The British Character
· what your stereotypes of the British are;
· how you can describe the British character;
· how the British prefer to spend their free time;
· what British personalities you admire, why
· if the British are modern or conservative, why
· if you would like to go to Britain, give your reasons
What your stereotypes of the British are
Do you really know what the British are like?
Learning from the media and talking to older people, we pick up a lot of stereotypes about other nations. In every country there are plenty of stereotypes and residents but most of them are untrue and very wrongful.
What are the first things that come into your mind, when you hear the words “Britain” or “British”?
The most common picture depicting a typical Briton is a man wearing a bowler hat and reading the Times newspaper. Bowler hats are now rarely seen in England. In fact we have ever seen one being worn apart from in the movies!
When I think of the English, I think of…
“Honesty, tea, Bulldogs, Royal family, Cricket, the Weather.”
“Long shadows on country cricket grounds, dog lovers and old maids bicycling through the morning mist.”
“Big Ben, Shakespeare, cream teas, pubs, beefeaters.”
“Men wearing bowler hats, pin-striped suit, a newspaper under the arm and carrying a long unopened umbrella.”
“Gardening, stiff upper lip, double-decker buses, Morris dancing.”
“Royal family, the Union Jack, God Save the Queen, Battle of Britain, Trooping the colour.”
“England is a land of beer, football and bad weather.” (Contrary to the popular belief, it DOESN’T rain every day in England. :)
“People think it rains 24/7 in England, and Britons eat bad food!”
“Patriotic people, some think Britons are snobs but they are just proud of their country and the Queen. They are very polite and patient although as in any country, there are bad eggs.”
“I think that English are quite reserved. We have to laugh when we go by tube and se everyone sitting and reading their newspapers.”
“People think the English are no good at learning foreign languages and have the attitude that if they yell loud enough in English the “foreigners” will eventually understand them…”
“A lot of folks overseas think that the English are crazy about dogs and love them more than their kids!”
How the British prefer to spend their free time
British people spend their free time in a lot of different ways. They do sports, watch sports, visit interesting places and they have hobbies.
The most popular activity for British people outside is going to the pub. Over the last 10 or 20 years pubs have changed a lot. People don’t just go to the pub for a drink. Almost all pubs serve meals nowadays and many pubs have live music, karaoke competitions and quiz nights. Also, people go to restaurants. Young people especially like going out for fast food. The number of fast food restaurants in Britain has increased about 10 times since 1982.
In fact, going to the library is more popular than going to the cinema. Although, many people visit historic buildings, galleries and museums. And, of course, watching sports is a big free time activity. Favourite sports include football, horse-racing and cricket.
At home the British like listening to the radio or to CDs, reading and watching TV. Also, they visit their relatives and friends.
All in all, in my opinion the British can’t be called potatoes nation anymore.
Who are the British?
British people live in the UK. They are people who live in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. British people can also either be English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish.
The British are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech. They are famous for their politeness, self-discipline and especially for their sense of humour. British people have a strong sense of humour which sometimes can be hard for foreigners to understand.
Britain is a country of mixed cultures. London has the largest non-white population of any European city and over 250 languages are spoken there. Therefore not all British people are White or Christians. I think the British are also tolerant people.
(your own ideas … )
How the British prefer to spend their free time
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In my opinion it is difficult to say definitely if the British are conservative or modern. I think that the British society both conservative and modern.
From the one hand, the UK is as a land of traditions. It is based on what can be seen in public and political life.
The ceremony of the state opening of Parliament, for example, carefully follows customs which are centuries old. The Queen is the only person in Britain with two birthdays. Her real birthday is on April 21st, but she has an "official" birthday, too. That's on the second Saturday of June. And on the Queen's official birthday, there is a traditional ceremony called “trooping the colour”. It's a big parade with brass bands and hundreds of soldiers at Horse Guards' Parade .in London. It is also a very old tradition. The changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace is also a tradition which never changes.
The British pay much attention to cosiness of their homes. For many people, cosiness is the part of tradition, and this can be organised by old items of furniture. And if you cannot have furniture which is old, you can always have other things suggest age. The open fire is an example. It is the perfect traditional symbol of warmth because it is what most people used in the past to keep warm.
The British can be particularly conservative about anything which is called Britishness. They drive on the left-hand side of the road. The British government has been trying for years to promote the metric system and to get British people to use the same scales that are used nearly everywhere else in the world. But it has had only limited success. Everybody in Britain still shops in pounds. Distances on road signs in Britain are shown in miles, not kilometres, and people talk about yards, not metres.
The tourist view of Britain involves lots of formal ceremonies.
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However, the British society has changed. In their private everyday lives, the British follow traditions less than the people of most other countries. There are very few ancient customs that are followed by the families on special occasions. The country has fewer local parades or processions. The English language has fewer sayings or proverbs that are in common everyday use than many other languages do.
