Jules Verne - writer and geographer, recognized classic of adventure literature, founder of the science fiction genre. Lived and worked in the 19th century. According to UNESCO statistics, Verne's works rank second in the world in terms of the number of translations. We will consider the life and work of this amazing person.
Jules Verne: biography. Childhood
The writer was born in the small French town of Nantes on February 8, 1828. His father owned a legal firm and was very famous among the townspeople. His mother, of Scottish origin, loved art and even taught literature at a local school for some time. It is believed that it was she who instilled in her son a love of books and set him on the path of writing. Although his father saw in him only the continuer of his business.
Since childhood, Jules Verne, whose biography is presented here, was between two fires, raised by such dissimilar people. No wonder he was hesitant about which path to take. During his school years, he read a lot; his mother picked out books for him. But having matured, he decided to become a lawyer, for which he went to Paris.
Already as an adult, he will write a short autobiographical essay in which he will talk about his childhood, his father’s desire to teach him the basics of law, and his mother’s attempts to raise him as an artist. Unfortunately, the manuscript has not been preserved; only those closest to him read it.
Education
So, upon reaching adulthood, Verne goes to Paris to study. At this time, the pressure from the family was so strong that the future writer literally ran away from home. But even in the capital he does not find the long-awaited peace. The father decides to continue guiding his son, so he secretly tries to help him get into law school. Vern finds out about this, deliberately fails his exams and tries to enter another university. This continues until there is only one faculty of law left in Paris, where the young man has not yet tried to enter.
Vern passed the exams with flying colors and studied for the first six months, when he learned that one of the teachers had known his father for a long time and was his friend. This was followed by a major family quarrel, after which the young man for a long time didn't communicate with my father. Nevertheless, in 1849 he became a graduate Faculty of Law Jules Verne. Qualification upon completion of training - licentiate of law. However, he is in no hurry to return home and decides to stay in Paris. By this time, Verne had already begun to collaborate with the theater and met such masters as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. He directly informs his father that he will not continue his business.
Theater activities
Over the next few years, Jules Verne experiences dire need. The biography even testifies that the writer spent six months of his life on the street, since there was nothing to pay for the room. But this did not encourage him to return to the path chosen by his father and become a lawyer. It was during these difficult times that Verne's first work was born.
One of my university friends seeing him plight, decides to arrange a meeting for his friend with the main Historic Parisian Theater. A potential employer studies the manuscript and realizes that this is an incredibly talented writer. So in 1850, a production of Verne’s play “Broken Straws” appeared on stage for the first time. It brings the writer his first fame, and well-wishers appear ready to finance his work.
Cooperation with the theater continues until 1854. Verne's biographers call this period the initial period in the writer's career. At this time, the main stylistic features his texts. Over the years of theatrical work, the writer has published several comedies, stories and librettos. Many of his works continued to be performed for many years.
Literary success
Jules Verne learned a lot of useful skills from his collaboration with the theater. The books of the next period differ greatly in their themes. Now the writer was seized with a thirst for adventure; he wanted to describe what no other author had been able to do. This is how the first cycle, called “Extraordinary Journeys,” was born.
In 1863, the first work of the cycle “Five Weeks in a Balloon” was published. Readers praised it highly. The reason for its success was that Verne supplemented the romantic line with adventure and fantastic details - for that time this was an unexpected innovation. Realizing his success, Jules Verne continued to write in the same style. Books are coming out one after another.
“Extraordinary Travels” brought the writer fame and glory, first in his homeland and then in the world. His novels were so multifaceted that everyone could find something interesting for themselves. Literary criticism saw in Jules Verne not just the founder of the fantastic genre, but also a man who believed in scientific and technical progress and the power of the mind.
Trips
Jules Verne's travels were not only on paper. Most of all, the writer loved sea travel. He even had three yachts that bore the same name - Saint-Michel. In 1859, Verne visited Scotland and England, and in 1861 - Scandinavia. 6 years after that, he went on a transatlantic cruise on the then-famous Great Eastern steamship in the USA, saw Niagara Falls, and visited New York.
