British Culture
An Introduction
How many countries make up the
United Kingdom?
• Answer: Four
– England
– Scotland
– Wales
– Northern Ireland
What is the current currency of The
United Kingdom?
• The Pound
• Although the UK joined the EU in 1973, thus far
the country has not switch their currency to the
Euro. This has helped keep the UK financially
strong,
–
–
–
–
$1= € .69
$1= £.62
€1 = £.90
So for example, if you liked a desk that was £200, you
would be paying $321.
Who is the current Monarch?
• Queen Elizabeth II—not to be confused
with the Virgin Queen Elizabeth of the
Elizabethan/Shakespearean age.
• Next in line to the throne?
– Prince Charles
• Then?
– Prince William
Where does the monarch
OFFICIALLY reside?
• Buckingham Palace
What famous river flows through
London?
• The Thames (pronounced “Tims”
What Centuries did William
Shakespeare Live?
• 16th and 17th; baptized in 1564, died in
1616.
– Apprx. 38 plays
– 154 sonnets
– Other prominent works
How many times did King Henry
VIII get married? What is the name
of at least one of his wives?
• Six times
• His wives include (in this order)…
– Catherine of Aragon (Spanish Princess)
• Divorced
– Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth I)
• Executed
– Jane Seymore
• Died
– Anne of Cleves
• Divorced
– Kathryn Howard
• Executed
– Katherine Parr
• Widowed
What are the two largest political
parties in the UK?
• Conservative
• Labour
Where are the crown jewels kept?
• The Tower of London
– Most haunted
– Former prisoners
Where were the Beatles from?
• Liverpool
Who is Nessie and where does she
reside?
• Loch Ness Monster; Loch Ness (lake in
Scotland)
What is a Double Decker?
• A two story bus
St. George is the patron saint of
England—what is he famous for
killing?
• A dragon
What is the most popular food in
Britain?
• Fish and chips
Most famous timepiece?
• Big Ben
Works cited (pictures) in order
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Microsoft clip art
bedandbreakfasts.co.uk
visitbritain.co.uk; nihongo.istockphoto.com
topnews.in
treehugger.com
latelink.com; londonpermaculturalists.ning.com
Microsoft clip art
royalpaperdolls.com
aboutmyarea.co.uk
goingtolondon.wikispaces.com
liverpoollodge.com
paranormal.about.com; scotland-calling.com; tripadvisor.co.uk
Microsoft clip art (2)
frot.co.nz
englisheso.wikispaces.com
UK
US
Clothing Items
UK
US
UK
School Terms
US
Food
Knickers Underwear/
panties
Jumper Sweater
Rubber
eraser
Public
School
Private Chips
School
Vest
Undershirt
State
School
Public Jelly
School
Wellies
crosswalk Runner
galoshes Zebra
Crossing
Beans
Green
beans
Trainers
Sneakers Marks
Biscuit
grades
Biscuit
Scone
Cookie
FRIES
Jello
• Open the dictionary to a
Etymology
random page.
• Look at the first word on
Main Entry: et·y·mol·o·gy
Pronunciation: \-jē\
the
page
and
make
note
Function: noun Inflected
Form(s): plural et·y·mol·o·gies
Etymology: Middle English ethimologie, from
of the etymology
Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from Greek,
from etymon + -logia -logy Date: 14th century
1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown • Words noted as AS or OE
by tracing its development since its earliest recorded
occurrence in the language where it is found, by
are native; the rest are
tracing its transmissionfrom one language to another,
by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying
borrowed
its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and
its cognates to a common ancestral form in an
ancestral language
2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies• Make note of the
etymologies of 15 words
at the TOP of 15 separate
pages
What is the ratio?
2 Native
• Outlandish (OE)
• Woodruff (OE)
13 Borrowed
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Irrevocable (Latin)
Jangle (O French)
Motion (Latin)
Pointillism (French)
Pulse (Latin)
Serviette (O French)
Suit (Latin)
Vamplate (Anglo-Norman
French)
Wheedle (German)
Zygoma (Greek)
Adequate (Latin)
Aperture (Latin)
Close (Latin)
2:13
(13%)
Percentage Latin/Greek
• 8/13 = 62%
Percentage Other
• 5/13 = 13%
What does this imply about
the ENGLISH language?
Our Language
• English is incredibly diverse!
• English dictionaries: 600,000 words—closest rival
(German): 185,000 words
• Knowing where language originates from allows us to
connect and understand how and why we
communicate the way we do.
Pәter
Sanskrit
Classical Greek
Latin
Gothic
Old Irish
French
Spanish
Portuguese
English
German
Piter
Pater
Pater
Fadar
Athir
Pere
Padre
Pai
Father
Vater
Proto Indo European
IndoIranian
Greek
Albanian
Latin
Balto-Slavic
Baltic
Sanskrit
Hindi
Iranian
Persian
Bengali Kurdish
Slavic
Celtic
Welsh
Romanian
Bretan
French
Gælic
Russian
Spanish
Latvian
Portuguese
Lithuanian Ukrainian
Italian
Czech
Slovak
SerbCroatian
Germanic
Pәter
Sanskrit
Classical Greek
Latin
Gothic
Old Irish
French
Spanish
Portuguese
English
German
Piter
Pater
Pater
Fadar
Athir
Pere
Padre
Pai
Father
Vater
Germanic
North
Germanic
East
Germanic
Old Norse
West
Norse
West
Germanic
Low
Gothic
East
Norse
High
Old High
German
Swedish
Icelandic
Danish
Old English
Old Frisian
Norwegian
West
Saxon
Middle English
Anglian
Modern English
Kentish
Old Low German
Old Low
Franconian
Old
Saxon
Old English
• Old English has different LETTERS.
• "Thorn" (Þ or þ)
– Cloth (cláþ)
– Thin
• The letter "eth" (ð)
– Clothes
– Then
• Old English does not require a specific word
order, the way Middle and Modern English do.
• Instead, OE uses declensions (little endings
stuck on the end of nouns)
Middle English
• Spelling has not yet been formalized in a
systematic way, and many Latinate terms
have entered English through intermediary
French influences under the Norman
conquerors in 1066.
Early Modern English
• Shakespeare’s day
– thou/you,
– thy/your,
– thine/yours,
• Shakespeare's alphabet in the early modern is
practically identical to ours
• Doesn't yet have identical punctuation conventions
to ours. For instance, the exclamation mark still
wasn't invented in 1590.
Narrative Writing
Page 8 of Writing Handbook
• There are 7 major components in most
stories:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Plot
Character
Setting
Theme
Mood
Tone
Viewpoint
Plot
• A series of related actions that lead to the
– Climax
– Resolution
• Every good plot needs a conflict, or a
struggle between two forces in the story.
This creates interest and suspense. There
are 2 basic types of conflict
– Internal
– External
Plot
• There are 6 steps in a typical plot:
1.Exposition
2.Narrative hook
3.Rising Action
4.Climax (indicates how conflict will be
resolved) and Denoument (turning point/
Ah-ha moment)
5.Falling Action
6.Resolution
To practice
• Using all of the target words AND at least 2-3 of the UK
words from our earlier discussions (underline them in
your story as you use them), complete the rest of the
story. Really let your imagination flow. Don’t forget to
create a title.
– You need a PLOT and CONFLICT in your story but that is all
that is absolutely required other than the use of the target words
and language as per our discussion today
• Target words: England, suitcase, aviator sunglasses,
brick wall, dangerous, cliff, rose colored vase,
Stonehenge
Everyone’s first line should be: I was on my way to the
Tower of London when…