English Cinquième: the whole year

This is Queen Elizabeth I of England. She is wearing a magnificent dress with hundreds of pearls, and a big white lace collar. There is a crown on the table next to her.

Her right hand is on a globe, and her fingers are touching America. This shows that she wants to be powerful all over the world. Behind her, there are two windows. In the first one, the English ships are sailing on a calm sea. In the second one, the Spanish ships are sinking in a storm.

The painting celebrates a famous victory: in 1588, England defeated the Spanish Armada. In my opinion, the queen looks proud and strong.

Elizabeth was born in 1533. Her father was King Henry VIII and her mother was Anne Boleyn. When Elizabeth was only two, her mother was executed. Her childhood wasn't easy.

In 1558, she became queen. She was twenty-five. She ruled England for forty-four years. She loved theatre, music and dancing, and in her time, William Shakespeare wrote his first plays.

Elizabeth never married. People called her "the Virgin Queen". She said she was married to England. She died in 1603, and her reign is often called "the Golden Age".

Henry VIII was king of England from 1509 to 1547. In his portraits, he looks enormous: his shoulders are wider than the painting, his clothes are richer than a church, and he stands with his legs apart, like a giant. Holbein wanted to make him look like the most powerful man in the world.

Henry is famous because he married six times. British children learn a little rhyme to remember what happened to his wives: "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived."

Henry wanted a son. He broke with the Pope in Rome and created the Church of England so that he could divorce. But in the end, his most famous child was a daughter: Elizabeth I.

Welcome to room twelve. In front of you, you can see Queen Victoria. She was queen from 1837 to 1901, longer than any king or queen before her. In this portrait, she is wearing a black dress because her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861. She looks sad and serious. In my opinion, it is one of the most moving portraits in the gallery. Now, please go to room thirteen.

In this painting, a big American family is sitting around a long table. Three generations are together: grandparents, parents and children. The grandmother is bringing an enormous roast turkey. The grandfather is standing behind her. Everybody is smiling.

On the table, there is some celery, a dish of cranberry sauce and some fruit. There isn't much food yet, but there are many glasses of water. In the bottom right corner, a man is looking at us, as if he is inviting us to the meal.

The painter wanted to show a simple idea: in a free country, nobody should be hungry.

In 1620, a ship called the Mayflower sailed from England to America. On board, there were about a hundred passengers. Many of them were Pilgrims: they wanted to practise their religion freely. They arrived in winter and built a colony called Plymouth. The first winter was terrible, and half of them died.

In the spring, a Native American man called Tisquantum, or Squanto, helped them. He spoke English and showed them how to grow corn. In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims had a good harvest. They celebrated with a big meal for three days, with about ninety Wampanoag men and their leader, Massasoit.

The Wampanoag people lived in this land for thousands of years before the Pilgrims came. For them, 1621 was not the beginning of a happy story. In the following years, many Native Americans died of diseases brought from Europe, and they lost most of their land.

Since 1970, every Thanksgiving Day, some Native Americans meet in Plymouth for a "National Day of Mourning". They want people to remember their history too.

Hi, I'm Mia and I live in New York. Thanksgiving is on the fourth Thursday of November. It's my favourite holiday! In the morning, we watch the Macy's Parade on TV, with giant balloons floating between the skyscrapers.

In the afternoon, my whole family arrives: my grandparents, my aunts, my cousins. There are usually about twenty people! We eat turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. For dessert, there is always pumpkin pie. Before the meal, everybody says what they are thankful for. This year, I'm thankful for my new baby brother!

You need: some pastry, 400 grams of pumpkin purée, 2 eggs, 150 grams of sugar, a little cinnamon and 200 millilitres of cream.

Put the pastry in a pie dish. Mix the pumpkin, the eggs, the sugar, the cinnamon and the cream. Pour the mixture onto the pastry. Bake it for 45 minutes. Don't eat it hot: wait until it is cold!

On the 19th of June 1865, soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, with important news: the Civil War was over and all enslaved people were free. In Texas, many people didn't know about it before that day!

Since then, African American families have celebrated this day, called "Juneteenth" (June + nineteenth). They have picnics and barbecues, they listen to music and they read the history of their ancestors. In 2021, Juneteenth became a national holiday in the United States.

This is a school in the Netherlands, more than three hundred and fifty years ago. The teacher is sitting at his desk, but he isn't teaching. He is sharpening his pen. A little boy is crying because the teacher punished him.

Behind them, the other students aren't working. Some children are laughing, a boy is sleeping on his book, and another one is climbing on a table. A girl is the only one who is reading. In the background, an old woman is trying to calm everybody down. What a mess!

Noah: I'm in the robotics club. We meet every Tuesday after school. We build little robots and we program them on a computer. Next month, we are going to take part in a national competition!

