1. What do you associate the Polish countryside with?
2. Do you think that other people’s associations are the same? What would they depend on (age, sex, place of living...)? Share your opinion with other students in class. Click here to find out what the participants on the summer school associated the countryside with.
3. Do you think that people living in Britain would have similar associations with their countryside?
4. We asked Francis Eaves-Walton, who lives in Cambridgeshire, to give us his impressions of the countryside in Cambridgeshire today. Click here to read them.
5. Francis grew up on a Scottish farm thirty years ago. In what ways do you think country life was different then? Click here to read what Francis said.
6. Are you interested in learning more about life in the country in the past? List five different sources of information you might use for this purpose.

Folk songs are often a very valuable historical record. Complete the table below using Polish folk songs relating to the countryside. The first one has been done as an example.

The following set of activities is based on a traditional Irish folk song, Hills of Connemara.

Stage 1: In this matching quiz you can listen to the music from the song while matching phrases from the lyrics. Click here to do the matching activity. The complete lyrics of the song can be found here.

Stage 2: Click here for some follow-up questions on the song.

In the tasks above you will have come across a lot of vocabulary connected with the countryside. One way to both introduce and practise vocabulary connected with a particular topic area is to use some form of visual representation. Click here to see an example.

Crosswords are another good way to practise vocabulary. Test yourself on our crossword by clicking here. Students might wish to make their own crosswords.

Think of somewhere in the countryside you know well. Imagine that you do not visit this place for another twenty years. What changes are likely to take place during this time? Discuss it with your partner.

If you want to read more impressions of the British and Polish countryside, click here.