Today we’re going to try and give you a complete history of Britain in 20 minutes – without all the boring bits!
With over 45 years of teaching between us, we’ll help you improve your English and take it to the next level.

Hello to Gustavo Gonzalo (AKA – also known as – Don Quixote from La Mancha) who sent a lovely email from ‘deep Spain’ – thanks for listening.

An email from Raixa Pérez from Valladolid who’s going to Ireland this summer with her family.
Hello Reza and Craig,
I found your great, funny and incredibly useful podcast some months ago and I listen to you almost every working day, on my way to work.
I passed the first certificate exam many years ago, around 20 or maybe more!!
Your podcast is helping me a lot to refresh grammar, vocabulary, listening etc
I listen to Luke’s podcast in order to hear different accents, but your podcast is the most pedagogic.;)
Next summer we will go to Ireland (we’re going to Ireland), to Cork, for 2 weeks to Learn English in a family. The children play in English and we attend English lessons…in the mornings.
Reza, I am afraid we couldn’t visit your great country, The North of Ireland (we won’t be able to), but could you give us some advice about Cork: What to visit, What dishes to eat…?
I haven’t written in English for many, many time (a long time/many years).. I am ” oxidized” (rusty).
Big hugs from Valladolid.

Look out for the colourful buildings. Ask for Murphy’s Stout, not Guinness in Cork.
Seafood like mackerel, mussels and Oysters will be good in Cork, also milk, butter, buttermilk, Irish bread and a good fried breakfast.
White pudding is a typical dish in this part of Ireland.

Email: Rafael Alba Garcia
Hola Craig, estoy oyendo vuestro podcast y alguien (no recuerdo el nombre) ha dado un significado de “carajo” y como yo ya opiné al respecto y como no coincide con lo que yo os dije,
te pongo lo que dice el diccionario de la Real Academia de la lengua…..(solo pongo la primero acepción) que coincide con lo que yo os dije……
1. m. malson. miembro viril. (es malsonante)…. ya lo dejo que no me gusta ponerme muy pesado….saludos

Voice message from Francisco Espínola – Úbeda

A Short History of Britain (in 20 minutes!)

The Celts settled in Britain around 700 BC 

The Celts are ancestors to many people in Scotland, Wales and Ireland (and also England).

A famous Celt is Boadicea. She fought against the Romans. The Celts often had female leaders.

The Romans occupied most of England and Wales in 43 AD. They built a wall along the Scottish border, called Hadrian’s Wall (after the Roman Emperor Hadrian) to keep the barbarians in the North.

The Romans stayed in Britain for a long time. By the 5th Century, they were losing control and the Angles and the Saxons attacked Britain.

Then, in the 9th century the Vikings came from Scandinavia attacking monasteries, killing monks and stealing gold and silver.

The Vikings stayed in Britain for almost 300 years. They were finally defeated by the Saxon king, Alfred (Alfred the Great) – the first great Anglo-Saxon King of England.

In 1066, the Norman invaders from France, under William the Conqueror, defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Harold and took control of the kingdom, introducing many French words and customs.

During the Middle Ages, England became one of the strongest nations in Europe.

King Edward l was the first English King who conquered Scotland (to conquer – conquistar).

Edward lll conquered Wales and Ireland.

In 1509, King Henry VIII took the throne (trono – Game of Thrones). He brought in (introduced) Protestant reform and the Catholic Church lost control over England. He earned a lot of money from the reform and was able to get divorced (from Catherine of Aragon)

Henry’s daughter, Elizabeth l, was the first Queen of England. She defeated the Spanish fleet/armada and created the first English colonies in America.

The English Civil War began in 1642. The parliament beat Charles l and England became a republic. Indeed, many people forget that England was briefly a republic, just like Spain!
Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector. The King was executed.

On July 4th, 1776, 13 colonies declared independence from Britain. General George Washington broke the British army in 1783 and the US got its independance.

Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of France in 1805 and declared war on Britain.

Britain decisively beat the French at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, after various previous battles against them, including in Badajoz and Salamanca, Spain. Britain’s forces were led by The Duke Of Wellington.

As we pointed out in more detail in episode 52 of Aprender Inglés con Reza y Craig, all of Ireland used to be part of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain & Ireland) until 1922. Then the Republic of Ireland broke away while Northern Ireland remained in the UK. Thus, the historical love-hate relationship between GB and Ireland, whose histories are closely connected.

Improve your speaking with an italki teacher

…and now it’s your turn to practise your English. We’ve got a quiz for you about the UK.
Send us a voice message or an email with the answers. https://www.speakpipe.com/inglespodcast

Emails: [email protected] or [email protected].

The first listener who correctly answers all 6 questions gets a special mention on the show.

LISTENER QUIZ
1. Name the UK’s first ever female Prime Minister.
2. Which British monarch ruled the longest period of time?
3. Which British king was given the nickname of “the mad king”?
4. Who were the “Roundheads” and “Cavaliers”?
5. When was the Battle of Hastings?
6. Which famous British sailor defeated the Spanish Armada? (Sorry about that, amigos!!)

If you would like more detailed show notes, go to https://www.patreon.com/inglespodcast 
Our lovely sponsors are:

Carlos Garrido
Zara Heath Picazo
Mamen
Juan Leyva Galera
Sara Jarabo
Corey Fineran from Ivy Envy Podcast
Jorge Jiménez
Raul Lopez
Rafael
Manuel Tarazona
Mariel Riedemann
Maite Palacín Pérez
Pedro Martinez
Ana Cherta
Maria Gervatti
Nikolay Dimitrov

We want to thank Arminda from Madrid for continuing to transcribe full transcriptions.
There are now full transcriptions for episodes 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139 and 140.

On next week’s episode: Who, whose, who’s and whom

The music in this podcast is by Pitx. The track is called ‘See You Later’