British The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech.

Their insularity, conservaticism and sticking to traditions are often pointed to. They are famous for their politeness, self-discipline, reliability, and for their specific sense of humour. They never seem to be in a hurry and are seldom nervous. These features of British manners are often pointed to as typical but it does not mean that all the British people actually are what they are said to be. Many of the British are not insular, conservative or sticking to traditions at all. There are big differences in manners between individuals even within one nation. It is similar with customs and habits. Many traditional British customs and ahbits have changed as the way of life has changed. On the other hand there are habits and customs which characterize most of British people. It is true that the British rarely shake hands when they meet, except when being introduced to someone for the first time. It is becoming more common for young people to kiss on the cheek when they meet or say goodbye. It is also true that British people are very fond of animals. Almost every British family has a dog or a cat, goldfish, caged birds or other pets. The British are a sport loving nation. They are fond of football, rugby, gold, tennis, horse race and so on. They like to spend their free time outdoors. During weekends they often go for a picnic and have their meals in the open air. Most of the British like to spend their summer holidays at the seaside. Young British families are much concerned with the quality of life and they carefully plan the size of their family according to their material and financial resources. Americans The image a lot of people have of Americans is based on what they see most often The American tourists. Then they think Americans are loud, extremely self-conscious, dressed in tasteless clothes. This traditional image of Americans is usually modified when the people get to know them better. Then Americans are seen as open, friendly, hard-working, independent and relying always upon themselves. Another image of Americans is the result of the influence of American movies and advertising. Tehy show Americans as rich people, living in luxurious houses, spending most of their time at parties, and driving their expensive cars. America is a wealthy country and Americans enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. But the majority of Americans do not live in a great luxury. They have to work hard for the money they get. They know the value of money and do not like to throw it away. Most of Americans earn enough money to pay the expenses and they also save extra money in the bank. An average American family, living in a private house or in an apartment, has one or more phones, TVs, cars... Members of the family share the duties around the house. It is a typical custom to teach children independence from an early age. Americans like travelling and they often drive long distances through the country, especially during holidays to visit their friends and relatives. Americans usually do not stay in the same town all their lives. They like to move. It is typical for families to change a house and move to other town or state more than once in ten years. The American people, just like the British, love animals. They keep pets, usually a cat or a dog. Sometimes the family has several pets, and all get a very good care. In the last decade Americans started to take a greater care of their health. They do some sport, eat healthier food, do not smoke and drink less alcohol. Slovakia my homeland Talk about rozprvajte o: - General information veobecn informcie: - Location + population poloha + obyvatestvo - Mountains -hory - Rivers - rieky - Climate - podnebie - Industry & agricalture priemysel a doprava - Political system + education politick systm + vzdelvanie - History of Slovakia histria SR - Places of interest in Slovakia zaujmav miesta na Slovensku - The place you would reccomned to a foreigner miesto, ktor by si odporuil cudzincovi

