English speaking countries

  • United Kingdom 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 

England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland 

Located on British Isles 

Parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy 

The capital and largest city is London 

‣ Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool 

Total area about 245 000 square kilometeres 

Monarch is Queen Elizabeth II 

‣ Head of the UK and 14 other independent countries 

  • Commonwealth realms 

Prime Minister (PM) is currently Boris Johnson (july 2022) 

United States of America 

Located in North America 

It consists of 50 states 

‣ California, Pennsylvania, Virgina, Geogie, Colorado, Hawai, Alaska Federal republic 

‣ President is Joe Biden 

The capital city is Washington D.C. 

‣ D.C. means District of Columbia 

  • Canada 

Located in North America 

Second largest country in the world 

The capital city is Ottawa 

‣ Other cities are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver 

Parliamentary democracy 

Official languages are English and French (bilingual state) Currency is Canadian Dollar 

Part of Commonwealth 

  • Australia 

Officially is named Commonwealth of Australia 

‣ Australian contitent, the island of Tasmania and smaller islands

Sixth largest country 

Federl parliamentary constitutional monarchy 

‣ Six states and ten territories 

The capital city is Canberra 

‣ Other cities are Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane 

Most known for Sydney Opera House and very specific species of fauna and flora 

New Zealand 

Island country in the Pacific Ocean 

Two main landmasses 

‣ North and South island 

Seperated from Australia by Tasman Sea 

The capital city is Wellington 

‣ Most populous city is Auckland 

Famous for Lord of ther Rings filming locations 

  • Commonwealth of Nations 

Political association of 56 member states 

‣ vast majoritay are former territories of the British Empire 

Member governments share goals like development, democracy and peace

 

Sources: wikipedia.org 

https://thecommonwealth.org

English language

 

  • West Germanic language 
  • Indo – European language family 

History

Old English 

‣ Brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century ‣ Mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers in 8th and 9th century ◦Middle English 

‣ 11th century 

‣ Influenced by Norman conquest of England (William the Conqueror) ‣ Lot of French and Latin-derived vocabulary 

‣ This process took about 300 years 

Early modern English 

‣ In the late 15th 

‣ Great Vowel Shift

  • Series of changes in the pronunciation of the English language, long vowels ‣ Renaissance 
  • W. Shakespeare enriched English a lot 
  • More Greek and Latin words 

Modern English 

‣ Spread around the world thanks to worlwide influence of British Empire and the USA ‣ Leading language 

  • Information  

◦Most spoken language in the world 

◦One of the official languages in 59 states 

◦Majority native language of the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the  Republic of Ireland 

◦Official language of the EU and co-official language of the United Nations 

• Accents  

◦Scottish 

◦irish 

◦Canadian 

◦Australian 

 

Sources: wikipedia.org 

https://thecommonwealth.org

Note: This kind of material is just oriential and serves as a hint what might or should your maturita question include, try to think for yourself and answer the questions by your preferences and do not be afraid of adding other information if you want to. These are the type of questions where there is not some kind of ‘right’ answers.

Cultural Life and Entertainment  

What is culture for you? 

  • Something that was created by humankind and it has larger meaning within the context of our  existence 

It arouses emotions and thought 

‣ It is amusing, thought-provoking, admirable etc. 

  • What comes to your mind when you hear culture? 

Theatre, film, music, architecture, dance, paintings and more 

  • Try to think about it 

Do you like cultural events or not? 

  • Are you a fan of some specific cultural events? 

Theatre plays, concerts, operas, film festivals, exhibitions, architecture contests, dance  shows 

Which ones do you like and why? 

  • I like going to galleries and think about the paintings or admire the beauty of them Which ones you do not like? 
  • Concerts of bands, where are you standing and just shouting, probably nice experience but quite  uncomfortable 

What was your greatest cultural experience? 

  • Seeing The Bartered Bride in the National Theatre 

Which event would you recommend? 

  • Theatre, opera and concerts 

What kind of entertainment do you know? 

  • movies, television, TV series, videogames, talkshows

Which ones do you like the most and why? 

  • TV series and movies, they are different piece of art and able to provoke emotions and feelings,  connection of visual art and music together can be outstanding experience when executed  properly 

Which one would you recommend? 

  • TV Series: Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The Office, 
  • Movies: Forrest Gump, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Gentlemen, The Joker, you  name it, these are movies that came to my mind recently 
  • Videogames: Mafia Mafia II, The Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Beat Saber in virtual reality

Travelling

Do you like travelling and why? 

  • Yes, you see other cultures, other people and you can learn a lot from them and their style of life Where have you been? 
  • Greece, Spain, Turkey, Germany etc. 

Where did you like it the most and why? 

  • Dresden, Germany, truly wonderful experience 

Where would you want to go? 

  • America, England, Singapore, think again of your desired destinations 

How do you like to live? 

  • In hotel with all-inclusive, hotel but eating in local restaurants, camping, in the RV How do you like to prepare food? 
  • by yourself, visiting local restaurants, all-inclusive 

How are you preparing for the trip? 

  • proper planning and preparation, diving right into action solving problems while they arise Would you recommend some destinations? 
  • You name it 

How do you like to travel? 

  • By train, car, bus, airplane, traject, boat, submarine 

What are your tips for travelling? 

