Benjamin Zephaniah
The British
(serves 60 million)
Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.
Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.
The poem we read and analysed in class belongs to the book
WATCH the video and then practise reading it aloud!
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.
Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.
The poem we read and analysed in class belongs to the book
Click here if you want to learn more about Benjamin´s life and work.
A) Look at the statements below. Tick the ones which match your understanding of what the poet is saying in The British. Try to find lines from the poem to support the statements.
- All people deserve to be treated with respect.
- It takes time for people to live in harmony.
- We have to work at getting along with all kinds of people.
- Everyone is equal.
- It´s exciting to live in a multicultural society.
- Benjamin Zephaniah is passionate about justice and equality.
B) The Romans, Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Normans all came to Britain hundered of years ago. What point do you think Benjamin Zephaniah is making by including them in the poem?
C) The poem is written like a recipe.
- What words/phrases and other features in "The British" make the poem look like a recipe? To your list of cooking verbs, add at least five or six extra ones. You may also find a picture to illustrate their meanings !
- Why has Zephaniah chosen to write this poem like this?
Benjamin Zephaniah recites his poem with a group of students.
WATCH the video and then practise reading it aloud!
Don´t forget to include a copy of the poem in your PORTFOLIO!
Feel free to LEAVE A PERSONAL COMMENT on the poem!
Grace
I love this way of learning English!!! It was very funny and interesting.I can practice the pronunciation while I am watching the video. I really like it!!
ResponderEliminarGood for you Gabriela!
EliminarFrom my point of view, it is a fantastic way to practise the poem, the video is great and very original! . I like it so much!
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ResponderEliminarI liked watching the video
EliminarHi, everybody! Did you like meeting Benjamin Zephaniah? Have you followed the link and accessed his official site? If you have some minutes to spare, I suggest you also watch him and listen to his music. You can not miss it!!
ResponderEliminarGrace
I already knew him and his music, I'm not a zephaniah's fan but I like the way he writes his songs, some of his songs are a kind of a poem.
EliminarI think he is a gifted man!!!!! I do like his videos,because his ideas and feelings have made me reflect on the problems that we have to accept different opinions, believes,feelings,ideas etc.....it is a challenge for us!!!
ResponderEliminari enjoyed a lot watching the video.. its an interesting way of learning. i knew some of the cooking verbs, but not all...
ResponderEliminari listened some of his music.. i enjoyed it but its not what im used to heard.
I liked the video.I didn't know the meaning of some of the cooking verbs and I have to looked up on the dictionary
ResponderEliminarthe video is very funny, it's a good way to teach zephaniah's poem.
ResponderEliminari liked watching the video!!!!
ResponderEliminarrespect the meaning of the cooking verbs:i didn´t know some of these words .thanks teacher !!!! :)
Wow! I saw the video and it was very interesting!!!! And... funny. I really, enjoyed it.
ResponderEliminarI entered in the page of the writter and it is very fascinating (I added it to my favorites links, haha!). And moreover, I looked for him in YouTube, because I love Reggae music and he has good songs... his music is awesome! I will look for more poems and music by him. Thanks Grace!!!!
Oh! and, I heart new verbs, and it was fantastic to learn it througth a video. Actually, it is a very good idea.
EliminarVery interesting and nice video teacher! it´s good to hear and meet somebody we´ve read about, thanks!
ResponderEliminarI enjoyed the video,it was funny and helped me with my pronunciation.I don't know his music but I'm going to visit his official site to listen him...Thanks for your suggest !!!
ResponderEliminarIt was very interesting! The way they speak is amazing, I liked it so much. I didn't know all the cooking verbs, but it's great to learn new ones!
ResponderEliminarIt was very fun to hear and watch!! I liked it, although it is not what I usually listen to regarding to music. I didn't know all of the verbs in the poem, neither in the pictures above. But I loved it because it helped me to gain vocabulary. So I can understand much more when I want to follow english cooking directions.
ResponderEliminarAnd I also loved the creativity of Benjamin to choose a not regular form of a poem, made like a recipe, to show how diverse a culture can be. It was very clever!!!
I think that Zephaniah included the note and the warning at the end of the poem because i think that he thinks that people’s should have the same rights and opportunities without discriminatory views.For example when he quoted ‘all the ingredients are equally important, treating ingredient better than another will leave a bitter , unpleasant taste’ because they are all part of a mixture of cultures and this should be carry on with respect and tolerance.
ResponderEliminarAs far i am concerned , Benjamin Zephaniah included the note and the warning at the end of the poem to emphazise the idea of equality and justice that makes astrong point in the poem. This is also to avoid discriminations and prejudice between the differents members of the society.
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion the note and the warning were included in zephaniah's poem because he wants to reinforce his message about justice and equality, as zephaniah expresses in the poem "ALL THE INGREDIENTS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT", it means that none of them deserves a better treat, otherwise it could provoke several and serious damages. Likewise he manifests the same feeling taking into account the line number thirty. "GIVE JUSTICE AND EQUALITY TO ALL".