Grace: I always go to the drama club on Fridays. We play games, we improvise and we rehearse a play. At the end of the year, we perform it in front of the parents. I'm sometimes nervous, but I love it.

Ethan: I'm in the eco club. We meet on Wednesday lunchtimes. We usually work in the school garden, and we recycle paper and plastic. I never miss a meeting because I want to protect the planet.

In American high schools, at the end of the year, every student gets a yearbook. It's a big book with the photos of all the students, the teachers, the clubs and the sports teams. Friends write funny messages in each other's yearbooks.

One famous page is called "Senior Superlatives". The students vote for the "Best Smile", the "Most Likely to Become Famous", the "Funniest Student" or the "Most Creative". It's a way to celebrate everyone's talents.

Hello everyone! Do you like animals? Then join the Pet Rescue Club! We meet every Thursday at lunchtime in room 14. We usually help at the animal shelter near the school, and we sometimes organise a cake sale to buy food for the dogs and cats. Last year, we found homes for twelve cats! In my opinion, it's the most useful club in the school. You should come: it's fun, it's free and the animals need you!

At first, you only see grass, daisies and hazelnuts. But look closer! Dozens of tiny people are hiding between the flowers: fairies, a king and a queen, soldiers, musicians and old men with long beards.

In the middle, a man is holding an axe above his head. He is going to break a hazelnut in two. Everybody is waiting and watching. What will happen when the nut breaks? Nobody knows!

The painter worked on this picture for nine years. He painted every detail with a tiny brush. In my opinion, it is strange, magical and a little scary.

In the 19th century, the cities of England were dirty and crowded. Factory workers lived in small, dark houses, and many children were ill. George and Richard Cadbury made chocolate in the centre of Birmingham, but they had a dream.

In 1879, they moved their factory to the countryside, south of the city. They called the place Bournville. Then, George Cadbury built a whole village for the workers: houses with gardens and fruit trees, parks, schools, a swimming pool and sports fields. The rent was cheap, and the workers could breathe fresh air.

Today, Bournville is still there, and you can visit Cadbury World, a chocolate museum next to the factory.

Roald Dahl was born in Wales in 1916. His parents were from Norway. When he was a teenager, he went to a boarding school called Repton.

Every term, the Cadbury company sent boxes of new chocolate bars to the students. Each box had twelve bars inside, and the boys tested them and gave them marks. Young Roald loved it! He dreamt that one day, he would work in a chocolate factory and invent a fantastic new bar.

Many years later, in 1964, he wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the story of a poor boy who wins a visit to the most amazing chocolate factory in the world.

Are you tired? Are you bored? Try the Moonbar! It's a chocolate bar with a heart of blue caramel that glows in the dark. If you eat one, you'll feel as light as an astronaut! Next year, we are going to open a factory on a hill near Bordeaux, with a garden of chocolate trees. Visitors will travel in a glass lift. Come and taste the future!

The United Kingdom is made of four nations: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. England is the biggest and its capital is London, which is also the capital of the whole country. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital of Wales is Cardiff and the capital of Northern Ireland is Belfast.

Each nation has its own patron saint and national day: Saint George for England on the 23rd of April, Saint Andrew for Scotland on the 30th of November, Saint David for Wales on the 1st of March and Saint Patrick for Ireland on the 17th of March.

The British flag, the Union Jack, mixes the crosses of Saint George, Saint Andrew and Saint Patrick. Wales is not on it: the Welsh have their own flag with a red dragon!

Tom: Hello, I'd like a ticket to Edinburgh, please.

Clerk: Single or return?

Tom: Return, please. Is the train faster than the coach?

Clerk: Much faster! The train takes about four and a half hours. The coach is cheaper, but it takes twice as long.

Tom: And what's the most beautiful part of the journey?

Clerk: Near Berwick, the train runs along the sea. You should sit on the right!

The BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation, started in 1922. It is a public service: most British households pay a licence fee to watch TV, and there are no adverts on BBC channels. The British sometimes call it "Auntie", because for a hundred years it has been in every living room, like a member of the family. Every day, millions of people listen to BBC radio and watch the BBC weather forecast.

The National Trust is a charity created in 1895 to protect beautiful places in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Today, it looks after hundreds of castles, old houses and gardens, and hundreds of kilometres of coastline. It has millions of members. On a sunny Sunday, a British family could visit a castle, have a picnic in its gardens and walk along the cliffs.

Lina: So, where are we going to start?

Hugo: In London, of course! We could visit the BBC and the National Portrait Gallery.

Lina: Then we're going to take the train to Cardiff. It's faster than the coach.

Hugo: Good idea. After that, I'd love to see Edinburgh Castle. Should we fly?

Lina: No, the train is more beautiful: it runs along the sea! And we'll finish in Belfast for Saint Patrick's Day.