- People & their customs + traditions udia a ich zvyky + tradcie - Bratislava the capital city of Slovakia hlavn mesto SR 1. General information The official name of our country is The Slovak republic. A.) LOCATION /poloha/: Slovakia is situated /nachdza sa/ in the Central Europe we can say that it is in the heart of Europe /v srdci Eurpy/. Slovakia is a small country its area /rozloha/ is 49.036 km2 /square kilometres = tvorcov km/. It has the population of about 5 and a half million people. It borders on /hrani s/: Czech republic, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria B.) MOUNTAINS /hory/: Slovakia is a very mountainous /hornat/ country. In the north /sever/ there are the High Tatras / Vysok Tatry/ with the highest peak /najvy vrchol/ the Gerlach Peak /Gerlachovsk tt/. There are also other peaks for example Kriv Peak and tarns /ples/ - for example trbsk pleso, Popradsk pleso. The Low Tatras /Nzke Tatry/ - they are not as high as the High Tatras but the nature there is beautiful and it is an ideal place for hiking /turistika/ - the most popular peaks in the Low Tatras are umbier, Zvolen, Chopok, Krov Hoa. In the west /zpad/ there are the Big Fatra /Vek Fatra/, the Small Fatra /Mal Fatra/, the White Carpathian Mountains /Biele Karpaty/, the Small Carpathian Mountains /Mal Karpaty/. In the east part /vchodn as/ of central Slovakia there are mountains called the Slovak Paradise /Slovensk raj/ and the Slovak Karst /Slovensk Kras/. C.) RIVERS /rieky/ and LAKES /jazer/ - the biggest rivers are the river Danube, Moravia, Hron, Ipe and Ondava. The most important river is the river Danube in Bratislava, Komrno and trovo there are also ports /prstavy/. The longest river is the river Vh. Slovakia doesnt have many lakes. The most important lakes are in the High Tatras they are called tarns /ples/ for example trbsk pleso, Popradsk pleso and so on. The biggest dams /priehrady/ are Domaa Dam, Liptov Dam, Orava Water Dam, Zemplnska rava and the biggest water power station /vodn elektrre/ is Gabkovo. D.) CLIMATE /podnebie/ in Slovakia is mild. The warmest part of Slovakia is the south. E.) INDUSTRY and AGRICULTURE /priemysel & ponohospodrstvo) the biggest and for our economy the most important factories are the USS (the US Steel) Koice, VW Bratislava and Slovnaft. Woodworking industry /drevospracovatesk priemysel/ is based in Zvolen, B. Bystrica. We can find the food industry in every town in Slovakia the most important factories are in Bratislava, B. Bystrica, Martin ... The most of the industry is situated in the west of Slovakia which is bad for people living in other parts of Slovakia many people are unemployed for example in the east or in the north Kysuce region Agriculture is very important for Slovakia people in Slovakia grow potatoes /zemiaky/, sugar beets /cukrov trstina/, corn /kukurica/. In Pezinok and Modra people usually grow /pestuj/ grapewine /vini, hrozno/. People in Slovakia also grow fruit and vegetables. Animal production is important, too people keep cows /kravy/, goats /kozy/, hens /sliepky/ - in hen farms, pigs /prasat/, sheep /ovce/ ... 2. The history of Slovakia The area of modern Slovakia was settled /bola osdlen/ by Slavs /Slovanmi/ at the end of the 5th century /storoie/. They belonged /patrili/ to Samos Empire /Samova ra/. Later the Samos Empire was broken and Slavs became a part of 2 princedoms /knieatstvo/ - Pribinas Princedom and Mojmirs Princedom. These two princedoms were united /spojen/ and they became the Great Moravian Empire /Vekomoravsk Ra/. In 863 Cyril and Methodius came and they brought the Christian religion to this region they were also the founders /zakladatelia/ of the Slavic script /Slovanskho psma/. At the beginning of the 10th century the Great Moravia ended and the area of Slovakia became the part of the early feudal Hungarian state the following centuries /storoia/ were hard for Slavs - there were Tatar and Turkish invasions they lasted for about 150 years. After that, in the 19th century we became a part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (Raksko-Uhorsko).

Personalities as /osobnosti ako/ . tr, Hurban, Hoda ... fought for our independence /nezvislos/. After the World War I. in 1918 the Czechoslovak republic was established /zaloen/, later in 1938 the Slovak State and in 1948 the communists came to power => the Czechoslovakia again. In 1989 there was a revolution in the Czechoslovakia and the two countries were divided. From 1st January 1993 Slovakia is independent. 3. Places of interest There are many interesting places in Slovakia. These are: - Mountains hory => The High Tatras, The Low Tatras - Old towns/villages => Vlkolnec, imany, Vychylovka, Rajeck Lesn - Caves jaskyne => The Dobinsk Ice Cave, Belianska Cave, Domanica - Castles hrady => Devn Castle, Bratislava Castle, Bojnice Castle, Beckov - Spas /spa baths/ kpele => Pieany, Bardejov, Rajeck Teplice - Bratislava The nature in Slovakia is very beautiful in summer we can go hiking /na turistiku/ and in winter, we can go skiing in our mountains. We have The High Tatras and The Low Tatras - the nature there is protected by law (TANAP). You can also visit old town and villages for example Vlkolnec, imany, Vychylovka where we you can see how people in Slovakia lived in the past there are old wooden houses. Vlkolnec is protected by UNESCO. In Rajeck Lesn there is an old wooden Bethlehem. In Slovakia there are many caves The Dobinsk Ice Cave is the largest ice cave in Europe. Other caves are the Cave of Freedom /Jaskya Slobody/, Belianska Cave, Gombaseck, Domica... There are also some very nice castles in our country for example: Bojnice castle every year there is a ghost festival /festival straidiel/. achtice a home of a bloody countess /krvav grfka/ Albeta Bthoryov who killed young women and bathed in their blood /kpala sa v ich krvi/. Other castles are Beckov ruins, Trenn Castle, Bratislava Castle, Spi Castle, Orava Castle, Streno, Krsna Hrka and so on. In Slovakia we have spa baths in Pieany, Bardejov, Rajeck Lesn. People who come to Slovakia should also visit a historical town called Kremnica there was a mine for gold and this town is famous for the production of golden coins /zlat mince/. 4. The place I would recommend to a foreigner To a foreigner I would recommend these places /the mountains, old towns and villages, castles, caves, spas, Bratislava, Kremnica/ 5. People and their customs + traditions Slovak people are very friendly and hospitable /pohostinn/ but they are not very rich. They like traditional music and dancing and therefore there are many folk festivals in Slovakia every year for example in Detva, Vchodn... At these festivals you can hear folk music and see many beautiful folk costumes and folk dances. These festivals are also visited by foreign tourists. We also have typical food. Our national dish /nrodn jedlo/ is Bryndzov haluky which is a meal made of potatoes and cheese called bryndza. We have very good cheese in Slovakia for example, otiepok and parenica. Slovak national hero is Juraj Jnok. Slovak people are Christians and because of this the most important holidays are Christmas and Easter. For Christmas and Easter the Slovak families usually get together they visit each other, bake cakes and cook traditional meals. 6. Bratislava Bratislava is the capital city of Slovakia. It is situated on the banks /breh/ of the river Danube and therefore it has a very good position. It is also an important industrial city and it is important for our economy there are many factories there for example Slovnaft, VW, Palma and so on. The city has the unemployment rate /miera nezamestnanosti/ of only about 3 %. People who like shopping can shop in popular shopping centres Aupark and Polus. In Bratislava there are many historical buildings and sightseeing places:

