No 18. Speak about stereotyped ideas that people may have about the way of life in another country. Compare Belarusians Britons (Americans). Explain why they are so different.

As it is known, every country tends to accept its own way of life as being the normal one and to praise or criticize others as they are similar to or different from it. And unfortunately our picture of the people and the ways of life in other countries is often a distorted one. We like to "pigeon-hole", to categorize and generalize about nationalities. We are used to creating national stereotypes and clinging tenaciously to our prejudices. But of course we are not always right behaving and thinking in such a way, even though there really can be distinguished certain features typical of this or that nation, as every nation has a reputation of some kind.

Let's take the British, for example. The attitude to this nation is quite mixed, because in fact the British is the collective name for the English, the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish.

The national character of the English has been very differently described. Some people find them calm, reserved, open-minded and trustworthy, while others consider them to be hidebound, insular and superior. But what is definite about this nation is that the English are a nation of stay-at-home. "There's no place like home", they say and "The Englishman's home is his castle". English people are traditional in many ways, they do enjoy doing things that have been done for generations and they don't like to adopt themselves to something new. Traditionally, the English are thought to be reserved, shy of strangers, suspicious of changes and slow to accept new ideas. Foreigners coining to England are struck at once by quite a number of customs and traditions in English life seemingly incompatible with the modern way of life and technical conditions of a highly developed country. The English are honest, responsible, self-disciplined and courteous people.

People, living in England don't like displaying their emotions in dangerous and tragic circumstances. They pride themselves on being well-tempered and cheerful under difficulties. They don't like boasting and showing off in manners, dress or speech. However, in spite of all these positive characteristics, some people are absolutely convinced the English are a nation of the most illogical and snobbish people in the world.

As for the Welsh, they are renowned for their singing ability as well as for their language and cultural traditions. They are really gifted in the art of self-expression in words; they are not afraid of being poetic in speech and they make ordinary conversations as bright as possible. Besides, there is much literary, musical and dramatic activity in modem Wales and it was always been called "the Land of Songs".

The Scots also have some national distinctions. They are said to be very serious, cautious, thrifty, rather inventive and even mystical.

While speaking about the Irish I should say that they are known for their charm and vivacity as well as for the beauty of the Irish girls. Moreover, the Irish are said to be great talkers.

You see that the national stereotypes of the British are quite varied, but in fact people living in the UK are as individual as any other nations.

One of the countries that is different from GB in many ways is no doubt the USA. While the British are known to be conservative, the Americans are the people who like changes and who are always open to new ideas. They are incurable optimists, though it is believed that there are many social pressures and perpetual strains in America.

The generalization often made about Americans is that they value their individualism highly. They place great emphasis on their individual differences, on having a great number of choices and on doing things in their own way.

Some more values that are said to be important to the Americans are the family, privacy ^choice in education and freedom. However, it is obvious that all these factors are no less important to us either, as well as to any person living in the world.

Discussing the American nation, we can't but mention such things as the American's mania about personal cleanliness, love for cars and prepacked food, besides they say the American children are really unbearable.

On the whole, Americans tend to be considered trend-setters in life styles, but what is thought to be typically American today probably won't be so for long.

To finish up the list, I'd like to tell some facts about the Belarusians. Even though I can hardly judge my native nation objectively I think that it is one of the kindest nations in the world. The Belarusians are sincere and open-hearted. They don't remember evil and easily forgive their offenders. The character of a Belarusian is deliberate, composed and mild, with well-developed will, domination over himself and tolerance at work. Our people have gentle souls with extremely high sensitivity and imagination. The evidence of this is the beauty and wealth of our national poetry. The Belarusians are very generous and hospitable and will hardly find a home where the hosts will hesitate to give a guest cm open-hearted welcome.

Some people say that the Belarusians are passive, listless and even cowardly. We can't say, however, whether it is true or not, because we are Belarusians ourselves and it's much easier to speak of something or someone from outside.

Most of the distinctions between these nations can be explained by their different origins as well as by the different conditions their ancestors used to live in, which include the climate, the landscape and even the geographical position of the countries. So nowadays these nations have their individual peculiarities based on their historical past and the heritage of their own.

You see here are the descriptions of these nations. But I can hardly say that everything I've told about them is the exact truth. I've never been to GB or the USA myself, so it is more commonly to be called the set of stereotypes. But I'm strongly determined that a person should form his or-her attitude towards this or that nation not in accordance with one's words, but from his or her own experience.

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