New Year's Day

Carnival

Parts of the car

These are the parts of the car both in British and American English:

Food in Britain

There are several aspects of food and eating in Britain that are shocking or at least surprising for a Spaniard:

• Meal times and names:

Marmite by Malcolm Farmer

• Large breakfasts. A proper traditional breakfast might include fried eggs, sausage, baked beans, bacon, toast, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, toast or fried bread ... and, of course, a cup of tea or coffee. However, nowadays, most people in Britain just have a simpler breakfast with cereal, toast, a cup of tea or coffee and some juice. A "nice cuppa" refers to a cup of tea.
• Many people will drink tea or coffee while having a meal, instead of drinking water. It might be difficult to imagine someone eating soup while drinking soup, but not from a Briton.
• Almost anything can be eaten on toast: beans, Marmite, egg, tomato, cheese...



Tea time at Lucy's by MrsWoman

• Tea is the national drink. It is drunk at all meals, any time of the day and any time of the year, not just for the meal called "tea".
•  There are also some foods that may seem strange to foreigners:
• haggis
• Scotch eggs
• Toad in the hole
• black pudding
• Welsh rarebit
• Fish and chips. If you don't know what to eat any time, you may pop into a fish and chips shop and buy your dinner there.

Penny Lane fish and chips shop by Loco Steve

Fish and chips by Richard Allaway

Traditional british food from comeniusnewclans

British food from Anthonny Garcia

QUIZZES:

• Proprofs: British Food
• Quizly

READ MORE:

• Project Britain
• 21 Things Everyone Should Know Before Visiting Britain
• British Etiquette for International Students
• British Habits That Confuse the Rest Of the World
• British Food Habits That Americans Will Never Understand
• Ten Strange British Foods
• Food Quirks That British People Don't Realise Are Weird

https://britainexplorer.com/ten-strange-british-foods/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/food-quirks-that-british-people-dont-realise-are-weird

The New Year in the UK

Differences between Christmas in Britain and in the USA

British money: coins and banknotes

This presentation will tell you about British money:

British currency from Ludivina

British and American English

Morris dancing and May Day in the UK

What is Morris Dancing?

It is a traditional dance seen throughout the month of May is Morris Dancing. It is a traditional English form of folkdancing, performed by groups of men or women.

Morris Dancing has been danced for centuries, and passed down through the generations in the villages of rural England. The dances are usually performed at festivals such as May Day, Whitsun and Christmas.

Morris men dacing - image by Richard2s

What is its origin?

There are different hypotheses about the origin of Morris Dancing. The name might refer to the possibility of the form of dancing coming to England from the Moors of North Africa; or it may have been called 'Moor-ish' simply because the dancers sometimes painted their faces black, and people compared this to the dark-skinned Moors.

The Music

The dancing is very lively and accompanied by an accordion player, a melodeon or fiddle player (Cotswolds) or a noisy band with a drum (Border Morris or North West sides).

Morris dancing - image by Kaihsu

Costumes

Morris dancers wear different clothes depending on the part of the United Kingdom where they are from. They are often dressed in white with coloured baldrics (coloured belts) across their chests but red or green are also common.

The Dances

There are usually six or eight dancers arranged in two lines or in a circle facing each other. The dancers may carry white handkerchiefs that they shake, or short sticks that they bang against each other as they dance. Some dancers have bell-pads tied at their knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance.

The United Kingdom and the British Isles

Great britain and the british isles from Ana Arias Castro

British and American money

This presentation by Taylor shows the different coins and bills used in the USA:

Moneymaterials from Ana Arias Castro

And this other presentation will tell you about British money:

British currency from Ludivina

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing day from Tino Grandio

Guide to British Christmas

Christmas in English-speaking countries

Christmas time from Ana Arias Castro

Dates in English

British and American money

Some vocabulary about money:

This presentation by Taylor shows the different coins and bills used in the USA:

Moneymaterials from Ana Arias Castro

And this other video and presentation will tell you about British money:

British currency from Ludivina

United Kingdom / Great Britain

Newspaper headlines and their language

Newspaper headlines are usually written as incomplete sentences as they have to be short, so they are often difficult to understand. These are some of the conventions used:

• There is often no verb:
• Unexpected Visit (=There Has Been An Unexpected Visit)
• Three, four, or more words are linked together. Reading backwards -starting at the end- can help you:
• Furniture Factory Pay Cut Row (=There has been a row -disagreement- in a furniture factory over pay cuts)
• Some verb changes are commonly used:
• Simple tenses insted of continuous or perfect forms
• Forgotten Brother Appears (=A forgotten brother has appeared)
• Opposition Backs PM (=The opposition supports the Prime Minister)
• The infinitive refers to the future:
• PM To Visit Australia (=The Prime Minister is Going to Visit Australia)
• Auxiliary verbs are dropped in the passive form:
• Man Killed In Accicent (=A man has been killed in an accident)
• No articles
• President Declares Celebration (=The President has declared a celebration)
• Terror Alert In The Capital (=There has been a terror alert in the capital)
• Vocabulary. Short words are preferred, even if they are not commonly used anywhere else:
• ACT: take action
• AID (noun): military or financial help
• AID (verb): help
• ALLEDGE: make an accusation
• APPEAR: appear in court accused of a crime
• AXE (noun): abolition
• AXE (verb) abolish; close down
• BACK: support
• BAN: forbid
• BAR: refuse
• BID: attempt
• BLAST: explosion; criticise violently
• BLAZE: fire
• BLOW: bad news
• BOND: association
• BOOM: big increase
• BOOST: encourage
• CALL FOR: demand
• CAMPAIGN: organized effort
• CLAIM: make a statement that something is true
• CLASH: quarrel; fight
• CURB: restrict
• DRAMA: incident
• DUMP:dismiss
• EMBRACE: meet; agree to
• FEAR(S): worry; concern
• FEUD: quarrel
• FURY: anger
• GRAB:confiscate; steal
• HIT: affect
• HURDLE: difficulty; obstacle
• KEY: answer; solution
• OPT FOR: choose
• OUST: replace
• OUTRAGE: anger
• PLAN: proposal
• PLEA: request
• PLEDGE: promise
• PROBE: investigate
• PURGE: control
• PUSH FOR: ask for; insist on
• QUIT: leave; resign
• QUIZ: question
• RAP: criticize; reprove
• RAID: attack
• RIDDLE: mystery
• ROW: disagreement
• SOAP (OPERA): TV series
• SET TO: ready to
• SEX ROMP: sex affair
• SHAKE UP: reform
• SHUN: avoid
• SINK: destroy; eliminate
• SLAM: criticise
• SNAG: criticise
• SNUB: difficulty; problem
• SOAR: increase; rise
• SPLIT: division; separation
• STORM: attack; anger
• SWOOP: raid
• THREAT: possibility
• TURMOIL: controversy; chaoes
• VOW: promise
• WAR: rivalry
• WED: marry; get married
• WOES: problems

Read more:

• http://abceda.com/headline.html
• http://site.iugaza.edu.ps/rareer/contact/courses/media-writing/news-headlines
• http://www.slideshare.net/Elenag77/the-language-of-headlines
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlinese

Reading Comprehension Exercise: Galicia as part of the United Kingdom

Some months ago we could read a surprising petition by Antonio Formoso Cores (Vigo) at Change.org for Galicia to become part of the United Kingdom in case Scotland voted against staying as part of it. It is addressed at the British Prime Minister, Mr. James Cameron. Read the text and answer the following questions:

TEXT:

We Galicians are aware of the fact that Scotland may become independent in 2014 and that this issue is worrying you. You needn't think of a solution to this challenge because we have found an innovative proposal that you won't be able to refuse:

We propose you to accept Galiza as an integral part of the United Kingdom.

This may come as a surprise to you but Galiza is also a Celtic nation in the northwest of Spain. With us on board you won't miss the following: 

• Scottish pipes: we have our own.
• Celtic of Glasgow: we have Celta Vigo
• An amazing landscape, we have that too
• Scottish clans, we have plenty of them (caciques are included)
• Our people like their drinks as Scots do
• We have a vibrant cultural and music scene
• In Galiza it also rains a lot
• We have a strong identity like Scottish people do.
• We are also an Atlantic country
• Flags of both countries have similar colours
• We also have some stingy people.
• Santiago of Compostela is our Edinburgh

With Galicians as part of the UK, you will gain the following:

• Hard-working people
• Galician people accent (in English) is easier to understand than the Scottish accent
• If you leave us alone, we won't bother you
• Lovely food and drinks (e.g. cozido instead of haggies, licor cafe instead of whisky, etc.)
• We speak the most spoken Roman languages of the world: Portuguese (Galician) and Spanish (Galician). We are able to communicate with both Brazil and Mexico using our two languages.
• Milder weather than in Scotland
• We share a similar sense of humour with British people (“retranca” is the Galician irony)
• British economy will improve with our fishing industry, textile (e.g. Zara), cultural tourism (The Way of St James), best beach of the world (Praia de Rodas, Ilhas Cies ,Vigo).
• Our seafood is worldwide famous (mussels, oysters, lobsters, etc.)

We look forward to hearing from you

Kind Regards

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this text serious or ironic? Why?
2. Which of the reasons given is the most convicing?
3. If you had to write a reply telling why it is not a good idea to become part of the United Kingdom, which three reasons would you mention?

MORE:

If you want to read more about the topic, have a look at all the comments displayed.

British and American bills and coins

This presentation by Taylor shows the different coins and bills used in the USA:

Moneymaterials from Ana Arias Castro

And this other presentation will tell you about British money:

British currency from Ludivina