Stereotypes about the British
методическая разработка по английскому языку

Stereotypes about the British

Contents:

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………2

I.British Television ………………………………………………………………4

II.British Food ……………………………………………………………………6

III.Other Stereotypes ……………………………………………………………10

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………12

List of Literature ………………………………………………………………..14

 Introduction    

     Societies change over time while their reputations lag behind. Many things which are often regarded as typically British derive from books, songs or plays which were written a long time ago and which are no longer representative of modern life. One example of this is the popular belief that Britain is a "land of tradition”. This is what most tourist brochures claim. The claim is based on what can be seen in public life and on centuries of political continuity. And at this level - the level of public life - it is undoubtedly true. The annual ceremony of the state opening of Parliament, for instance, carefully follows customs which are centuries old. So does the military ceremony of 'trooping the colour'. Likewise, the changing of the guard outside Buckingham Palace never changes.
     However, in their private everyday lives, the British as individuals are probably less inclined to follow tradition than are the people of most other countries. There are very few ancient customs that are followed by the majority of families on special occasions. The country has fewer local parades or processions with genuine folk roots than most other countries have. The English language has fewer sayings or proverbs that are in common everyday use than many other languages do. The British are too individualistic for these things. In addition, it should be noted that they are the most enthusiastic video-watching people in the world the very opposite of a traditional pastime! 

     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 commonly worn for a long time. Food and drink provide other examples. The traditional 'British' (or 'English) breakfast is a large "fry-up" preceded by cereal with milk and followed by 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 have cut out the fry-up and just have the cereal, tea and toast. The rest have even less. What the vast majority of British people have in the mornings is therefore much closer to what they call a 'continental' (i.e. European) breakfast than it is to a 'British' one. 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. As for the tradition of afternoon tea with biscuits, scones, sandwiches or cake, this is a minority activity, largely confined to retired people and the leisured upper-middle class (although preserved in tea shops in tourist resorts).

     Even when a British habit conforms to the stereotype, the wrong conclusions can sometimes be drawn from it. The supposed British love of queuing is an example. Yes, British people do form queues whenever they are waiting for something, but this does not mean that they enjoy it. It would therefore seem wrong to conclude that their habit of queuing shows that the British are a patient people. Apparently, the British hate having to wait and have less patience than people in many other countries.

I.British Television

1. British people have to pay to watch TV.
   Fact or Fiction: Fact
   The TV licence costs £121 per year and goes toward the BBC.
   2. British TV doesn't have adverts.
   Fact or Fiction: Fiction
   The BBC channels don't have adverts, but all other channels do. Adverts are typically aired every 15 minutes during normal programming.
   3. British TV consists of only 4\5 channels.
   Fact or Fiction: Fiction
   There are 5 terrestrial channels in the UK. But terrestrial signals are now being replaced by digital. Currently there are 32 digital channels which can be received by buying a digital TV or a set-top box. Within the next decade the terrestrial channels will be turned off, so anyone who hasn't converted will have no TV.
   A lot of people in the UK also have Sky Digital (Satellite) or cable. These normally add anything up to 200 channels. TV in Britain is actual pretty advanced because of the digital revolution; we have interactive services, particularly sporting events. For instance during Wimbledon you can choose which court you want to watch via your remote, or during a Premiership football match you can change the camera angle. We also have interactive adverts.
   4. British TV is full of documentaries
   Fact or Fiction: Fact
   For some reason we do seem to produce a lot of documentaries, home\garden improvement shows, etc. But people seem to enjoy them.
   5. I'll never see my favourite American show again...
   Fact or Fiction: Fiction
   American TV companies have a lot more money than their British counterparts and so produce bigger shows, and more of them. The result is that they are relatively cheap for foreign markets to buy. So, of the many hundreds of Sky channels on British TV, the vast majority are American imported shows - as they are cheaper to buy in than producing a home-grown British show. Most of the BBC channels and the likes of ITV and channel 4 tend to focus on British shows, but even they pick up the bigger things such as Friends, 24, Simpsons, Star Trek, etc.
   Chances are, your favourite American show is airing somewhere on UK TV.
   6. British TV is better quality
   Fact or Fiction: Fiction
   In terms of progamming... that's a matter of opinion. Personally there are many American shows I couldn't do without. But then again, they always make too many. You have 24 episodes a season, which means that every now and then the script runs a little dry, or there is the infamous "clip show". You wish sometimes they would make fewer and focus on keeping the episodes good. This is generally the way it's done in the UK. Most British made dramas such as "Spooks" or "Silent Witness" are done as one-offs, two-parts, or at a push, a series of 6 shows. Because of this, they are generally quite exciting and well-written. There is definitely a quality-over-quantity attitude. At the same time though, Britain makes some awful TV. But we generally have a good record of exporting TV shows. Things such as "Who wants to be a Millionaire", "The Weakest Link", "Pop Idol" are all British inventions.
   As for Technical, there is a noticeable difference between an American show and a British show. The picture quality of the British show just feels.... sharper. It's very difficult to explain. I believe it's down to the fact that the PAL system is 625-lines, which the NTSC system is 525-lines. Saying that, the Americans have access to HDTV which we don't have in Europe.
   

