Tertulia English for Italians April 2026.
- Andrew Starr
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
This is the blog for the English classes and local tours with Tertulia for the Italian Group in April 2026.
The shortened link is ajstarr.short.gy/ttai26
The truth behind British Niceties
Thursday, 23rd April
Your presentations about your favourite tourist spots of Portsmouth.
The British obsession with the weather. It's too hot.
The British obsession with the weather – What is the weather doing today?
Wednesday, 22nd April
Your presentations about the famous people of Portsmouth.
History connected to Portsmouth and the region
D-Day History - See main folder
Henry VIII & His Six Wives
The Mary Rose (We visit this afternoon)
Southsea Castle (We visited on Sunday)
The Titanic Disaster
Reading Activities in Files
Missing Lyrics
Mary Rose Museum (pm)
Tuesday, 21st April
British Culture: - The Full English Breakfast - The Sunday Roast - Fish and Chips
Traditional English Foods
The Full English Breakfast
Have you ever eaten an authentic full English breakfast?
In all reality, the full English breakfast is a treat for people when they are on holiday and staying in hotels or possibly on a weekend when they may have the time to prepare it all.
So, what do you think the British have on a normal morning for breakfast?
What about fish and chips? Have you eaten these? If so, where? What did you think?
Cream Teas - Would you like to try a cream tea?
The Roast Dinner (The Sunday Roast) Toby Carvery
What about the traditional roast dinner? Does this speak to you?
Controversial ideas...
What is your opinion about pineapple on a pizza!?
Or drinking a cappucino after noon?
Song for today...
Monday, 20th April (9:30 - 12:30) & (14:00 - 17:00)
Placement Test.
Break for marking of placement test and organisation into classes.
Portsmouth Geography (you visited historic Portsmouth & the resort of Southsea on Sunday). PPT
Further videos and information can be found here.
What, if anything, impressed you about the city of Portsmouth on Sunday?
What you cannot really see on a visit is a lot of information about the history of the city, in particular, its people.
We can begin to plan two presentations of your choice (either individually or in pairs), the first one about a famous person from Portsmouth. The second is about your favourite places in Portsmouth. See below...
The Millennium Walkway - Portsmouth We walked along this route on Sunday.
Musical Gapfill (one of the bands of which has a member from Portsmouth). The band formed while he and Kurt were at university in Bath, Somerset. (See Session One Main Folder)
Homework for Tuesday and Wednesday
Prepare a one to two-minute presentation in English about at least one famous person from Portsmouth. This is to be presented on Wednesday morning.
Prepare a further presentation in English of around two to three minutes about your most favourite place(s) in Portsmouth. Include their history, where they are situated, why you found them interesting and why. Plus anything else you believe is interesting about this place. This one is to be presented on Thursday morning.
Below are some ideas for you to work on for the first presentation. (You could deliver in pairs if you wish).
Local authors
Charles Dickens We have a text about his early life in Portsmouth. (Session 1 Main Folder)
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle We have a text about his early life in Portsmouth. (")
H. G. Wells - Do you know his most famous work?
Rudyard Kipling - Do you know his most famous work?
Nevil Shute (He designed the Horsa gliders that landed in Normandy in 1944 on D-Day)
*Sir Francis Austen (brother of Jane Austen)
Neil Gaiman – A more recent author.
Graham Hurley: A more recent author.
Michelle Magorian: A more recent author.
*Francis Austen (1774–1865) joined the Royal Navy. He and his brother Charles served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and eventually attained the rank of Admiral. Austen’s portrayal of naval life in Mansfield Park (1814) and Persuasion (1817) is often seen as a tribute to her brothers’ patriotism.
In Mansfield Park she even drew on their real commands, mentioning two of Francis’s ships, the Canopus and the Elephant, and two of Charles’s, the Endymion and the Cleopatra.
The main protagonist of the book Mansfield Park, Fanny Price was born in Portsmouth and is portrayed as a young woman in the book, returning to Portsmouth after having grown up in Mansfield Park.
Local Musicians
Mick Jones, founder of Foreigner
Local actors
People of note
John Pounds, founder of the ragged school
Hertha Ayrton, scientist and Suffragette
William Wyllie - Watercolour artist, Old Portsmouth Tower House
Infamous
Classical Music Pieces
Portsmouth
Portsmouth Point
Sunday, 19th April (12 pm to 5 pm)
City Tour - South (pm)
You should make notes (or audio recordings) and take lots of photos so you can create presentations on certain aspects of your choice from what you see this morning.
Henry VIII, Southsea Castle, and the Mary Rose
(Last Sunday for some or this Wednesday's visit.)
Friday, 17th April (pm only)
City Walking Tour – The Mary Rose Museum
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EXTRA:
The Coronation of King Charles III (Files)
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