English Traditions
статья по английскому языку (10 класс) по теме

English Traditions

Every nation and every country has its own customs and traditions. In Britain traditions play a more important part in the life of the people than in other countries. Englishmen are proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up. It has been the law for about three hundred years that all the theatres are closed on Sundays. No letters are delivered, only a few Sunday papers are published.To this day an English family prefers a house with a garden to a flat in a modern house with central heating. English people like gardens.Holidays are especially rich in old traditions and are different in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Christmas is a great English national holiday, and in Scotland it is not kept at all, except by clerks in banks; all the shops, mills and factories are working. But six days later, on New Years Eve the Scotch begin to enjoy themselves. All the shops,  mills and factories are closed on New Years Day.People invite their friends to their houses and "sit the Old Year out and the New Year in". When the dock begins to strike twelve, the head of the family goes to the entrance door, opens it wide and holds it until the last stroke. Then he shuts the door. He has let the Old Year out and the New Year in.Britain is full of culture and traditions which have been around for hundreds of years. British customs and traditions are famous all over the world. When people think of Britain they often think of people drinking tea, eating fish and chips and wearing bowler hats, but there is more to Britain than just those things. We have English and British traditions of sport, music, food and many royal occasions. There are also songs, sayings and superstitions. Who was Guy Fawkes? Why does the Queen have two birthdays? You can find the answers here in our pages on life in Britain. Many festivals and holidays in Britain are centuries old. Every town, village and hamlet in Britain has its own traditions, some involving months of careful planning and preparations of costumes and choreography, others requiring simply a worrying desire to make a complete and utter fool of oneself. The 2012 calendar below contains the most important and well known festivals and popular events in Britain. If you are looking for the date of a particular holiday or festival in the UK, then you will find it here.

 Definitions

What is a custom? A custom is the usual way of behaving or acting

What is a tradition? A tradition is a custom, opinion or belief handed down from on generation to another, often orally or by practice.