II. British Food
7. The quality and safety of British food is 'suspect'
Fact or Fiction: Fiction
Samonella, Mad Cow Disease, Foot and Mouth.... our meat is filth right? This is far and away the biggest stereotype I hear from American visitors to our works' canteen. "Is this safe to eat?".
There are two things that contribute to this perception: 1)  In Britain we have a very strict food standards agency, who aren't afraid to close places down if the food is questionable. 2) We have a sensationalist media.
Combine the two and you are left with announcements in the news anytime something dodgy happens in our food chain. This is then transmitted around the world and everyone assumes British food is tainted. No-one seems to mention the fact that the Salmonella outbreak was actually a false alarm, or that Foot and Mouth was imported from China, or that France and Italy both had outbreaks of Mad Cow at the same time as the UK. There is currently another scare at the moment regarding a food-dye called Sudan-1.
Just reassure yourself with the knowledge that despite all of the scare announcements that we have had, you are more likely to get trampled by a Rhino stampede on Oxford Street than you are of catching some evil British food disease.
8. British food is awful
Fact or Fiction: Fact
Being British I am allowed to agree with this. Traditional British food is generally very bland and lacking in spice or seasoning. "Sunday dinners" are especially bland and consist of meat, potato, yorkshire pudding (basically just baked batter), and a vast array of boiled or steamed vegetables with nothing more than gravy to flavour them. 
There is a tendency to fry too much meaning food is often very greasy. The "Full English Breakfast" is basically a heart-attack on a plate, and consists of such delicacies as "Black Pudding" which is essentially a fried blood-clot. In truth, 99.9% of British people have cereal or toast for breakfast, and the Full-English is reserved for hotels, B&Bs, and road-side truck-stops.
Most British people have embraced other national food dishes, and it's said that the Tikka Massala is the unofficial national dish of the UK. Aside from Indian, Chinese and Italian food is particularly common. American food is also widely eaten, and USA-theme steak-houses and diners are quite popular. We also have the obligatory McDonalds and Burger King, although in recent years their popularity has waned.
I can't mention food without mentioning Fish and Chips. The quality of fish-and-chips varies wildly depending on where you are buying them. If you are going to sample them, go to a traditional "chippy" and not a pizza\kebab shop. Ask a Brit to direct you if you are unsure.
9. British people eat 'Meat Pies'
Fact or Fiction: Fact
Can any American people tell me why Americans find this concept so funny? I have grown up eating meat pies, pasties, sausage rolls, etc. I don't understand why people think it would taste horrible. It's just meat wrapped in savoury pastry.