There are many examples of supposedly typical British habits which are simply not typical any more. For example, the stereotyped image of the London 'city gent’ includes the wearing of a bowler hat. In fact, this type of hat has not been worn for a long time. Food and drink provide other examples. The traditional 'British' (or 'English') breakfast is sausages, cereal with milk, toast, butter and marmalade, all washed down with lots of tea. In fact, only about 10% of the people in Britain actually have this sort of breakfast. Two-thirds just have the cereal, tea and toast. The image of the British as a nation of tea-drinkers is another stereotype which is somewhat out of date. It is true that it is still prepared in a distinctive way (strong and with milk), but more coffee than tea is now bought in the country's shops. Traditional English tea is now a myth. Nowadays, they don’t drink tea at 5 o’clock. Children ask parents for a glass of Coke; young people, sharing the latest fashion for a healthy way of life, take a bottle of pure water. This stereotype is partly correct – the English usually drink tea with milk and with no sugar.
Family life has changed in modern Britain. The stereotyped strong family of father, mother and children is becoming less common. Britain has a larger rate of divorce than anywhere else in Europe (except Denmark) and the proportion of children born outside marriage has risen dramatically and is also one of the highest (about a third of all births).
So, as you see the UK is the country of traditions and modern changes.
if the British are modern or conservative, why (Example)
In my opinion it is difficult to say definitely if the British are conservative or modern.
On the one hand British people are proud of their traditions and customs and carefully keep them up. The ceremony of the Keys in the Tower of London is about seven hundred years old. The spectacular ceremony of searching the Houses of Parliament takes place every year and everything is done just it was done four centures ago.The traditional red double - decker buses, black taxes, red telephone boxes are well - known all over the world.
On the other hand British people are modern. They live longer nowadays and have a healthy lifestyle. More people work. The most important growth area for jobs is in computers. Young people certainly see qualifications as important to get a good job. Women are having children later and 29 is now the average age for having a baby. Young people are staying with their parents longer than before, mainly because it is expensive to get a place to live.
What British personalities you admire, why (part1)
There are many famous British people. We know the names of great scientists, such as Alexander Bell, Charles Darvin, Isaac Newton. Famous British writers and poets William Shakespeare, Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling made a great contribution to the development of the English literature. British people are proud of the Royal Family and remarkable historical personalities.
I would like to tell you about Princess Diana. She was born in 1961 in Sandringham. In 1978 her family moved to London. She worked as a teacher in a kindergarten. In 1981 she married the Prince of Wales Charles, later they had two sons. She died in a car crash in 1997 in Paris.I think that Princess Diana was very generous. She visited the hospitals, schools and gave money to charity. She was very kind to children. She was a very honest, kind and a great pe
rson.
I think Princess Diana is admired by people because she helped many people. She gave many people hope and love.
What British personalities you admire, why (part2)
The famous writer Tolkien was born in South Africa. He got his education at Exeter College, specializing in Anglo-Saxon and Germanic languages and classic literature. Then in 1920 he joined the University of Leeds and a few years later became a professor at Oxford University. While working at Oxford University, he published the popular fantasy novels The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien was a very intelligent, clever and talented writer. He had rich imagination and knew a lot of languages and even created some languages himself. He is called the "father" of modern fantasy literature.
The famous football player David Beckham was born in 1975 in London. When he was a child he wanted to play football. Beckham began playing for Manchester United, England's legendary soccer team, at the age of 18. In 2003 Queen Elizabeth II made David Beckham an officer of the Order of the British Empire.
In my opinion, David Beckham is very hardworking. His talent was seen at an early age and because of his hard work, he became a famous footballer. He has played in many football teams such as the national football team, Manchester United, Real Madrid.
I think that David Beckham is admired by many people because he has achieved great results and awards in football. He has done a lot to develop English football. When I watch his games I get pleasure from them. Also, he is a true style icon and many people follow his example.
If you would like to go to Britain, give your reasons (Example)
I would like to go to Britain, because of some reasons. To start with, I want to visit Britain because I have learnt about different places and I want to see them with my own eyes, for example: Big Ben, the Tower of London and Buckingham Palace (add 3 more). Also I want to visit Stonehenge. It is one of the most famous and mysterious archeological places of Great Britain. I have learned a lot of interesting things about this place at school and may be in future I can solve a riddle of this strange place. I also want to go to Britain because I want to improve my English. I have been learning English for 7 years, so I want to understand and to be understood by native speakers. Furthermore, I want to make friends. In addition, I would like to visit Britain because I want to try British food, to learn more about British customs and traditions, to understand features of British character and to take part in different holidays, such as Halloween, Christmas and Guy Fawkes’ Day , (add 3 more)