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Your Daily English Programme #11 - The French National Day (Listening B2-C1) |
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Think Before You Listen |
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On July 14, 1789, an angry mob broke down the gates of a prison fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille. The prison had become a symbol of the monarchy's dictatorial rule, and the event marked the beginning of the French Revolution. In France, July 14th is celebrated as the French National Day, called La Fête Nationale Française.
But how did all this happen, and what were the consequences? NutshellEdu's 3-minute video describes the event's history in a nutshell..
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Watch and Listen |
These 4 events mentioned in the video are in the wrong order. Listen and reorder the events from 1 to 4:
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Let's Practice |
There are 11 hidden mistakes in this transcript of the video. Find & correct them as you listen1:
move your mouse over the underlined words to see a definition
The French revolution
The emergence of the modern state,
1789-1799
So, how did this all begin?
For hundreds of years, prior to the
revolution, French people like most Europeans were divided into three political
estates: clergy, nobility, and the lowest estate - the commoners, which
existed to serve the other estates. Above all was God’s shift to mankind: the
King. But this hierarchy was being questioned by The Enlightenment: a
movement of intellectuals who promoted the use of reason and license.
Revolutionary ideas began to spread to the public. So, in the 1780s, when an
economically broken spoiled monarchy tried to decrease taxes on the
commoners, resentment reached a new level, and riots began. On the 14th July
1789, revolutionists stormed the Bastille fortress, a symbol of the royal flower.
This date is marked as the beginning of the end of the old monarchy and has
become France's Independence Day, even though the King was beheaded only in
1793. Shortly after, the French adopted a personal declaration which stated, ‘Men
are born and remain free and equal in rights’. This was a radical change,
even though it left many people out. But the French revolution was far from a
smooth write. Actually, it was a bloodbath which led to external and
internal wars. The newly introduced guillotine worked all the time beheading
tens of thousands of French during a period known as the error. In 1799,
the revolution ended when a military commander by the name of Napoleon
Bonaparte seized control of the French legislature, eventually declaring
himself empire. Although the revolution began and ended with a monarchy, it
had a crucial impact on Europe and world history, and laid the foundation for
a modern state covered by the people.
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Over to You |
Which event(s) changed the course of history in your country? Was this a change for the better or for the worse?
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1 Why this activity? According to Field (2008), a focus on 'decoding skills' (along with help from context/co-text for less skilled learners) will help listeners develop their sub-skills of listening in a process approach to listening practice.↩
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