In 1878, the writer travels the Mediterranean Sea on his yacht. On this trip he visited Lisbon, Gibraltar, Tangier and Algiers. Later he also sailed again on his own to England and Scotland.
Jules Verne's travels are becoming increasingly large-scale. And in 1881 he set off on a long voyage to Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. There were also plans to visit St. Petersburg, but a storm prevented this plan. The writer's last expedition took place in 1884. Then he visited Malta, Algeria and Italy, as well as a number of other Mediterranean countries. These travels formed the basis of many of Verne's novels.
The reason for stopping travel was an accident. In March 1886, Verne was attacked and seriously injured by his mentally ill nephew, Gaston Verne.
Personal life
In his youth, the writer was in love several times. But all the girls, despite signs of attention from Verne, got married. This upset him so much that he founded a circle called “Eleven Bachelors’ Dinners,” which included his acquaintances, musicians, writers and artists.
Verne's wife was Honorine de Vian, who came from a very wealthy family. The writer met her in the small town of Amiens. Vern came here to celebrate his cousin's wedding. Six months later, the writer asked for his beloved’s hand in marriage.
Jules Verne's family lived happily. The couple loved each other and did not need for anything. The marriage produced a son, who was named Michel. The father of the family was not present at the birth, as he was in Scandinavia at that time. Growing up, Verne's son became seriously involved in cinematography.
Works
The works of Jules Verne were not only bestsellers of their time, they remain in demand and loved by many today. In total, the author wrote more than 30 plays, 20 stories and stories and 66 novels, among which there are unfinished ones and published only in the 20th century. The reason that interest in Verne’s work does not subside is the writer’s ability not only to create bright storylines and describe amazing adventures, but also portray interesting and lively characters. His characters are no less attractive than the events that happen to them.
Let's list the most famous works Jules Verne:
- "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
- "From the Earth to the Moon."
- "Lord of the world".
- "Around the Moon."
- "Around the world in 80 Days".
- "Michael Strogoff"
- "Flag of the Motherland."
- "15-year-old captain."
- “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, etc.
But in his novels, Verne not only talks about the greatness of science, but also warns: knowledge can also be used for criminal purposes. This attitude towards progress is typical late works writer.
"The Children of Captain Grant"
The novel was published in parts from 1865 to 1867. It became the first part of the famous trilogy, which was continued by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mysterious Island" The work has a three-part form and is divided depending on who is the main character of the story. The main goal of the travelers is to find Captain Grant. For this they have to visit South America, Australia and New Zealand.
"Captain Grant's Children" is recognized as one of Verne's best novels. This is an excellent example of not only adventure, but also youth literature, so it will be easy to read even for a schoolchild.
"Mysterious Island"
This is a Robinsonade novel that was published in 1874. It is the final part of the trilogy. The action of the work takes place on an imaginary island, where Captain Nemo decided to settle, having sailed there on the Nautilus submarine he created. By chance, five heroes who escaped from captivity in a hot air balloon end up on the same island. They begin to develop desert lands, with help from them scientific knowledge. However, it soon becomes clear that the island is not so uninhabited.
Predictions
Jules Verne (his biography does not confirm that he was seriously involved in science) predicted many discoveries and inventions in his novels. We list the most interesting of them:
- A television.
- Space flights, including interplanetary ones. The writer also predicted a number of aspects of space exploration, for example, the use of aluminum in the construction of a projectile car.
- Scuba gear.
- Electric chair.
- An airplane, including one with an inverted thrust vector, and a helicopter.
- Construction of the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian Railways.
But the writer also had unfulfilled assumptions. For example, it was never discovered underground strait, located under the Suez Canal. It also became impossible to fly in a cannon shell to the Moon. Although it was precisely because of this mistake that Tsiolkovsky decided to study space flight.
For his time, Jules Verne was amazing person who was not afraid to look into the future and dream about scientific discoveries, which even scientists could not imagine.
Jules Verne was born in 1828 in Prance. Young Jules was interested in machinery, sailing and writing. Together with his brother Paul, he explored the river near their home in an old sailboat.