- The Slovak National Theatre /Slovensk Nrodn Divadlo/ - on the Hviezdoslav Square /Hviezdoslavovo Nmestie/ there is a statue of P.O. Hviezdoslav an important Slovak writer - The Slovak National Gallery - Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra REDUTA it is often used for many social and cultural events - Grassalkovich Palace /Grasalkoviov Palc/ the Presidents Palace it is the residence of our president - Primates Palace /Primacilny Palc/ - there is the famous Mirror hall /Zrkadlov sie/ - Bratislava Castle - St. Michaels Gate /Michalsk Brna/ - The St. Martins Cathedral /Svtomartinsk katedrla/ - in the past kings and queens were crowned there 11 kings and 8 queens - Academia Istropolitana the building of the first university in the Hungarian Kingdom - a statue of umil /socha umila/ - a statue of a man who is sticking his head out of a hole in the road it is a popular attraction for tourists. Vocabulary: tarn pleso /horsk/ the nature - prroda hiking - turistika important - dleit port - prstav lake - jazero dam - priehrada water power station - vodn elektrre industry priemysel agriculture - ponohospodrstvo food industry potravinrsky priemysel woodworking industry - drevospracovatesk priemysel factory - tovre unemployed nezamestnan the unemployment rate miera nezamestnanosti grow - pestova potatoes - zemiaky sugar beets - cukrov trstina corn - kukurica grape-wine - vini, hrozno animal production produkcia zvierat keep cows chova kravy goats kozy hens sliepky hen farms slepaie farmy pigs prasat sheep ovce area zemie settle osdli /The area of modern Slovakia was settled by Slavs in the 5th century. zemie modernho Slovenska bolo osdlen Slovanmi v 5. storo./ Slavs Slovania centrury storoie belong patri the Samos Empire - Samova ra princedom knieatstvo unite - spoji /were united boli spojen/ become - sta sa the Great Moravian Empire - Vekomoravsk Ra arrive prs bring /min. as brought/ - prinies Christian religion kresansk nboenstvo

founder zakladate the Slavic script - Slovansk psmo invasion invzia, njazd last trva fight for /min. as fought/ - bojova za independence nezvislos establish zaloi power moc divide rozdeli protect - ochraova protected by law - zkonom chrnen in the past v minulosti wooden houses dreven domeky kill - zabi ruins - ruiny spa baths kpele they should - oni by mali called nazvan a mine baa /a mine for gold baa, kde sa a zlato/ famous for slvny pre /kvli/ recommend - odporui customs zvyky hospitable - pohostinn like ma rd folk festival folklrny festival folk costumes udov kroje folk dance folklrny tanec foreign tourists zahranin turisti a meal jedlo /A meal made of potatoes and cheese called bryndza. Jedlo vyroben zo zemiakov a syra nazvanho bryndza./ cheese syr the national hero nrodn hrdina Christian kresan because of this preto Easter Vek noc get together stretn sa bake cakes piec kole cook traditional meals vari tradin jedl the capital city hlavn mesto therefore preto sightseeing places miesta, kde si meme pozrie pamiatky event - udalos residence - sdlo king kr queen krovna crown korunova a building budova a statue socha stick out vystri von /A statue of a man who is sticking his head out of a hole in the road. Socha mua, ktor vystrkuje hlavu von z diery na ulici./ attraction atrakcia homeland - domovina