Study ENGLISH in idlesson
The learning of English should be a fun and rewarding experience for pupils. In idlesson , English has been specially designed to give every pupil he opportunity to learn the English language in the most enjoyable and rewarding way.
Foe example; in 5th class of SD, text types from the organizing principle units. Each pair units is driven by a theme. The topics chosen are of interest to pupils of 5th class, and are relevant to pupils’ learning about the wider world.
Around each central, meaningful theme, text types, comprehension skills, language skills and English grammar are introduced and taught. The structure, function and grammatical features of each text type are carefully explained step by step. Pupils are given a graded series of task based on each step, before being asked to produce an example of the complete text type.
The Travels of Marco Polo
More than 700 years ago in
Italy, a man told his companion about his travels to wonderful lands. His friend found the stories so interesting that he wrote them down. The storyteller was Marco Polo. The book, “A Descriptions of the World”, told the people of Europe about the customs and way life in China and other Eastern lands
Italy, a man told his companion about his travels to wonderful lands. His friend found the stories so interesting that he wrote them down. The storyteller was Marco Polo. The book, “A Descriptions of the World”, told the people of Europe about the customs and way life in China and other Eastern lands
Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Italy. His father, Niccolo Polo had travelled all over the world to trade his goods. Niccolo and his brother Maffeo had once even travelled to the East till they reached China and met the emperor, Kublai Khan.
In 1271, the Polo’s decided to return to China. This time, Niccolo brought along his son, 17-years old Marco. During those day, travelling to China from Europe took a very long time. First, Marco Polo and his father, and uncle took a ship across Mediterranian Sea to Palestine (now Israel) in the Middle East. They wanted to travel from there to China by sea, but the ships were not safe. So the Polo’s decided to go by land across Asia. They rode camel’s across the desert in Persia. They travelled through Afghanistan and other parts of Central Asia. Soon, they travelers reached the Silk Road, a famous travel route.
On the trip, Marco paid attention to everything around him. He met people of many different religions and he learn many new languages. In the high Pamir Mountains in Central Asia, Marco discovered that fire didn’t burn well there and water took longer boil. In a religion called Georgia (near Russia), Marco saw people using a strange oil as fuel and to soothe their skin. This was the first time a European had come across petroleum, the oil from which petro is made.
The Polo’s also travelled across one the largest deserts of the world – the Gobi Desert in Asia. It took the Polo’s a month to get across this dry land. Once the Polo’s had crossed the desert, they were in China. The Polo’s rode all the way across China to the Great Wall. Finally they arrived in Shangdu, the summer house of Kublai Khan, three years after they left home. The Polo’s met Kublai Khan at his summer court. Marco impressed Kublai Khan with stories and descriptions of his journey to China.
The Polo’s lived in China for the next 16 years. Marco saw many places other Europeans had never seen before. All the places Marco visited were described in A Description of the world. The book mentioned the inventions Marco came across in the Mongol empire. It also told how the black stones were mined from the mountains and used as fuel. We know now this was coal. When the Chinese began using paper money in China, Europeans were still using heavy metal coins. The book also told of the gunpowder the Chinese used to make firecrackers and the postal service he saw in action in China. According to Marco, the Chinese did not eat bread but made noodles from wheat.
After many years in China, the Polo’s decided it was time to go home. Though he was not happy to see them leave, Kublai Khan finally gave them permission to go but after they promised they would return. Between 1291 and 1292, the Polo’s sailed for India, the most direct route home. Along the way, the Polo’s stopped in Malaysia, Sumatra, and Ceylon – a route known as the Spice Route . the Polo’s arrived in Persia more than two years after living China. While they were in Persia, they learnt that the Khan had died. They left by boat for Venice and arrived home in 1295.
The Polo’s had been away from home for 24 years. Soon after they returned, Marco married a women named Donato Badoer. Together, they had three daughters. Marco became very wealthy and famous for his tales of his travels. Many people at the time thought he had made up his stories. It took centuries for historians to prove that most of what he said was true.
Marco lived to be 70. Just before he died in Venice on January 9, 1324, one of his daughters went to his bedside and ask him to take back all of his false tales. Marco turned to her and said simply “I have not told half of what I saw.”
