DVD Review: The Adventure of English: Adventures of English: Movies & TV
DVD Review: The Adventure of English: Adventures of English: Movies & TV
Amazon.com
The life story of a remarkable language
Join Melvyn Bragg and a host of experts as they explore the vibrant 1,500-year history of the English language. How did it grow from a relatively insignificant Germanic dialect to become the premier language of culture, commerce, and diplomacy around the globe? The answer involves bloody conquest, political intrigue, and plenty of creativity.
Renowned authorities such as Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney, cofounder of the Royal Shakespeare Company John Barton, and Elizabethan scholar Katherine Duncan-Jones explain the development of English in entertaining detail. In this fascinating, eight-part documentary, Bragg and his colleagues examine the life of the language, showing how diverse forces–from Beowulf to the Bible, from Shakespeare to American slang–shaped the way we communicate today.
BONUS FEATURES
A prolific author, screenwriter, and broadcaster, Melvyn Bragg serves as president of Great Britain’s National Campaign for the Arts and chair of the Arts Council Literature Panel. He has hosted The South Bank Show, Britain’s leading arts program, for over 30 years.
View an Excerpt from the Guide Included with The Adventure of English
The Adventure of English
THE EQUIVALENT OF A UNIVERSITY COURSE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE ORIGIN,
By Harold Wolf “Doc” (Wells, IN United States) -
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)
This is a concise yet thorough presentation of the beginning and changes to the English language. It is concise because no word spoken on the DVD set’s 405 minutes is wasted. Every statement is packed with valuable and interesting information regarding changes, alterations, mutations, and eliminations to English vocabulary and phrases. It is thorough because it begins with language prior to English, searches data from all over the world, and ends back in England with the knowledge that spoken & written English will likely be around for a long time, but ever changing.
This is an educational product, but the presentation is filled with on-location footage from around the world, making it a richly beautiful, historical, and travelogue-like documentary experience. It is captivating as it continues, minute by minute, presenting common and seldom-used vocabulary, their meanings, and origins. Many surprises, more than countable, will enlighten any viewer.
Who’d-a-thought that “bulldozer” originally referred to the full-measure of a whipping which a bull could take, but was administered to American slaves, often causing death? A far cry from a piece of heavy equipment. “Dr. Johnson” at one point was a name given to a body part only identifiable as male. And, “nip” is a word yet to be included into a dictionary, or completely defined the way youth in the UK are using it.
2000 of today’s common words were first used by Shakespeare and the Oxford Dictionary now holds approximately 3/4 of a million words. Shakespeare’s longest word was “honorificabilitudinitatibus” meaning with honor. William Tyndale’s 1526 Bible translation from the original Hebrew and Greek provided readership for English reading common worshipers. The American Revolution and aftermath included America taking charge of preserving English perfection and then elaborating and “vocabularizing” it into the vernacular.
Other countries added their own local colour of pronunciation and spelling to their English. Wars added more changes. Industry and trade influence yet additional. Even art and culture plays a part in the continuing change to the growing world use of the English language.
This DVD set’s 8 fifty-minute episodes provide a delightful romp through peoples, places, history, time, books, rulers, and every and all aspect that can make an alteration to a word or phrase. What a FUN learning experience. Quite usable in classrooms, on research shelves of libraries, or home for the pleasure of expanding one’s own mind.
My wife and I both rate this DVD set 5-stars. So that equals a Perfect-10. After viewing “The Adventure of English”, boldness allows me to coin a pair of new descriptive words: tenstremendous bo-derek-ous. Many people around the world, common and genius, have initiated new English words since this language’s beginning.
One phrase pulled from among hundreds, thanks to the provided closed captioning, was: “vicious abundance of phrase and volubility of tongue” which summarizes this 8-part production.
Entertaining beyond expectation.
Educational beyond comparison.
“So our English, I think you will agree,
Is the trickiest language you ever did see.” Anon
About Freakin’ Time,
By Orsino (Georgia, USA) -
This is a wonderful series. Melvyn Bragg is a total nerd who dresses atrociously, but the material is so fascinating and flows so well that appearances don’t count for much. The show runs from time to time on History International, I believe, so catch it there if you’re unconvinced. Me, I’ll be ordering the DVDs.
I don’t know what the hold-up has been, but will be glad to see this long-overdue DVD set. I may wait for Blu-ray if that release looks likely.
Great series … but,
By Graeme Edgeler (New Zealand) -
This is a great series, and I highly recommend it … but the price is ludicrous! US$80 SRP? When this was released in New Zealand, it was admittedly two discs (same content), but it was NZ$28 - about US$15 SRP.
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