10. British people either talk like the Queen, or 'Cockney' like that bloke from Marry Poppins
Fact or Fiction: Fiction
Accents in the UK vary massively, often within a few miles. The Cockney accent is specific to the East-End of London, although to someone from a different part of the country it would be difficult to tell an Essex accent from a Cockney. There are general groups of accents that all sound completely different, e.g:
Welsh
Scottish
Northern Irish
Cockney (London)
Brummy (Birmingham)
Scouse (Liverpool)
Geordie (Newcastle)
Manc (Manchester)
Yorkie (Leeds \ Yorkshire)
and many more....
Each have their own words and phrases, and the accents in some of those locations can be quite over-powering. Very few people in the UK speak with a "Posh" accent.
11. British society is class-based
Fact or Fiction: Fact
Not as much as it used to be, but people in the UK still refer to themselves as "working-class", "lower-middle" or "upper-middle" (and of course there are those who think of themselves as the "elite" class). The meanings don't seem to matter much these days, but there are still some thoroughly unpleasant people in this country who will make sweeping judgement about you based on your "class". 
Essentially your class is determined from your up-bringing, your profession, your place of birth, your parent's profession, etc. Money isn't always important - e.g. a person can be filthy rich, but still be considered working-class. In days gone by it would affect your chances of getting an education, a job, etc. and it would also affect the people who you could socialize with and marry. Today this type of thing is all-but-gone with the high-profile exception of the Royal family.
12. British men like taking baths
Fact or Fiction: Fact
As with the meat-pie, I don't understand why this is such as source of humour. I've had my sexuality brought into question by American friends for admitting to soaking in a bath. All I can say is that after a long game of Rugby in the freezing cold I can't think of anything better than soaking my muscles in a steaming hot bath. If it was good enough for the Romans it's good enough for me.
13. The Brits are polite to the point of annoyance
Fact or Fiction: Fact
I'll have to take my American friends word on this. I didn't think we were, until we were all on a night-out. We went to get some cash from a cash-machine (ATM). There were 3 ATMs, and the people had automatically formed themselves into a single orderly queue, with the whole "after you", "no, after you" thing going on. The Americans found this funny, I thought it was normal.
British driving is full of subtle hand-raising, waving, and non-descript nods which all Brits just know almost genetically. For foreign drivers it must be very unsettling.
In all fairness, I have had friends who have been to Florida and told me tales of the "Have a nice day" Disney staff, and they seem genuinely nice to the point of creepiness.
14. The Brits love drinking
Fact or Fiction: Fact
Drinking is a major part of British culture, hence the 'Pub'. Recently drinking has become a hot topic because people are getting more and more drunk at a younger age. The emphasis for youngsters has shifted from lager and beer to Vodka, and young women especially are knocking the booze back at an alarming rate. I can't see any major society shifts happening in the near future, so for now, offices, workplaces and colleges will continue to be awash with tales of drunken shenanigan every Monday morning.

III. Other Stereotypes
15. The Brits have free health-care
Fact or Fiction: Fact and Fiction
While it's true that if anyone falls ill in the UK they are treated without question, it's not exactly free. British taxpayers pay a chunk of their wages toward "National Insurance" which in turn pays for the NHS (National Health Service). We also pay a Prescription charge of around £7 for every prescription regardless of the actual cost. Dentistry is subsidized but not free.
British people can choose to pay extra towards private treatment which offers quicker service and added benefits from the standard state treatment.
On the NHS, major operations are normally carried out quite quickly, but waiting for non-urgent operations can sometimes take years. Other than that and a few other high-profile setbacks, the British health-service is actually quite good. Children and pensioners are given free health-care, and foreigners are also treated if they fall ill. (although they are technically supposed to pay toward their treatment when they recover).
The NHS is the 2nd biggest employer in the world behind the Indian National Rail Company, with over 1 million employees.
16. Britain is an expensive place to live\visit
Fact or Fiction: Fact and Fiction
Another widely accepted belief that is not as straightforward as it seems. For a tourist who visits London, tours the major sites, goes to see a West-End show, eats in some fancy restaurants, stays in a swanky hotel... the cost would be enormous, more so than most European cities. London in particular has artificially inflated prices across the board, although places such as Edinburgh suffer as well.
For a person who settles in somewhere like Liverpool, and shops at Asda, then the cost of living would probably not be much more than they are used to in America.
Petrol IS considerably more expensive, as are things such as CD's, DVD's and clothing. But general groceries in a standard supermarket are no more expensive than in the USA.
17. Americans are disliked in the UK
Fact or Fiction: Fiction
An American friend of mine was concerned about this (around the time of the Iraq invasion), after he had a bad experience in France. He had this idea that Americans are despised around the world, including the UK.
In truth, this is not the case, certainly from a UK perspective. So diverse is London that people wouldn't bat an eyelid at an American visitor. For more provincial Northern towns where tourists aren't common, an American would be a novelty - but no less welcome. The more stereotyped American - loud and brash - may receive some disapproving looks and the occasional dry, typically British wise-crack, but no more than that. Most Brits enjoy a bit of cross-culture banter anyway...
18. The Brits all have bad teeth...
Fact or Fiction: Fiction
That's another one that Americans always pull out of the bag when I’m having a bit of banter with them (along with meat pies), and I’m not sure where this comes from.
For some reason the royals all seem to have unusual teeth, but the rest of the country doesn't really suffer the same affrication.

