POLAND

My talk is going to be about Poland. First of all I'm going to speak about its economy. Its principal economy is agriculture with 14% of poblation active and the industry with 7% of poblation active. The Industry exports iron, cool, textille,etc.

Secondly I'm going to speak about its history. The people have lived in Poland for one thousand 5 hundred years and its history is about one milenium. In the XVI century the comunity poland-lituania formed the biggest state of Europe before the Russian Empire. In 1918 the Ucranian Republic negociated in secret Poland territorys with Austria and Hungria but it failed in the same year. In the Versalles Treaty Poland requested its independence. In 1920 Sovietic Union atacked to Varsovia but it failed. Furthermore Varsovia is a capital of Poland. In 1980 the Catholic Church help to Poland restore its Parliament and in 2004 Poland is admitted in the Europe Union.

Finally its principal cities are Varsovia(capital), Cracovia, Looz and Breslavia.
Its weather is normal hot in summer and cold in winter and his lenguage is polish

Overall his currency is zloty and not euro.
In my opinion is a good country
That's all.

Czech Republic

Hi, my name is Natalia and my talk is going to be about the Czech Republic.

It is a State of the European Union. Bordered on the north by Poland, east by Slovakia, on the south by Austria and west by Germany. In 1993, Czechoslovaquia split into two: the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

First of all, the official language is Czech, but there is also widespread use of German.

Secondly, the Czech Republic is made up of thirteen regions and a capital city called Prague. The main cities are Brno, Ostrava, Plzen or Pilsen.

The Czech economy is currently one of the most prosperous and stable among the emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. It is a centralized economy. This economy has a diversified industry. The industry occupies about a third of the workforce. Furthermore in 2005 economic growth in the Czech Republic was three times faster than most EU countries. The currency is the Euro.

The climate in the Czech Republic, because of his situacion, is a mixture of various climates: Ocean Climate and Continental one. Winters are harsh and snowfall is common, while summers are warm. The average winter temperature is around two degrees Celsius below zero, but it can easily reach at least twenty degrees, and in the summer the average temperature is twenty degrees with highs of thirty five degrees.

Finally, I will talk about the history of the Czech Republic. During the reign of Charles the fourth, Luxembourg, Bohemia lived its golden age. Charles became the monarch in the capital of the Holly Roman Empire. In 1348 Carolina University in Prague was founded. After Charles the fourth's death, a period of political instability begins. Bohemia suffered devastating wars, such as The Thirty Years War in 1756.

After the Second World War, the Czechs, together with their neighbours, the Slovaks, were united to form the independent republic of Czechoslovakia, that became a socialist state. It adopted a multiparty system and Czechoslovakia began to leave the socialist economy.

In January 1993, Czechoslovakia was divided in two by parliamentary decision. Since then, the Czech Republic on the one hand, an the Slovak Republic on the other, are two independent countries. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1998 and the European Union in 2004.

And this is all over this country. Thanks for your attention!

Listen a Minute: Friends

Your homework for next Monday is here: Listen a Minute, Friends. Remeber to try as many times as you wish with this listening. When you are sure about the way you pronounce it, record your own voice at least three times and bring your recordings to class next Monday. If you haven't done it yet, here you can download audacity and here you have some instructions and tips on how to use it. Greetings!

PORTUGAL

Hi!!! My name is Rubén Panes Pastor and I talk about Portugal:

Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a sovereig member of the Europena Union, set up as a democratic state of law. It´s territory, capital Lisbon is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Bordered to the east and north by Spain and the south and westby the Atlantic ocean. Portugal has witnessed a constant flow of different civilizations during the last 3100 years. Tarshish, Celts, Phoenicions and Carthaginions, Greeks, Romans, Germans ( Swabians and Visigoths ), Muslims, Jews and other cultures have left their mark on culture, history, lenguage and ethnicity. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Portugal was a economic, social and cultural heritage, and their empire that stretched from Brazil to the East Indies. The official lenguage of Portugal is Portuguese. Portugal´s main industries are oil refineires, automotive, cement production, paper industry, textiles and footwear, fumiture and corcho. La manufacturing represents 33% of exports Portuguese. Portugal is the fifth larguest producer of tungsten, and the eighth larguest wine producer. Agriculture and fisheries no longer represent the largest concentration of the economy

Spain

Hi everyone! Today I'm going to talk to you about Spain, a country in the south-west of Europe.

First of all, I'm going to start with its history. Spain was pretty important in the age of the Roman Empire, due to Mérida or Emerita Augusta. With the Muslims' Invasion, Spain or Al-Andalus went into a period of time when the three cultures (jewish, muslims and christians) coexisted in a fake peace. There weren't wars, but neither they used to walk hand in hand.

So in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs took muslims and jews out of Spain. Thereafter, Colon discovered America, the New World. In the XIX century, Spain was invaded by Napoleon, but Spanish fought and beat him. In the end of the century Spain lost America. In 1931, the Republic was established. Five years later, the Civil War broke out. It took three long years. With Franco, a 40 years-dictatorship started, 40 years of hunger, poverty, repression until 1975. When Franco died, King Juan Carlos put a democracy and Spain started to introduce itself between the most important countries, more or less. It went into the EU (1986) and in 2002, the Euro became our official currency.

Our weather depends on the place where you are: in the north usually is cold; in the centre it's freezing in winter and boiling in summer; and on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts it's intermediate temperatures, cool in winter and hot in summer. The showers are focused on the north coasts. The special area is Canary Islands, its weather is enviable with temperatures around 22 degrees all the year.

The more important cities are Madrid (the capital), Seville, Barcelonne, Valencia and Bilbao. These are the cities where the economy is focused, which is focused on the service sector. Spain is known above all for its bars and 'tapas'. It's also known for its agriculture (wine and olives) and its livestock (cured ham, cheeses, bulls...). Thank you for having listened to me.
(Picture: xornalcerto on flickr)