English people’s way of life

“My home is my castle”

“There is no place like home”

Language: English (also used as official language in more than 60 other countries);

Population: 47.7 million;

Capital city: London;

Other cities: Oxford, Cambridge, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Plymouth;

Rivers & lakes: R. Thames, Severn, Avon, Tees, Wear, Lake District;

Main industries: coal, shipbuilding, oil-refinery, textiles, engineering, plastics, chemicals, wool trade;

Main farm produce: beef, sheep, cows, cereals, hop;

Tourist areas: Madame Tussaud’s, the Tower, the British Museum, 6 Forest & 7 National Parks;

A special way of life: fish & chips, beer, tea with milk, toasts, weather, “gents”, “tube”, “cops”, pub, cab,

football (soccer), cricket, Dracula,

resorts, fishing, hunting;

Prominent people: W. Shakespeare, the Brontё sisters, Chaucer, Ch. Dickens, J. Galsworthy, W. Thackeray

Religion: the Protestant Church of England (Anglican Church) since 1536

People often say that the English talk about the weather. This is an
exaggeration, but it is certainly true. The reason is that the British people are
reluctant to converse about personal matters and the weather is a good way to start
a neutral conversation with a stranger.

The English sense and feeling of privacy is notorious. Kissing someone on

meeting, apart from a close family member, is not so common or usual in England.
Close physical contact (hugging) in public would be embarrassing for most. They
rarely shake hands except more in business situations when first introduced to a
work contract. They hardly ever shake hands with their friends except seeing them
after a long interval or saying good-bye before a long journey.
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 Snobbery is not so common today as it was at the beginning of the century.
A snob is a person with an exaggerating respect for social position and wealth,
despising those he or she considers inferior. Snobbery still exists, however, and
advertisers know how to use it in order to sell their goods. The advertisers are very
clever in their use of snobbery. Motorcar manufactures advertise the color of their
cars as “Embassy Black”, for example. Embassy black is plain, ordinary black, but
the name suggests diplomats and the social importance that surrounds them, and
this is what the snobs need.

The English are practical, realistic and always full of common sense. They
are not misled by romantic illusions. They are careful about almost everything.
Their lawns are evenly cropped, their flower beds primly cultivated, and their trees
neatly pruned. Everything is orderly. Drinks are carefully measured; seats in a
cinema are attentively assigned. Even if the theatre is empty you are supposed to
sit in the seat assigned to you. Closing hours are exactly observed.

The English character

It is no secret that in order to learn how to communicate with the people of

a country and, most importantly, to get some sort of pleasure out of doing so,
you need to understand the peculiarities of their national character.

The English character is, on the one hand, probably the most
contradictory and paradoxical of all the European nations, and almost any
element has an opposite face. On the other hand it is very integrated and well
defined, traceable back over many centuries. Much of the English character is
put down to the fact that the country is an island, and there is even the term
“island psychology”. But there are many island nations around the world, and
only one England. Obviously, there is a combination of various factors, the
mixture into one melting pot of various peoples, the Celts, the Brits, the Picts, the
Anglo-Saxons and many others, the fertilizing contribution of the Roman and
Norman invaders, and the spice of close contacts with their continental
neighbours seasoned with their own victories and conquests. All of this, when
put into a certain climate and a specific geographic location has led to the
appearance of the race that is so different from the other Europeans.

The national character of the English has been very differently described,
but most people agree to one quality, which they describe as self-satisfaction,
arrogance, lightheartedness and sense of pride.
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 The coldness of Englishmen and their reserve has been noted by foreigners; but
foreigners also confess that they find English reserve not unpleasant, and if one
gets to know an Englishman he turns out to be a very friendly fellow and soon they
become good friends.

But the people of the North and West of Britain, especially the Welsh, are
less reserved than those of the South and East.

Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. If a person is, let us

say, very good at golf, and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will
probably give an answer like “I’m not bad”, or “I think I’m quite good”, or “Well,
I’m very keen on golf”.

The English are a nation of stay-at-home. “There is no place like home,”

they say. And when the man is not working he is at home in the company of his
wife and children and busies himself with the affairs of the home. “The
Englishman’s home is his castle,” is a saying known all over the world.

Foreigners always assume that the Englishmen have a prejudice against all
things foreign, there is a lack of interest in foreign languages, and they have a
kind of restraint and narrow-minded view of the world.

English queues

The strongest feelings of irritation that an Englishman may have are

probably faced with the neglectful attitude towards queues that are the object of
special cult. The English themselves, as the witty phrase has it, form queues even
when there is only one person. In those places where queues are most likely to
form, special barriers are erected so that nobody gets worried, and you can be
certain that if you suddenly creep in from the side, you will be ignored and treated
with disdain by all around, including by the person you forced your way through
to, after which you will still have to go and join the end of the queue.

