country studies

Great Britain.

Interesting facts about Great Britain

1) In England, individual taps for hot and cold water are still quite widespread

2)In the UK, there are no homeless animals on the streets - special shelters have been created for them.

3)There are no grocery stores around the clock in the country - they all close after 22 in the evening.

4) Before the metro you can always meet the distributor of free newspapers. These newspapers are usually left on the seats so that the next passenger can read them.

5) Everywhere common laundry in large quantities. The British simply do not consider washing a household chore, few people do it at home.

6) Big Ben - the name of the bell, not hours.

7)French has been an official language for about 300 years.

8)The shortest war of the English was in 1896 against Zanzibar. Zanzibar gave up after 38 minutes. In England, they speak about 300 languages.

9)The British drink more tea than anyone else in the world.

10)Children over 5 years old can ingest alcohol at their home or on private property in the UK.

11) In the UK, the Queen sends personalized birthday cards to those celebrating their 100th birthday every year.

British Royal family

The Head of the British Royal family

At present the British royal family is headed by Queen Elizabeth II. The family’s surname is Windsor. It was changed from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917.

Birthday

Queen Elizabeth II was born on 21 April, 1926. Her birthday is celebrated in Britain on the second Saturday of June each year. On this day the parade called “the Trooping of the Colour” takes place.

Official royal residences

Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne on February 6, 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI. She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in June, 1953. The Queen lives in Buckingham Palace. There are some other official royal residences: Windsor Castle, St, James Palace, Balmoral Castle, Frogmore House, The Palace of Holyroodhouse, Sandringham House and Kensington Palace.

Duke of Edinburgh

 Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, married Princess Elizabeth in 1947. They have got three sons and a daughter.

Children

Their eldest son and the Queen’s heir is Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, known as a keen promoter of British interests. He was married to Lady Diana Spencer and has got two children, Prince William and Prince Harry. The Queen’s other children are Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

Head of State

Queen Elizabeth II is Head of State of the United Kingdom. She is queen of 16 former British colonies, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand and head of the Commonwealth. 

Queen’s duties

The Queen carries out lots of important duties on behalf of the nation. She goes on official State visits abroad and invites other world leaders to come to the UK. She is also the Head of the Armed Forces and the Church of England. She deals with documents and reports from the government ministers. The Queen represents the nation at times of celebration or sorrow. On Remembrance Day, for example, she lays a wreath at the Cenotaph monument to honour those who died fighting the country. Apart from these tasks, the Queen spends a great amount of time travelling around the country visiting hospitals, schools, factories and other places and organizations.

British Queen

Elizabeth II is the Queen of the United Kingdom. She was born on April 21st, 1926. Her full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary

Elizabeth was born in London and educated privately at home. She was the oldest daughter of Elizabeth I and Prince Albert, who later obtained the title King George VI. From the very childhood she was very keen on studying. Her most favourite subjects included arts and sport. Her youth was troubled by the Second World War. At the age of 15 Elizabeth had been appointed Colonel-in-Chief. Elizabeth’s only sibling was Princess Margaret, who was four years younger than her.

Elizabeth’s husband is Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They married on November 20th, 1947. One year later Elizabeth gave birth to their first child, Prince Charles. Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s other children are Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. 

The Queen has five official residences in Great Britain, including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. 

The significant moments in Queen’s life have included the births and marriages of her children and grandchildren, the investiture of her oldest son - the Prince of Wales, and the celebration of such milestones as Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees.

Quite a number of Brits consider having to play the role of the queen to be a very difficult job which prevents you from having a normal lifestyle. By the way, the majority of people in Britain think the Queen is doing her job of representing Britain around the world excellently and very professionally. In her country she does charity work and participates in various events of symbolic importance.

Royal traditions 
1.Each other members of the royal family always give something ridiculous. As an example: one day Prince Philip got a pepper mill.2.From her very youth, Queen Elizabeth II was used to sending Christmas cards to all her relatives, friends, and political partners. Since the entire queen needs to send more than 700 cards.3.On holidays, the entire royal family goes to their estate in Sandringham.4.The royal family is never limited to gifts for relatives and friends, and always tries to make small presents to all staff discussing the palace.5.Most of the Queen’s relatives leave Sandringham on December 25, but the queen and her husband stay here until mid-February

British breakfast

I'm really enjoying life in a foreign country, however there is always the odd home comfort I really miss (usually food), but if you visit England, breakfast will be something like this:

Eggs (either fried or scrambled)

• Bacon
• Sausage
• Toast or fried bread
• Baked beans
• Hash browns
• Tomato
• Mushrooms

This is usually served with ketchup on the side, a glass of orange juice and of course a big cup of tea. Often people are mistaken that this is the kind of thing British people eat at the start of every day but that is rarely the case. A full English is usually something we'd have as a special treat at the weekend for a lazy morning relaxing with friends. 

A standard breakfast in the UK really varies from person to person. As people have become much more health conscious in recent years, healthy breakfasts and brunches such as homemade smoothies and avocado on toast are becoming really popular. Of course, cereal will always remain a breakfast staple, along with toast and jam or marmalade. Porridge is also a popular breakfast dish, as it's healthy, cheap and really filling.

Tea time

Nowadays due to social changes and work schedules, afternoon tea is now mainly saved for special occasions. However, taking a cup of tea and a slice of cake at afternoon tea time is not uncommon. Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches (including of course thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches), scones served with clotted cream and preserves. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups. Nowadays however, in the average suburban home, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a mug of tea, usually produced using a teabag.

