Shakespeare In Schools... 1: English Evolves

Things I stole from the internet to make this video:
Clueless - 1995
The Breakfast Club - 1985
Perry Mason – the Case of the Jaded Joker, 1959

Beowulf in Old English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zorjJzrrvA

A translation of Beowulf into modern English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDXmxLDbp7c&t=72s

A rough translation of the opening lines of Beowulf, by Dr. David Breeden
“Listen:
You have heard of the Danish Kings
in the old days and how
they were great warriors.
Shield, the son of Sheaf,
took many an enemy's chair,
terrified many a warrior,
after he was found an orphan.
He prospered under the sky
until people everywhere
listened when he spoke.
He was a good king!”

The Canterbury Tales in Middle English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mou-36jFrY0

Ben Crystal’s Hamlet in Early Modern English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYiYd9RcK5M

More about the history of England surrounding the Norman invasion, which was really important to the evolution of English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl3K63Rbygw

Ben Crystal has an AMAZING lecture on Original Pronunciation, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmgeth4tFY

More about the early “American accent”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctwjXN-Xi4

More about the time of Shakespeare / the first European colonies in America (they're closer than you think!) https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/thirteen-colonies