of erecting such big domes (107 feet high from the basement of the dome). That’s why Wren made two domes – the true (inside) and the false (outside) ones. The true one is covered with lead and props up the wooden skeleton. The room formed in between is probably the reason of the echo effect in the Whispering gallery, where the word whispered on one side will be heard on the other one.
As I had just two hours before the cathedral closed, for me it was not a staid cultural stroll, but a race against time. I was running up and down the stairs at the same time listening to the information on the audio-tour and trying to digest it. Luckily the prudent Wren divided the way into 3 parts - Whispering Gallery, Stone Gallery, and Golden Gallery, where you can catch your breath and compare the view from different perspectives. From the Whispering Gallery you can study the dome closely, it’s right above your head; a broad panorama of the city opens from the Stone Gallery, which prompts you to move on, and at last from the Golden Gallery you are looking at toy London from the height of 280 feet.
The last part of the way is the hardest. Instead of the staircase enclosed with walls from both sides, there are narrow metal stairs with gaps in between and thin rods of rails. Around you are just void and the skeleton of the false dome. Wherever you look, it seems that right now you’re going to vanish into this void, which doesn’t sound very attractive. So, although I can’t say I’m afraid of height, here sweated from emotion I was moving literally step by step seizing the rail in a death grip. On the last 530-th step my legs were giving out, my breath was short, but my heart was pounding with joy. Basically I showed not a bad result – half an hour. There was still time to enjoy a breathtaking view from above, explore the ground floor and walk around the crypt.
Even knowing, that the tomb of Christopher Wren is under the floor and keeping in mind his words “If you want to find the monument, look around you”, it took me quite a while to spot a small black plate with a Latin inscription. It’s hard to see among exquisite headstones and sculptures. But I can’t disagree with Christopher Wren – could he have built himself a better monument?