But if you want to enjoy old traditions of afternoon tea you can visit one of the tea rooms. Tearoom is a small room or restaurant where beverages and light meals are served, often catering chiefly to women and having a sedate or subdued atmosphere. Here you can be proposed three kinds of tea: cream tea, which includes tea, jam and scones; light tea, which includes tea, scones and sweets; and full tea, which includes tea, savories, scones, sweets and desserts. 

Nowadays due to social changes and work schedules, afternoon tea is now mainly saved for special occasions. However, taking a cup of tea and a slice of cake at afternoon tea time is not uncommon. Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of dainty sandwiches (including of course thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches), scones served with clotted cream and preserves. Cakes and pastries are also served. Tea grown in India or Ceylon is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups. Nowadays however, in the average suburban home, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a mug of tea, usually produced using a teabag.

So, if you want to feel English invite your friends for a cup of tea. Don’t forget that English people drink tea with milk. Enjoy your afternoon tea and practice your English.

Edinburgh 

I want to tell you some facts about Edinburgh 
1. The place with the name "Gardens of Princess Street", where the central park of the city is now located, used to be a lake.
2 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born here in Edinburgh.
3. Edinburgh castle built on a volcano.
4. In 1703 the first in the world fire station appeared in Edinburgh.
5. the author of the Harry Potter, loved to come to a local Cafe in her bad times.
6. Edinburgh is home to the world's only royal penguin knight. His name is Sir Nils Olav King Penguin.
7.James I, the first king of Great Britain, was born in Edinburgh Castle

English holidays

There are a number of holidays, which are celebrated in Great Britain every year.
One of them is, of course, the New Year's Day on the first of January. It is not so popular in England as in our country. On that day people usually visit their friends and there is a lot of dancing and eating .
The next holiday of the year is St. Valentine's Day. It is on the 14th of February. People buy or make Valentine cards and send them to the people they love.
In March there is Mother's Day. All the children and adults, come to their mothers on that day to express their love and gratitude.
In April there is Easter. At Easter children eat chocolate Easter eggs. Sometimes parents hide them in the house or in the garden and children have to look for them.
In June there is Father's Day. On Father's Day children give or send their fathers and grandfathers cards and presents.
On the 31st of October there is a Halloween. They say ghosts and witches come out on Halloween. People make lanterns out of pumpkins. Some people have Halloween parties and dress as witches and ghosts.
The 25th of December is Christmas Day. It is one of the people's favourite holidays. People put Christmas trees in their houses and decorate them. There are beautiful Christmas decorations in the streets. On Christmas Eve everybody puts the presents under the Christmas tree. People say that at night Father Christmas puts presents into the stockings which children usually hang above their beds.

Geographic location

The full and official name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland and a great number of small islands. Their total area is over 244,000 square kilometres.
 The western coast of Great Britain is washed by the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea.
The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England , Wales  and Scotland .
Most of the rivers flow into the North Sea. The Thames is the deepest and the longest of the British rivers.
Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources; it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.
Great Britain is also famous for its woolens industry. English wool is exported to many countries.

Mother’s Day

Mother is the most important person in the life of everyone. She gave us the life, she devoted all her life and time to us, she was always near to feed us and take care of us. So for me one of the best holidays is Mother’s Day.

In Russia we usually celebrate this day on the last Sunday of November. We usually give our mothers flowers and some little presents, some people take their mothers to a restaurant for dinner, we also say very nice words to them. Of course it is not the only day when we should say our mothers about our love and gratitude for everything she has done for us.

In America Mother's Day comes on the second Sunday in May. As well as in Russia, in America it is not a national holiday. The holiday was suggested by Anna Jarvis. In 1907, the day was celebrated in a church in Philadelphia. A member of that church had the Sunday morning service to honour her own mother. More and more churches in cities started having a special day to honour mothers. Since 1914, the whole country has celebrated Mother's day. There is a tradition to wear a red or pink flower if one's mother is living and a white flower if one's mother is dead. This wonderful holiday is also celebrated in China, Japan, Canada and most of the European countries.

FATHER'S DAY IN UK

Father's Day in UK is celebrated in much the same way as it is celebrated in US. In UK too, Father's Day festival is celebrated on the third Sunday of June and therefore the date of the festival is never fixed. People celebrate the occasion by honoring their father and expressing affection for them by presenting popular gifts like cards, flowers, chocolates and neckties. Little children often give handmade gifts to their dad.

Industry

The main industries in Great Britain today are banking, finance, steel, oil and gas , automobile and aircraft industries, the ship-building sector, and tourism. In Britain there are many factories and mines.

The oldest industries in Britain are fishing, shipbuilding, and trade.

In the 18th century, a lot of inventions were made in the fields of science and technology.

Since the 19th century, after Industrial Revolution, Great Britain was called “the workshop of the world”. In the beginning of 20th century, however, the USA, Germany, and France overtook Britain’s industry.

The main industrial area in GB is the London area.

Unique places

Loch Ness, lake, lying in the Highland council area, Scotland. With a depth of 240 metres and a length of about 36 km, Loch Ness has the largest volume of fresh water in Great Britain. 

Tales of a large monster living deep beneath the dark expanses of Loch Ness have circulated the world since the first photograph emerged in 1933. With over 1,000 eye-witness accounts and copious amounts of unexplained evidence, scientists continue to be baffled by the existence of Nessie.

Numerous boat trips and Nessie tours take place from Inverness, Fort Augustus and Drumnadrochit. You can cruise along the loch with your cameras and smartphones at the ready!