Jules’ father was a lawyer and he wanted his son to continue his career. So Jules was sent to Paris to study law. Jules, however, decided soon that his main interest was writing. He joined the club of scientific writers. This group was interested in balloons so Jules soon wrote an adventure story called “Five Weeks in a Balloon”. His favorite subject at school was geography, so he wanted to describe in his books as many parts of the world as possible.
Jules Verne’s books are still popular now because they are good adventure stories. But in his books Verne also forecast many inventions that we have now. He believed that someday people would have airplanes, submarines, television, derigibles and powerful weapons.
His most popular books are “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea” and “Around the World in Eighty Days”.
Verne had a notebook where he wrote every idea or bit of information he came across that might be useful for his books. In his study he had a large map of the world with all routes of his heroes marked on it.
Jules Verne (translation)
Jules Verne born in 1828 in France. Young Jules was interested in technology, sailing and writing. Together with his brother Paul, he explored the river near his home in an old sailboat.
Jules' father was a lawyer and he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. So, Jules was sent to Paris to study law. Jules, however, soon decided that he was most interested in a career as a writer. He joined the club of popular science writers. This group was interested in balloons, and soon Jules wrote adventure story, which he called "Five Weeks in a Balloon." His favorite school subject was geography, and he wanted to describe as many corners of the world as possible in his books.
Jules Verne's books are still popular today because they are good adventure novels. But in his books, Verne predicted many of the inventions that we have today. He believed that one day people would have airplanes, submarines, television, airships and powerful weapons.
His most popular books are Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days.
Jules Verne had a notebook in which he wrote down any idea or piece of information that he came across that might be useful for his books. In his office he had a map on which the routes of all his heroes were plotted.
During his life, Jules Berne wrote more than 50 books. He died at the age of 77.
We would like to dedicate our lesson today to cheerful, festive days, thereby creating a festive mood in English! There is probably not a single person who does not like holidays and vacations. Everyone likes such days, because a holiday is fun, fireworks, joy, and a good mood. How to talk about holidays, vacations and vacations in English?
Today we want to talk about how to build and conduct an English lesson on the topic Holidays. This is a very important topic, as it comes up quite often in school curriculum in English language.
The English language is curious in that the same word can have several meanings. So it is in this case. And really, what is this interesting word? But it is curious because it has two meanings:
- Holidays - holidays
- Holidays - vacations
However, the English language allows you to distinguish the meaning of a word depending on the context. Compare the following sentences in English according to the meaning of their translation:
- I wait my winter holidays with a great impatience, because I want to go to the mountains. - I'm waiting for mine the winter vacation with great impatience, because I want to go to the mountains.
- How are you going to celebrate winter holidays? — How are you going to celebrate the winter holidays?
As you noticed, in both sentences there are winter holidays, but the meaning changes depending on the meaning and context of the sentence.
English is rich in synonyms. And this word has synonyms if it means “vacation, rest, vacation”: vacation, recess.
- Where are you going to spend your summer vacation? -Where are you going to spend yours? summer holidays?
What holidays are there?
Fortunately, there are quite a few holidays throughout the year. Therefore, we have the opportunity to have fun, meet with friends, celebrate some dates, and just relax.
As you know, there are a wide variety of holidays: religious, state, professional, secular, winter, summer, autumn, spring. Let's remember a few of the most basic universal holidays and see how the English language presents their names to us.
Winter:
- New Year's Day - New Year
- Christmas - Christmas
- Valentine's Day - Valentine's Day
- The 23 of February - Men's Day (Defender of the Fatherland Day)
Spring:
- Easter - Easter
- The 8 of March - March 8
- Victory's Day - Victory Day
Summer:
- Children's Day - Children's Day
- Father's Day - Father's Day (in the USA)
Autumn:
- The 1st of September - Day of Knowledge (September 1)
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving Day
In addition to these holidays, there are various professional holidays, such as T Eacher’s Day (Teacher’s Day), Doctor’s Day (Health Worker’s Day), etc. In addition, each country notes public holidays, such as, Independence Day, Constitution Day, Language Day, etc.
In addition, there are also personal and family holidays. This category includes: Birthday, Wedding Day, Anniversary (some family date), Jubilee, etc.
Examples of English sentences with holidays in English:
- My favorite winter holidays are Christmas and New Year’s Day. — My favorite winter holidays are Christmas and New Year.
