I've grown accustomed to her face

I've grown accustomed to her face She almost makes the day begin I've grown accustomed to the tune She whistles night and noon, Her ups, her downs, Are second nature to me now; Like breathing out and breathing in.

I was serenely independent and content before we met

Surely I could always be that way again -

And yet

I've grown accustomed to her looks;

Accustomed to her voice;

Accustomed to her face.

Part 2

) Read the text carefully in class. Reread it at home and write questions you would like to ask other students at the next lesson.

Spoken English and broken English*

by George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950), Irish dramatist, essayist and critic

...Now, whether you are a foreigner or a native, the first thing I must im­press on you is that there is no such thing as ideally correct English. No two Brit­ish subjects speak exactly alike.

If you are learning English because you intend to travel in England and wish to be understood there, do not try to speak English perfectly, because, if you do, no one will understand you. I have already explained that though there is no such thing as perfectly correct English, there is presentable English which we call " Good English"; but in London nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand people not only speak bad English but speak even that very badly.

You may say that even if they do not speak English well themselves they at least understand it when it is well spoken. They can when the speaker is Eng­lish; but when the speaker is a foreigner, the better he speaks, the harder it is to understand him. No foreigner can stress the syllable and make the voice rise and fall in question and answer, assertion and denial, in refusal and consent, in enquiry or information exactly as a native does. Therefore, the first thing you have to do is to speak with a strong foreign accent, and speak broken English: that is, English without any grammar. Then every English person to whom you speak will at once know that you are a foreigner, and try to understand and be ready to help you. He will not expect you to be polite and use elaborate gram­matical phrases. He will be interested in you because you are a foreigner, and pleased by his own cleverness in making out your meaning and being able to tell you what you want to know. If you say: " Will you have the goodness, sir, to direct me to this railway terminus at Charing Cross, " pronouncing all the vow­els and consonants beautifully, he will not understand you and will suspect you of being a beggar. But if you shout: " Please! Charing Cross! Which way! ", you will have no difficulty. Half a dozen people will immediately overwhelm you with directions.

Even in private intercourses with cultivated people you must not speak too well... Even among English people, to speak too well is a pedantic affecta­tion. In a foreigner it is something worse than affectation; it is an insult to the native who cannot understand his own language when it is spoken too well...

* Spoken English and broken English // Shaw G.B. Collected Works. Clarendon Press. 1983. Vol. 1.

Unit eight

Useful words for theatre-goers

curtain [кз: Ш] п занавес

stage [steicij] n сцена

footlights [futlait] n рампа, огни рампы

orchestra pit ['oikistra pit] n оркестровая яма

stalls [sta: lz] n партер

row [гэи] л ряд

aisle [ail] n проход между рядами

balcony ['Ьаг1кэш] п балкон первого яруса

circle [s3: kl] n ярус

box n ложа

gallery ['gaelsn] n галерка

production [ргэ'ёлкГэп] п постановка

premiere ['ргегшеэ] п премьера

matinee ['maetmei] n дневной спектакль или представление

2. Read the dialogue. Who, do you think, the speakers are? Where are they from? Where are they living now? Say what they are discussing at the mo­ment. Make up a story about them using indirect speech. Make up similar dialogues of your own.

T. Listen Sophie, have you got any plans for the weekend?

S. No, not yet. Why?

T. I'd like to go to the theatre on Saturday evening. I think that staying in Lon­don and not visiting the so-called London Theatreland would be a great mistake, wouldn't it? I've taken the London Theatre Guide from my hotel and have already looked through it carefully.

S. Oh, have you? Anything really interesting?

T. Yes, a lot. But what I really want to see is Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. They call it " the cleverest murder mystery of the British theatre". It's on in St. Martin's. Would you like to keep me company?

S. Oh, I'd love to. I've been wanting to see it for ages. Do you know, by the way, that it's the world's longest running play - it's been on for 55 years!

T. Unbelievable!

S. Yes, that's true. OK, I'll try to call the box office and book the tickets for us. Does your guide say how much the tickets are?

T. Yes, they are from 13 to 37 pounds.

S. The cheapest seats must be in the gallery, I guess. I'll try to book the cheap­est available in the stalls, if you don't mind.

T. No, not at all. I'll be looking forward to your call. Anyhow, thank you ever so much.

S. Not at all.

Part 2

^ 13. When did you last go to the theatre? Write a composition about your im­pressions. The following expressions can help you.

• I last went to the theatre...

• It was The Vakhtangov Theatre (The Pushkin Theatre, etc.)...

• It was a new production of...

• We had the seats in the stalls / gallery / balcony...

• There were some very famous actors in the cast...

• It was a drama / tragedy / comedy / musical...

• It was a premiere / first performance / matinee / evening perfor­
mance...

• The play... has been running for...

• The play was directed by...

• The acting was good / brilliant / amateurish / terrible...

•...gave a brilliant performance as...

•...played the leading part (a supporting part).

• I liked the set for the first / second, etc. act.

• I was impressed by the acting / music / scenery / sets / lighting /
costumes...

• The play / production / performance was well / enthusiastically / poorly
received.

• Some people in the audience...

• The play had a good / poor reception.

• I read a review of...

Travel is glamorous only in retrospect. Paul Theroux (1941), American writer

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