  • Always look for best and fair courses in the exchange offices, try to search something about the  place you are going to visit, be warae of pickpockets

What kind of activities are you looking for when abroad? • sunbathing, swimming, architecture, trips around the town, night life

Food

What are your favourite meals?  

  • Various types of meat 

What are your favourite restaurants?  

  • Czech Pubs, Vietnamese, Red Stag, U Matěje, Kolkovna, Mincovna, Kozlovna Can you cook?  
  • Yes, I enjoy it a lot, always trying new recipes 

What are your favourite recipes?  

  • Grill and sauces 

What cuisine have you tried?  

  • Czech, English, Greek, Spain, Vietnamese 

Which would you recommend?  

  • Vietnamese 

Which meal would you like to try?  

  • Octopus 

Sports and Games

Do you do any sport or other physical activity? Which one? • No, I am just working-out, but I like playing other sports 

Tell them more information about the sport 

  • For which team are you playing? 
  • What are the rules of this game 

Do you like to watch sport events? 

  • No, I see it as an absolute waste of time/I love it 

In TV or live?  

Which ones?  

Are you a fan of some sport team?  

Why this one?

Have you ever watched olympic games? 

  • Yes 

Do you like it? 

‣ Not so much 

Which one do you like more? Summer or Winter? 

‣ Winter olympic games

Medical Care and Health  

Have you ever been thinking about the topic of health? 

  • How are you treating your health? 

Daily stretching and physical activities 

Not eating junk food like burned fats and quick sugars and buying high-quality food Not smoking 

  • Which activities are you doing for your better health? 

Cooking for yourself and not eating in fast-foods 

Daily physical activity 

Balanced diet 

  • What are the main health issues nowadays?  

Too much drinking and smoking 

Obesity and diabetes type two 

Eating unhealthy 

Pandemics 

Cancer 

Heart disease 

Stroke 

Science and Technology

Are you into science and technology?  

  • Yes, I am absolutely astonished by it 

Would you like to be scientist or engineer?  

  • No, the math and physics are hard 

What are the main trends in these fields?  

  • Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, nano materials, synthetic materials, electromobility, 

sustainable and green sources of energy, DNA manufacturing 

What will the future look like?  

  • DNA-modified humans, synthetic food, electromotors, digitalization and much more, find it out What are some issues? Are there any?  
  • Moral problems of genetically-modified people for example

Human Relationships and Family Life

Why are human relationship important?  

  • It helps us to achieve goals and face the dangers as human kind together • We are the only species that can speak, which gives us great advantage over other species 

Are you a social person or a loner?  

  • I am kind of mixture of these two types, depends on the situation 

What are benefits and disadvantages of these both types?  

• Social person 

A lot of contacts 

Usually centre of the group 

Favourite person 

Is seen a lot 

Not everyone is his friend and could be worth his attention 

Not so close relationships 

  • A loner 

More silent, more thoughtful 

Less contacts, less activities, but more intense 

Really close relationships but only few 

What are some moral problems of our society?  

  • too much political correctness, attack on masculinity, wasting energy on problems that are  absolutely irrelevant, some people are still in favor of radical opinions 
  • Google it yourself, you will find more interesting topics, these were just top pick • If someone disagree with our tips, that’s alright, but please, do your homework and try to find  some information about and then judge (try to be neutral) 

Do you want to have your own family?  

  • Yes, a big one

How many children would you like to have?  

• a lot 

Would you like to live on a house or in a flat? 

  • i would like to try out the flat, but overall I prefer living in the house

My Biography

My Biography 

Think about your life as a whole 

Pick the most interesting and important information 

‣ Where were you born? How was your childhood? What were the toys you liked playing  with? Some funny stories from your childhood, Where are you living right now ‣ Something about your family, how many members does your family have ‣ Sport, interesting experiences, job experiences 

‣ Things you like to do 

My Future Career 

Think about things and subject that draw your attention or were enjoyable in school ‣ What topic interrested you 

‣ What abilities do you have 

‣ Which path you would like to go 

‣ What are your motivations 

Then think about what could you with that in the future or ask friends and discuss it  with them 

Job Application 

Think about how you can present yourself in a few sentences. 

‣ Try to say a lot about your qualities but do not overdo it too much. 

Show that you are interested in the job and know something about the company and the field

My Hometown

  • Where do you live?  

Describe the exact position do you live 

How big is the city or village 

‣ How many people are living here 

‣ What is the total area of it 

Describe the surroundings 

‣ Nature, hills, rivers, etc. 

Have you moved from there? 

‣ Why? 

‣ Where are you living now? 

  • How to get there? (Traffic)  

Bus stations, train station, how far is by walk 

Is the traffic frequent? 

  • Places of interest and places to visit  

Are there any interesting places you would recommend to visit? 

Are there any places you like to visit? 

  • Historic facts and famous personalities  

When was it founded? 

‣ By whom? 

Had your town any significance in the history? 

Are there living some famous personalities? 

‣ Or were they? 

  • What do you like about your place?  

Think of it 

  • What do you not like about your place?/ What would you change if you had the  chance?  

Surroundings, politics, atmosphere, whatever you think of 

  • What is you city, village, hometown or quarter famous for?  

You name it