- My congratulations with your birthday! - Please accept my congratulations on your birthday!
- How are you going to celebrate teacher’s day in your family? — How are you going to celebrate Teacher's Day in your family?
In general, you see that the holiday variety is great. Choose any one you like! 
Tips for teaching a lesson on “holidays”
How to teach a lesson about holidays?
We would like to offer you some tips about English lessons, friends. If you devote an English lesson to the topic “Holidays” or “Vacations”, then the topic itself requires a festive, bright, cheerful lesson.
- First, decorate the classroom.
This, of course, depends on your desire, but it will be much more interesting if the classroom is decorated with balloons and confetti to create a festive atmosphere.
- Secondly, visibility
The theme of holidays and vacations allows you to use a large number of didactic material. Let your imagination run wild here. All kinds of pictures, posters, posters, slides, audio and video materials will help diversify your English lessons. Let them be bright and colorful!
- Thirdly, the methodology
Try to add interesting methods to your English lesson. More game moments and active participation of children in the lesson!
- Fourth, vocabulary work
Don't forget this important point. Not a single English lesson is complete without this. You can read a text about holidays or vacations with the children, translate it and work on unfamiliar words or key words of the lesson/topic. Let the guys make up sentences and dialogues with them, let them use them in speech. Do not forget about the active participation of all children in the lesson, let everyone be involved.
We talk about holidays in English
Children can learn to compose short stories or dialogues about how they spend their holidays or celebrate holidays. This is especially true when children are asked to write an essay about how they spent their holidays. Our task is to help them with this.
Provide the children with five to seven words on the topic of holidays and ask them to talk about their holidays or holidays using these words. For example:
- Holidays - vacations, holidays
- Summer - summer
- Have a rest - to rest
- Lake - lake
- Forest - forest
- Seaside - sea
- Joyful - cheerful
The story might go something like this:
I spent very well my summer holidays. It was very interesting and exciting. We had a rest with our family. We went to the village with our friends. There we went to the lake, after that we went to the forest. In July we went to the seaside. It was joyful. Summer is great!
I spent my summer holidays very well. It was very interesting and exciting. We had a family vacation. We went to the village with our friends. There we went to the lake, and after that to the forest. In July we went to the sea. It was fun. Summer is wonderful!
Also, a dialogue can be devoted to this topic, but about the holiday, with the following words:
- Celebrate - to celebrate, celebrate
- Present - gift
- Congratulate - congratulate
- Favorite - favorite
— Tell me, please, what is your family’s favorite holiday?
—Oh, it is the New Year's Day.
- Great! How do you celebrate it?
— We decorate Christmas tree, give presents to each other, invite friends, prepare holiday table, sing songs and congratulate each other.
- Oh, it is very interesting and joyful!
- Oh, yes!
— Tell me, please, what is your family’s favorite holiday?
- Oh, it's New Year.
- Great! How do you celebrate it?
— We decorate the Christmas tree, give each other gifts, invite friends, cook festive table, sing songs and congratulate each other.
- Oh, this is very interesting and fun!
- Oh yeah!
So, let's look at four types of holidays during the holidays:
Use the phrases below and share your impressions on the topic “How I spent my summer holidays (vacation).”
Holidays. English words on the topic “Holidays. Vacation"
How I spent my summer (winter) holidays. / How I Spent my Summer (Winter) Holidays
General Phrases / General phrases
- be on holiday (on vacation) - to be on vacation
- make friends - make friends
- have a wonderful time - have a wonderful time
- take pictures of - take pictures
- enjoy... - enjoy...
- visit - to visit
A. Sightseeing Holidays
- travel round Europe (Russia, Great Britain) - travel around Europe (Russia, UK)
- travel by car (plane, train, bus) - travel by car (plane, train, bus)
- go abroad - go abroad
- go on a trip - take a short trip
- take pictures of... - take pictures...
- walk the streets of ... - walk along the streets ...
- visit some places on the way to... - visit... on the way to...
