Card 16 Let’s talk about customs and traditions of an English-speaking country.

1) What can you tell us about holidays and traditions in Britain?

The most popular tradition in the UK is celebrating Christmas. Carol singing, midnight church services, Christmas decorations are the activities that many families enjoy. Night time on Christmas Eve is a very exciting time for children. They hang up their stockings and go to sleep. Santa or Father Christmas comes. Traditionally on Christmas Eve mince pies and milk are left out for Santa and nowadays carrots are left for his reindeer. One Christmas ritual not drawn from an ancient tradition is the British monarch's broadcast on Christmas day. The tradition began in 1932 when King George V read a special speech written by Rudyard Kipling. The broadcast was an enormous success. Queen Elizabeth II continues the tradition to this day.

St. Valentine ’s the saint of people in love and St. Valentine’s Day is on February the 14^th. On that day people send Valentine cards and presents to their husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends. Some British newspapers have a page for Valentine’s Day messages on that day.

April the 1^st is April Fools’ Day. This is a very old tradition from the Middle Ages. At that time servants were masters for one day of the year. Now April Fools’ Day is different. It’s a day for jokes and tricks.

May Day was an important day in the Middle Ages. In the very early morning young girls went to the fields and washed their faces with dew. They believed this made them very beautiful for a year after that. Also on May Day young men of each village tried to win prizes with their bows [bauz] and arrows. And people danced round the May Pole.

November the fifth is Guy Fawkes Day. All over the country people build wood fires or bonfires in their gardens. On top of each bonfire is a guy. This is a figure of Guy Fawkes. On November the fifth 1665 Guy Fawkes tried to kill King James the first. He and a group of his friends put the bomb under the Houses of Parliament in London. But the King’s men found the bomb and Guy Fawkes. They took him to the tower of London where his head was cut off. Before November the 5^th children use guys to make money. They stand in the streets and shout: “A penny for the Guy.”

In my opinion the most interesting British tradition is …

2) Do you find some British customs and traditions special? Why (not)?

Yes, I do. The United Kingdom is full of customs and traditions which are famous all over the world.

Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby. England's national sport is cricket. Football is the most popular one.

Britain is a tea-drinking nation. Every day they drink 165 million cups of the stuff. Most Britons like their tea strong and dark and with a lot of milk.

Fish and chips is the classic English take-away food and is the traditional national food of England. The fish is deep fried in flour batter and is eaten with chips. Traditionally, the fish and chips are covered with salt and malt vinegar.

Pubs are an important part of British life. People meet their friends, eat, drink, and relax there.

I believe all those traditions help the British feel they are a nation.

3) What questions can you ask a British teenager about good manners in their country?

How often do you say “Please” and “Thank you”? Do you stand in line in Britain? Do you shake hands when introduced? Do you hold doors for other people? The British smile very often, don’t they?

* What questions will you ask about specific qualities of the British national character?

Do you prefer to have a traditional English breakfast in the morning? How often do you talk about the weather? Do you live in a private house or in a block of flats? When do you like to drink tea? What is your favourite joke?

4) What national souvenirs will you recommend a Belarusian tourist to buy in London?

I think it should be something traditional. For example, some toy soldiers from the Royal Ceremonial Collection. They are colourful and represent English traditions. Another good souvenir from England would be an English teapot as drinking tea is so popular in that country. And, of course, it’s a good idea to bring a DVD about the country in English.

5) Nowadays more and more people are getting interested in customs and traditions of

different countries. What do you think about it?

I think it’s very important to learn traditions and customs of different countries. It helps us understand people of different cultures and become more tolerant. Lots of conflicts in this world happen from ignorance and misunderstanding.

Another reason is learning a foreign language. If you don’t know anything about the cultural background of a nation, you will never be able to understand properly what’s going on around you even if your vocabulary is quite huge.

*What stereotypes connected with the British do you know? What do you think about them?

We often see other nationalities as having a set of characteristics which set them apart from others. And I do think there’s no smoke without a fire though the world population is becoming more and more mixed.

The British are famous for their tolerance and sense of humour, yet they don’t always say what they think.

However, the British are not one nationality but four, who all see each other differently. T he Irish are supposed to be great talkers, the Scots have a reputation for being careful with money, the Welsh are renowned for their singing abilities, and the English are considered to be reserved.

But today Britain is a multicultural society because of the large scale immigration to Britain. However these ”new British” people are still all part of an island race, whose culture and customs are mixed so well together that they produce a British identity.

Some writers on Britain have talked about the British desire ’to belong’, and it is certainly true that the pub, or the numerous other clubs devoted to various sports and pastimes play a very important part in many people’s lives.

The British are too individualistic to have the same everyday habits. They are rather proud of being different. However, this does not mean that they like change. They don’t. They like symbols of tradition and stability. Their driving on the left-hand side of the road is a good example to this. Systems of measurement are another example.

The British are comparatively uninterested in clothes. Of course, when people are ’on duty’, they have to obey some quite rigid rules. But on Sundays the British like to «dress down».

The English people are great pet lovers. Practically every family has a dog or a cat, or both.

The British are always talking about the weather. Unlike many others, this stereotype is actually true to life. The weather is a very convenient topic with which to ’fill the gap’.

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