English Daily: Fall of the Berlin Wall

Engramme: Your Daily English Programme #53: Fall of the Berlin Wall (Caption Reading B1-C1)

Think Before You Read

Look at the Pictures Below: What do you see? Which event in history do you think they refer to? Have you heard/read anything about this event? (share your answers with other readers in the comments below this post)

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) began to build a barbed wire and concrete wall – known as the Berlin Wall – between East and West Berlin in order to prevent people’s free movement from East to West.

The Berlin Wall stood until November 9, 1989, when tens of thousands of people ran to and climbed up the wall. Some crossed freely into West Berlin, while others brought hammers with them to tear down the wall. To this day, the Berlin Wall remains one of the most powerful and enduring symbols of the Cold War.

Finally, on October 3, 1990, the reunification of East and West Germany was made official, when the German Democratic Republic ceased to exist and its territory became part of the Federal Republic of Germany. This day is celebrated as the German Unity Day.

Watch and Read

Reading video captions has become a common part of many news and documentary videos on the Internet. The video below, from history.com, has integrated photos and captions to create an informative video on the topic of the Berlin Wall.

Watch and Read: On a separate piece of paper, write down the numbers associated with the following:

The number of people who escaped to freedom:	………….
The number of people who died trying to escape:	………….
The number of years East & West Germany were separated:	………….

Let's Practice

Here are some of the key words from the video captions. Try and use them in the sentences below:

overnight	rebuild	reunite	tear down
construction	attempt	lose	permanently

1. They decided to ____________ the old building and construct a modern one in its place.

2. After the terrible earthquake, the government promised to spend as much money needed to ________ the city.

3. Of course he did not become rich _________; he had worked for many years locked away in a tiny garage he had rented from a friend.

4. Due to bankruptcy and huge debts, the company had to shut down __________ without any hope of recovery.

5. Their attempts to ________ members of families on opposite sides of the Korean border have so far failed.

6. Upon receiving the budget, _________ began on a bridge that would connect the two parts of the old village across the valley.

7. The governor will visit members of Congress today, in an ________ to persuade them to allocate more budget to the renovation of residential areas throughout the state.

8. He played as if he had nothing to _______ although he actually won in all rounds of the game.

(Type your answers in the comments' section and receive free feedback on your answers)

Over to You

Building walls or other blockades to restrict the free movement of people or goods is not just an old-fashioned idea. In his presidential campaigns, President Trump promised to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, with the primary objective of preventing Mexicans from crossing the border into the U.S.

How effective are such measures in restricting the free movement of people or goods? Do you think there are better ways of controlling movement within countries or across country borders?

How has the EU benefited from allowing free passage for its citizens across its member countries' borders? Have there been any downsides?

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Well Done! Another day, another lesson on Engramme: Your Daily English Programme. Practicing English on a daily basis will help you improve your skills over time and gain more confidence in your ability to use the language on your own.

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Did You Notice? If you move your mouse over the underlined words in the post, you can see their meanings and more ;)