People at bus-stops stand obediently one behind the other and get on to the
bus in strict order. In a shop, even if you are only buying a single bottle of mineral
water, you still have to stand in a fully-fledged queue behind people wielding
trolleys that are piled high with goods. True, in some shops there is often a special
queue for those people buying less than six items.
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 In a word, never try to slip past the queue in England. It is an unforgivable
crime. It would be better to get drunk and smash the window of a local shop:
everybody would simply come to the conclusion that your football team had just
lost, and then you will find out what real

English sympathy is Law-abiding nation

The law is another matter. Here the English seems to invest much more
common sense and composure. On the whole, the English are a law-abiding race.
In Russia and Finland, as everybody knows, in order to prevent accidents on the
roads you would have to ban the consumption of alcohol almost completely. In
Italy, the hotel system is tightly controlled, they fill out mounds of papers, ask the
guests for their passports, sign endless receipts, which you have to take from them,
as a special police officer has the right to check them. In England, the fuss with the
papers at hotels has largely been done away with. Being law-abiding is their
natural state.

English humor

The serious English are also comics. It is common to hear foreigners use the
phrase: “typical English humor”, but what exactly does it mean? As a nation, the
English are proud of their particular sense of humor and believe that it is unique.
English people say that foreigners, in particular the French and Americans, don’t
understand their jokes. This statement is, of course, a bit unfair, but it does reflect
some differences in what people in different countries and cultures find funny. The
strange thing is that British humour is based on two rather contradictory
foundations. On the one hand, there is a typically dry, almost sarcastic
understatement. On the other, there is a national obsession with something called
“toilet humor”. The secret of “typical English humor” is in its simplicity. There is
no hidden sub-text, and the physiological or toilet humor is precisely that. Its ideal
is the ability to laugh at oneself – at one’s own faults. “He is a man of humor” or
“He has no sense of humor” is often heard in Britain, where humor is so highly
praised and appreciated. “The ideal man must have a sense of humor; otherwise he
is far from perfect”.

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 Cockney
“Come on darlin’… amazin’ bargain
you ain’t seen nuffink like it!”

Traditionally someone born in the East End is known as a cockney although

this name is given nowadays to anyone who speaks like a Londoner. Typically
they change certain vowel sounds so that the sound in “late” becomes more like
that in “light”. In addition they do not use usual “t” sound of Standard English but
stop the air in their throat. Like some foreign learners of English they seem to have
problems with “th” and use an “f” instead!

E.g. “bu’er” instead of “butter” “amazin’” “amazing”

“late” [lait] “nuffink” “nothing”

“darlin’” “darling” “ain’t” “haven’t, aren’t,

don’t…”

During the last century, East End criminals developed a special kind of
slang or language which made it difficult for the police to understand them. In
certain parts of London this slang is still used, and some expressions have passed
into normal, everyday English. It’s called “rhyming slang” because words are
replaced by other words or phrases which rhyme.

E.g “loaf of bread” means “head”

“butcher’s hook” “look”

“toad” “road”

“guv” “governor, boss”

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However, usually only the first word of the phrase is used, for example, “Use your
loaf!” means “Use your head … don’t be silly!” and “Let me have a butcher’s.”
means “Let me have a look.”

Or “Use your mince pies!” means “Use your eyes!”

English habits of politeness

However, the British are supposed to be very polite, with apologetic
manners. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” can be heard everywhere every time.

In British English, you say (I’m) sorry to a person if you accidentally touch them,
or push against them, or get in their way (e.g. if you step on someone’s foot).
“Sorry” also takes the place of “no” when you cannot do something for a person or
give a positive answer in situation like “May I use your pen?”, “Do you know the
time?” or “Have you any size 7 shoes?”

You might also hear the rather old-fashioned expression “Pardon” or “I beg your
pardon”. It is the polite way of asking somebody to repeat what he has just said.
But here you can also say “Excuse me?” In American English you say Excuse me
or Pardon me.

English people do not readily ask each other to do anything; they prefer to
wait for a service to be offered before asking for it. If they do ask, then they say
sth. like “I don’t really like asking you, but …”

“Excuse me?” is used when you want to get someone’s attention politely,
especially when you want to ask a question: “Excuse me, can you tell me the way
to the museum please?” Or to say that you are sorry for doing something rude or
embarrassing: “Oh, excuse me, I did not know anyone was in here.” Or to ask
someone politely to move so that you can walk past: “Excuse me, could I just
squeeze past you?” Or when you want to politely tell someone that you are leaving
a place: “Excuse me a moment, Mr. Black, I’ll be in no time” (= I’ll be right back).
When you disagree with someone but want to be polite about it: “Excuse me, but I
don’t think that’s what he meant at all.”

Cricket “English national Game”

Cricket is played since the 1500s. The scoring of this team game is a
mystery even to many British people. Each team takes it in turn to bat. The bat is
held in both hands, the bottom of the bat resting on the ground. The other team
bowls and gets the ball back. Players usually wear white clothes.
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