British
Customs and Traditions (Q&A)
1. Let's talk about customs and traditions of an
English - speaking country. What can you tell me about your favourite holiday in
Britain?
2. Do you find some
British customs and traditions special? Why (not)?
To begin with I’d like to point out that
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, colourful
royal ceremonies, soldiers in strange uniforms. In Britain customs and traditions
play a more important part in the life of people than
in other countries. The British are proud of their traditions and carefully
keep them up.
The British celebrate such public holidays as
Christmas, Easter Monday, May Day, the
Spring Bank Holiday, and The Summer Bank Holiday.
Besides public holidays there are other festivals,
such as Pancake-Bay, April Fool’s day, Halloween, Guy Fawkes
night, St. Valentine's Day and others, I'd like to describe some of them.
On 5 November (the fifth of November) the
British celebrate Guy Fawkes night or Bonfire night. It is an exciting holiday.
In 1605, a man called Guy Fawkes had planned to blow
up the Houses of Parliament and kill James I, But he was caught and hanged.
Every village, town and city lights a huge bonfire to remember the day.
Children gather wood and make Guy Fawkes dolls. Then they make a big bonfire
and throw the dolls into the fire and set off firecrackers.
Halloween is a holiday annually celebrated on 31 October (the thirty first of October/October the
thirty first). People hold Halloween parties, where the hosts and guest
often dress up as skeletons, ghosts or other
scary figures. Common symbols of Halloween include
pumpkins, bats and spiders. Other people gather together to watch horror
films, either at home or at a cinema. Some children
go trick-or-treating. This means that they dress up and go to other peoples'
houses, knocking on the door for treat of sweets or a snack. Those who
do not give out a treat may be tricked with a joke
instead.
Christmas is celebrated on
25 December. (the twenty fifth of December) For most families this is the most important festival of the year and on this day
many people are travelling home to be with their families. Most houses are decorated with brightly-coloured paper or holly
and there is usually a Christmas tree in the corner of the front room. A lot of traditions are connected with Christmas but the
most important is giving presents. Christmas night is an exciting time for children; it is the time when Father Christmas comes. Children hung up
stockings for Father Christmas who will
hopefully fill them up with presents.
3. What questions can you ask a friend about good manners in their country?
1.
Are British people always polite?
2.
How do British people behave at the table?
3.
What behavior is impossible for British people?
4. Do you
say "hi" to people even if they are strangers? Why? Why not?
5. Why are manners important?
4. What national souvenirs will you recommend a tourist to buy in
Britain?
It’s hard to put together the top souvenirs to buy in Britain because
there are just so many great things to shop for. Some of my favorite top London souvenirs are food items— whether that’s tea and Cadbury candy bars from the Tesco
supermarket or biscuits from Fortnum and Mason.
London has some pretty spectacular department stores that are a great
source of top souvenirs.
Of course as home of one of
the world’s most fascinating monarchies, London’s top souvenirs have to include any and all things royal— and the Buckingham Palace gift shops are a great source for
high quality royal souvenirs.
5. Nowadays more and more people are interested in customs and
traditions of different countries. What do you think about it?
Every country and every nation has its own traditions and customs. It's
very important to know traditions and customs of different people. It will help
you to know more about the history and life of different nations and countries.
Moreover, here is a
great argument in favour of foreign travel and learning foreign languages. It
is only by traveling in, or living in, a country and getting to know its
inhabitants and their culture that one can find out what a country and its
people are really like. How often we find that
foreigners whom we thought to be such different people from ourselves are not
so different at all!
To sum it up,
travel does broaden the mind and learning the language and culture of another
nation does liberalize one’s outlook.
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