- see interesting places - see the sights
- meet different people - meet different people
- visit museums and art galleries - visit museums and art galleries
- stay at a hotel - stay at a hotel
- enjoy the beauty of the scenery (countryside) - enjoy the beauty of the landscape (surrounding area)
B. Seaside Holidays / Vacations on the coast
- go to the beach - go to the beach
- go to the seaside - go to the coast
- sit on the sand - sit on the sand
- look at the sea - look at the sea
- look at the clouds floating in the sky - look at the clouds floating across the sky
- spend a lot of time on the beach - spend a lot of time on the beach
- bathe in the river - swim in the river
- lie in the sun - sunbathe
- play football, volleyball - play football (volleyball)
- fly a kite - fly a kite
- build sand castles - build sand castles
- play about (dig) in the sand - play in the sand
- look for shells - look for shells
S. Holidays at my Grandparents’ / Vacations at the dacha with grandparents
- go for a walk in the forest - go to the forest for a walk
- pick up berries (mushrooms) - pick up berries (mushrooms)
- ride a horse - ride a horse
- ride a bicycle - ride a bicycle
- go fishing – go fishing
- catch fish - catch fish
- sit on a bench under a tree and read a book - sit on a bench under a tree and read a book
- take long walks with my friends - take long walks with friends
- help my grandparents in the garden - help grandparents
- dig the ground - dig the ground
- pull out the weeds - pull out the weeds
- pick up fruit - pick up fruits
- take care of domestic animals - take care of domestic animals
- eat healthy food - eat healthy food
- spend a lot of time outdoors - spend a lot of time in the fresh air
D. Camping Holidays
- go to a summer camp in ... - go to camp in ...
- go camping - go hiking
- go boating - ride a boat
- climb the mountains - climb the mountains
- fish by the river - fish by the river
- make a campfire – make a big fire
- sit round the fire - sit around the fire
- roast sausages on the open fire – fry sausages over a fire
- swim in the river (in the lake) – swim in the river (in the lake)
- pick up mushrooms – pick up mushrooms
Summary of an English lesson on the topic “Types of recreation”
- Organizational moment
Good afternoon, my dear boys and girls and our guests. Welcome to the lecture. I am glad to see you.
We start our lesson.
- Statement of a problematic question.
Tell me, please, do you have a free time? When?
What do you do after school?
Thankyou!
We found out what you do after school or during the holidays, and now we’ll look at the board and see what else you can do in your free time.
Slide 1. Running pictures. (students look at the pictures and say what is shown there).
We have repeated some of the activities of teenagers, and now we will determine where they engage in this or that activity.
Slide 2. Students divide types of recreation into 2 groups. (outdoorsandindoorsactivity).
Guys, now tell me, how can you describe these pictures in one word?
And what do you think we will tell about?
What associations do you have when you hear the word “Rest”? Make a list of your associations. (association method)
- Activation of speech skills on the topic “Rest”
You are right. And how do you prefer to relax?
Follow-up questions for students:
Where would you like to travel?
What kind of transport do you prefer?
Do you like to go to the sea?
What sport do you prefer?
Where do you play this game?
Do you like any other game?
Do you like to go to the cinema?
Do you like to go to the park?(method “thick and thin questions”)
- Group work
My dear friends, I understood that you like to travel, to walk with friends and to take sports. I suggest you to get into groups.
Group 1 – those who love to travel
Group 2 – those who like to play sports
Group 3 – those who like to spend time with friends
Your next task is to prove why this particular type of recreation is the best.
Let's check how you work in groups.
In order for us to get a story, you need to know the vocabulary. Select one representative from your group to complete the task.
Slide 3. Distribute the words into 3 groups: types of transport, sport games, classes at home.
The secret to success in writing a story is a grammatically correct sentence. What needs to be taken into account when doing this? Let's choose a person from the group to do this exercise.
Slide 4. Make a sentence from scattered words.
I see that you are already ready to work in your groups. Now I give you 5 minutes to prepare to prove which type of rest is better.
Group 1 tells us what is good about traveling
Group 2 – why everyone needs to play sports
Group 3 - why do you like spending time with friends?
