British
Customs and Traditions
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.
References:
• Your English Exam Support: Подготовка к экзамену по
английскому языку: пособие для учащихся учреждений общего среднего образования
/ [сост. Н.А. Сергиенко]. – Мозырь: Белый Ветер,
2015. – 97, [3] с.
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