What the Dickens ...?

Today the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' birth is being celebrated.

What do you know about him and his works?

Read this summary of his life and watch the video that follows:

Source: adonais9991 (You Tube)  key words: life charles dickens bbc

Video Vocabulary:

siblings -

adulthood -

an ambitious drive -

widespread (adj) -

to set sail -

to be mobbed by crowds -

upon his return -

a refuge -

spellbound (adj) -

fateful (adj) -

the injured -

to retrieve -

wrecked carriage -

shaken (adj) -

a while -

to fail (health) -

a stroke

to be buried -

Now answer the following questions about the video:

1. How many brothers and sisters did he have?
2. When did the Dickens family move to London?
3. What did Charles' work consist of in the "blacking" factory?
4. Why was Charles' father sent to prison?
5. What job did he begin in 1827?
6. What job did he begin in 1831?
7. What two things happened to Charles in 1835?
8. What were the rumours that circulated as he became more famous?
9. What inspired his writing while in America?
10. What things did he do after returning from Italy?
11. What did he do when he was 44?
12. What caused the end of his marriage?
13. What did Charles do after the train he was travelling in crashed?
14. How old was he when he died?

Watch this video while following the transcript:

Source: BBC Learning English (You Tube) key words: Dickens teacher bbc English

London. As much mud in the streets as if the waters had but newly retired from the face of the earth. Smoke lowering down from chimney-pots. Dogs, undistinguishable in the mire. Horses, scarcely better, splashed to their very blinkers. Fog everywhere.

Hang on. It's not like that at all any more. There's no fog, there's no mud, there are no dogs or horses ... In fact it's not Dickensian.

In English, if we want to describe hard-living or working conditions - like something from one of my novels - we can call it Dickensian.

Dickensian.

Strange horse

I wrote these ...

Modern London is very tiring. I think I need to take some rest in one of my favourite public houses. I'm pleased to see it's still here.

I can't believe it! He tried to charge me £ 3.50 for a pint of beer. I said to him "That's ten weeks' wages for a 12 year-old boy in a factory." I offered him half a penny and he said, "Please, Sir. I want some more."

As if stealing one of my lines was not bad enough, when I refused to pay, he called me a scrooge.

In English, when we want to talk about someone who hates spending money, we can call them a scrooge, which is the name of one of my characters. He was very mean with money.

A scrooge

Scrooge was just one of the many characters I created who are among the most memorable in English literature.

But some say London itself is a character in my novels.

A character that has changed.

What the Dickens is that?

In English, if we are surprised or angry, we can say, 'What the Dickens ...?'

What the Dickens ...?

What the Dickens is that?

It's my iQuill.

'What the Dickens ...?'  is a bit of an old fashioned expression, but then I'm an old fashioned man. In fact, I'm dead. And I've been dead since 1870. I'm buried over there in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, with some of the greatest writers of the English language. So, in a way I'm still here in London, although it's a very different London to that of my memories ...

... And I'll be buried in the Teachers' Corner, along with the Greatest Teachers of the English language ...

Read through these quotes from Charles Dickens. Source: brainyquote What is your favourite one?

Perhaps his most famous novel is A Christmas Carol. Read the simplified version (with comprehension exercises) and then watch the film Scrooge.

Read this report on what Dickens would write about if he were alive today Source: channel4 news