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion Zephaniah in the poem will say that all the ingredients like a cook recipe should be spread in an equally because if they mix in an exagerate way , people could be upset.
ResponderEliminarIn spite of the differences between countries, it should exist justice and non discrimination.
I think that Zephaniah included the note and the warning at the end of the poem because He believes that people from a variety of cultural origins, backgrounds,etc, can live in harmony,no discriminations, respecting their different feelings, way of thinking, points of view.He reforces his message about justice and equality, when He says "ALL THE INGREDIENTS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT" and "GIVE JUSTICE AND EQUALITY TO ALL"
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion is a funny and particular way to undertand the meaning of a melting pot society, which is a part of the British culture.
ResponderEliminarI think that Zephaniah included the note and the warning at the end of the poem because if the justice is spread in an unequal way people will suffer from social injustce .the respect and the justice are very import ingredients in a harmonic society
From my point of view the note and the warning at the end of the poem, Zephaniah means that all of us need to learn how to be tolerant and understanding to accep different opinions, believes, feelings from other cultures. The respect and the justice would be equally to all.
ResponderEliminarI like the video, I really didn´t know some of the cooking verbs, but I know them.thanks teacher,is much easier like that!!!!!!
ResponderEliminarThe video was very funny and I could practise my pronounciation reading aloud.. I think that all the ingredients were equally importan to made multicultural society.
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion, Zephaniah included the note and warning at the end because he wanted to show that people need to live with equality, respect, justice and understanding.
ResponderEliminarAll societies should put into practice, Zephaniah thought in orden to have an ideal life.
"Add some unity, understanding and respect for the future". Zephaniah said.
Apart from that, the video is interesting and funny.
I enjoy it a lot, in my opinion it is interesting video and funny too. About verbs, there are some of them that I don´t know, thanks for share with us.
ResponderEliminarI enjoyed the video, it was very nice . I have to take down notes of the cooking verbs because i don´t know some of them !
ResponderEliminarIn my opinion, the poem is pretty imaginative, I had never read any poem written like a recipe. What's more, the list of the cooking verbs is actually useful, I don't even know some of them in Spanish! Finally, I think the author added the warning and the note because he wanted to emphasize what he had said earlier in the poem, that all the ingredients are equally important.
ResponderEliminarI think that the note and the warning were included in zephaniah's poem because he wants to reinforce his message about justice and equality, saying that no one country or race is more important than another and if everyone is not treated as an equal, then people will suffer as a result.
ResponderEliminarA pretty interesting video. In my opinion, what Benjamin Zephaniah shows in his poem is something that the whole world is in desperate need of: Justice and Equality. I truly believe this is posible. Finally, I wanted to say that I didn't know much of the cooking verbs either.
ResponderEliminarThank very much for this nice information!!!! I learned and I understood better the poem.
ResponderEliminarI would have never imagined him like that!! :)
ResponderEliminarWhat he expresses is really important. It is something that we all have to consider. Just worth it !!
I would have never imagined him like that!! :)
ResponderEliminarWhat he expresses is really important. It is something that we all have to consider. Just worth it !!
I liked This poem because it gives a deep message about justice and equality at the end.I think it´s something really important for all of us.
ResponderEliminarAnd it´s great how history can be written like a food recipe!
The video is very interesting and very entertaining as well...I couldn´t help laughing when I saw a viking and a roman having lunch in the restaurant..it´s so funny!
The video is great gives the poem a certain rhythm. The message given is very important not just for England but for the world.
ResponderEliminarGreat! It's like a recipe jajaja there were a few cooking verbs that I didn't know.
ResponderEliminarI've read it before, and it´s a great poem, thank you!
ResponderEliminarI really enjoyed the video and the poem, I liked especially the last part which gives a very positive and important message about justice and equality. Thank you teacher!
ResponderEliminarI really like the video,but I didn´t know the meaning of some cooking verbs
ResponderEliminarEverytime I remember this poem I can't help to laugh about my mistake on what a melting pot is. For those who don't remember, I said "baño maria" hahaha!
ResponderEliminarI like the poem because is a very funny way of learning culture and cooking verbs too
ResponderEliminarSuch a simple poem, such a powerful statement. Loved it
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ResponderEliminarI think that the poem is an interesting form to remember about the british history. But we've to be careful because the poem doesn't follow the order in wich some events happened.
ResponderEliminarI think it is wonderful the way the author shows his values and good feelings
ResponderEliminarI think it is wonderful the way the author shows his values and good feelings. It is not posible that all the people could think in that way but it helps we to think about equality and justice
The author´s point of view is interesting and give us a powerful message.
ResponderEliminarvery interesting video! I love it! I love learning more about this amazing language
ResponderEliminarVery Nice it is an important message, but is difficult for a lot of people in this country and in the world.But in this times is better.
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