#128 William Shakespeare (part #2)- ESL

Transcript:

Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Today I’m gonna keep talking about William Shakespeare. Last week you learned some interesting facts about his life, so I will continue sharing some exciting facts about him.

What else do we know about Shakespeare?

Well, one thing is for sure. Shakespeare’s life was anything but boring.

Did you know that we’re probably spelling Shakespeare’s name wrong?

We don’t really know exactly how William Shakespeare wrote his name.

There are almost 80 different versions of Shakespeare’s name that appear in the records and other historical documents.

You have to keep in mind that a lot of people were illiterate at that time.

Let’s learn some more about his life:

His parents:

His father’s name was John Shakespeare, and he was a glove maker and leatherworker. His mother, Mary Arden, was an heiress from a rich family.

His parents were probably illiterate, like many other people at the time. And, it’s very likely they never learned to read or write, as was often the case with people in their position.

Shakespeare had seven siblings: Joan who only lived two months; Margaret; Gilbert, another Joan, Anne; Richard and also Edmund.

Did you know that William Shakespeare’s Father Was Paid to Drink Beer?

You might find this interesting, but John Shakespeare was appointed to one of the city’s most important public offices: official beer taster. Another word for beer in English is ale.

It may seem like a strange job today, but at the time, the ale tasting was an important and highly respected occupation.

(END OF THE EXTRACT).

Get the FULL TEXT in PDF here.

Resources:

  • Audio MP3 (right click to save the audio)
  • FULL-TEXT PDF (right click to save the TEXT)

Recommended Material:

 

Fluency Course

Can you understand a conversation in English but still can’t speak? The Fluency course will help you speak English automatically. Learn how to speak English without translating mentally.

Fluency

>> Get my Fluency Course <<

6 Comments

  1. thang

    could you explaiin more about the sentence” Shakespeare’s life was anything but boring.” I can’t understand.

    Reply
    • GEORGIANA

      anything but=by no means

      Shakespeare’s life was anything but boring = Shakespeare’s life was by no means boring. (His life wasn’t boring)

      Reply
    • justino

      anything but=only

      Reply
  2. María Concepción Torres

    Thank you Georgiana.
    I found this episode of Shakespeare´s life interesting and lovely

    Reply
  3. Rahim

    Hi Georgiana thank you for your useful podcasts .since i started english learning with your podcasts i feel my english learning is emproving .so i have to appreciate of you

    Reply
    • Georgiana

      I am very happy that you can improve your English with my English lessons. Regards!

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

💙 3 Ways to Learn with Me

One-on-one English classes with Georgiana

💬 Book 1-on-1 Lessons

Yes, I’ll be your teacher! We’ll work together on real conversations so you can speak more confidently and apply the method directly.
👉 Apply for Classes

Premium English Courses by Speak English Podcast

📘 Take a Premium Course

Train your brain to speak English with step-by-step mini-stories and point of view lessons. These programs guide you step by step to help you speak fluently and confidently.
👉 View Courses

Speak English Podcast with Georgiana

🎧 Listen to the Podcast

Short, powerful lessons to help you build vocabulary and get familiar with the method I use in my premium courses.
👉 Go to Podcast

Speak English Now Podcast with Georgiana
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

We never store personal information.

You have all the information about privacy, legal rights, and cookies on our cookie policy page.