19. British men are all pansies, and quite often gay
Fact or Fiction: Fiction
I think we have Hollywood to thank for this one, in particular the likes of Hugh Grant. Maybe it's the fact we like to take baths, or the fact we all talk like the Queen....
The average British 'bloke' enjoys a pint down the pub and enjoys watching the footy/rugby/cricket. We produce our fair share of heavy-weight boxing champions, unfortunately we produce our fair share of football hooligans, and a fairly scary-looking army. If we were all as gay as Hollywood suggested the population would have died off years ago.

20. The British are uncomfortable with being patriotic
Fact or Fiction: Fact and Fiction
Bare in mind the UK is made up of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. All of those countries with the exception of England are fiercely patriotic.
Some of us English believe there is nothing wrong with flag-waving and look enviously at other countries such as the USA who seem to take pride in it. But large parts of the English public seem to see it as a taboo; no-one really knows why. Maybe it's to do with the whole 'Empire' thing and the negative issues that it raises, or maybe it's because the far-right nazi political parties have "hijacked" the flag, and looking patriotic makes you seem like a racist sympathiser.
But everyone looks forward to the Football or Rugby world cup, where, for at least a few weeks it's great to be English, the tabloids start printing jingoistic headlines, and everyone waves the flag with pride.

     The British, like other people tend to be attributed with certain characteristics, which are supposedly typical. These characteristics are called stereotypes.

     The first and the main stereotype about Britain is that it is considered to be the land of tradition. Actually, that is partly true, because British traditions are carefully kept within the country, but on the public level. For instance, the annual ceremony of state opening of Parliament carefully follows customs, which are centuries old. So does the military ceremony of "trooping the colour".

Conclusion

However, in their private everyday lives, the British are less inclined to follow traditions. The country has fewer local parades or processions with folk roots than most other countries have. The English language has fewer proverbs and sayings that are common in everyday use. The British are too individualistic for this. Moreover, the British are the most enthusiastic video-watching people – very opposite to a traditional pastime!

     There are many examples of typical British habits, which are not typical nowadays or even out of date. One of them is an image of "city gent" wearing bowler hats. Actually, this type of hat has not been worn for a long time. Food is another example. The British are believed to eat the traditional "British" (or "English") breakfast which consists of fry-up, cereals, toast with jam or marmalade, and lots of tea. However, the majority of people prefer to have a "continental" one. The image of the British as a nation of tea-drinkers is another stereotype. Nowadays, more coffee is consumed during the day and "5 o’clock tea" is not widely spread these days.

     Sometimes, wrong conclusions can be drawn from British habits which are considered to be stereotypes. For instance, it is believed that the British love queuing. The British do form the queues when they wait for something, thus it doesn’t mean that they are keen on it. It just a reflection of natural politeness.

     So, to conclude I can say that though Britain is believed to be a land of traditions, the British don’t follow them in day-to-day lives.

List of Literature: 

1. С. П. Кузнецова. – “TheBritish ”, Москва «Орион». 2001.
2.  Нестерова М. Н. Страноведение: Англия. – Ростов-на-Дону: «Феникс», 2001.
3. Павлоцкий В.М. Знакомимся с Британией. – Санкт – Петербург: «Оракул», 1997.

   4. www. england – online .ru