In the group you need to distribute roles, who is responsible for what, 1 - for the design of the text recording, the other - for the accuracy of construction grammatical structures; 3 – for spelling accuracy; 4 – for oral presentation. Either one person or several people from a group can speak. To help you, I will distribute texts that will help you in your work.. (See below)
Here we can see what is applied"Zigzag" technique . Students work in a group. They offer their opinions and discuss.
Text 1
Traveling
Modern life is impossible without travel. Thousands of people travel every day either on business or for pleasure. They can travel by air, by rail, by sea or by road.
For some people there is nothing so exciting as traveling, and I"m not an exception. And I"m happy that I have traveled a lot and I hope that every my journey wasn"t the last one. First of all, the members of our family usually have long walks in the country. During such walks we see a lot of interesting places, sometimes we meet interesting people. It"s useful for all members of our family. At this time we don"t think about tickets and there is no need to hurry up.
Traveling by sea is very popular. Large ships and small river boats can visit foreign countries and different interesting places/
Of course, traveling by air is the fastest and the most convenient way, but it is the most expensive too. Traveling by train is slower than by plane, but it has its advantages. You can see much more interesting places of the country you are traveling through. Modern trains have very comfortable seats.
There are also sleeping cars and dining cars which make even the longest journey enjoyable. Speed, comfort and safety are the main advantages of trains and planes. That is why many people prefer them to all other means.
Every year my friend and I go somewhere to the South for holidays. The Black Sea is one of the most wonderful places which attracts holiday-makers all over the world. There are many sanatoriums and tourist camps there. Sometimes, we can place ourselves in a tent on the sea shore enjoying the fresh air and the sun all day long.
As a rule, I make new friends there during the trip. In the day-time with new friends we play volleyball, tennis, swim in the warm water of the sea. I like to sit on the beach watching the sea and enjoying the sunset. I"m fond of mountaineering. So I do a lot of climbing together with my friends. Time passes quickly and soon we have to make our way back. We return home sunburnt and full of impressions.
Sometimes I travel by ship. It"s wonderful to feel the deck of the ship under the feet, to see the rise and fall of the waves, to feel the fresh sea wind blowing in the face, hear the cry of the sea-gulls. Of course, the voyage isn't exciting for those who are sea-sick.
But I repeat again - the cheapest and enjoyable way to travel - is walking the forest, country.
I love traveling!
Text 2.
Sport in My School
If you want to keep fit you must go in for one kind of sport or otherwise.
Sport is an essential part of my daily life. Every morning all the year round I do my morning exercises. Almost every day I do some training. In summer I go swimming or rowing. During my summer holidays I go on hikes. I usually spend my winter holidays in the country where I ski, skate or toboggan. I also go in for track-and-field (athletics) events.
Different sports and games are popular with my classmates. All my friends go in for different kinds of sport, such as water polo, gymnastics, horse-riding, wrestling, fencing, weightlifting, boxing, ice-hockey, speed-skating, figure-skating, football, basket-ball, volley- ball, etc. We have fine teams at our school and different kinds of competitions take place there. The boys of my school are crazy about football, they play football and the girls are football fans. The girls never miss a single match played by school teams.
And now a few words about our physical training lessons. In winter our physical training lessons are held out-of-doors. We go skiing or skating. When it is cold outside P.T. lessons are held indoors, in our school gymnasium. We play different team-games such as basket-ball or volley-ball. Besides we have some training in gymnastics.
In autumn and in spring, when the weather is warm we have P.T. lessons at our school stadium. My school has a sports day once a year in late spring. On this day we have no lessons. All the competitors change into their sports clothes, the spectators find their seats round the track ready to cheer. All the events take place at the same time. This day is a great success every year. Even if the weather is not warm, we enjoy ourselves just the same.
- Monologue statement
Time is up. Who will be the first to tell about the rest?
While speaking, try to pay attention to the pronunciation of words.
Children's performance.Each group of children tells why certain types of recreation are good.
- Lesson summary
Have you listened to the speeches, what conclusions can you draw?
I realized that all types of recreation (travel, sports and going to the movies with friends) are interesting. And it is impossible to select the best one. In conclusion, I would like to say that the most pleasant rest is rest after hard work.
Thank you for your work. The lesson is over. Good bye.
