IV. Cultural Characteristics

1/ Language

The de facto official language of the United Kingdom is English, which is spoken as the primary language of 95% of the UK population. The Welsh language is also an official language in Wales, and is the second most spoken language in the United Kingdom, after English. Polish is the third most-spoken in England and Wales. In addition, there are several other living languages indigenous (ìn đí zi nous - bản xứ) to the territory (té rơ tri - lãnh thổ), various regional dialects, and numerous languages spoken by recent immigrant populations and those who have learned them as second languages.

2/ Food and Clothing

a. Food

British food has traditionally been based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish and generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable. The most common and typical foods eaten in Britain include the sandwich, fish and chips, pies like the cornish pasty, trifle (trái fô) and roasts dinners. The staple foods of Britain are meat, fish, potatoes, flour, butter and eggs.

A typical English breakfast is likely to be a bowl of cereals (síơriô), a slice of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee.

The traditional English breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, baked beans and mushrooms. Even though not many people will eat this for breakfast today, it is always served in hotels and guest houses around Britain. The traditional English breakfast is called the 'Full English' and sometimes referred to as 'The Full English Fry-up'.

Many children at school and adults (éđơ) at work will have a 'packed lunch'. This typically (típịkly - tiêu biểu) consists of a sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink. The 'packed lunch' is kept in a plastic container.

A typical British meal for dinner is "meat and two veg". They put hot brown gravy on the meat and usually the vegetables. One of the vegetables is almost always potatoes.

The traditional meal is rarely eaten nowadays, apart from on Sundays. A recent survey found that most people in Britain eat curry! Rice or pasta dishes are now favoured as the 'British Dinner'.

Sunday lunch time is a typical time to eat the traditional Sunday Roast. It consists of roast meat, two different kinds of vegetables and potatoes with a Yorkshire (jóck shơ) pudding.

This dish is not usually eaten as a dessert (đì zớt) like other puddings but instead as part of the main course or at a starter.

On the Continent people have good food; in England people have good table manners. Indeed, The British generally pay a lot of attention to good table manners. Even young children are expected to eat properly with knife and fork.

Never lick or put your knife in your mouth.

Always chew and swallow all the food in your mouth before taking more or taking a drink. Never talk with food in your mouth.

It is impolite to have your elbows on the table while you are eating.

You may eat chicken and pizza with your fingers if you are at a barbecue, finger buffet or very informal setting. Otherwise always use a knife and fork.

When you have finished eating, place your knife and folk together, with the prongs (tines) on the fork facing upwards, on your plate.

- Tea

Britain is a tea-drinking nation. Most Britons like their tea strong and dark, but with a lot of milk.

Tea breaks are when tea and biscuits are served. The traditional time for tea breaks are at 11:00 am (Elevensee) and 4 pm in the afternoon.

If someone asks you if you 'would like a cuppa', they are asking if you would like a cup of tea.

If someone says 'let me be mother' or 'shall I be mother', they are offering to pour out the tea from the teapot.

If something is not quite to your taste, it’s probably 'not your cup of tea'.

- Coffee is now as popular in Britain as tea is. People either drink it with milk or have it black and either have freshly- made coffee or instant coffee.

- The most popular kind of British beer is bitter, which is dark and served at room temperature (tém prơ ture) (not hot, not cold). British beer is brewed (bru) from malt and hops.

b. Clothing

As a multi-national state, the UK has no single national costume. However, different countries within the UK have national costumes or at least are associated with styles of dress.

Scotland

One of the most famous national costumes in the world is that worn in Scotland, the kilt.

Today traditional dress for men in Scotland is a kilt with shirt, waistcoat (weist câu) and tweed jacket, stockings with garter (nịt tất) flashes, brogue (broug) shoes and a sporran. A bonnet (mũ tròn ko vành) is often worn displaying the clan crest.

Traditionally ladies don't wear kilts, they do however wear dresses or pleated skirts in a tartan material. More often though they wear a light plaid or shawl of tartan material

Wales

Only the women in Wales have national costume. It comprises a calf length skirt made from wool and a frilly cotton top. Also around their shoulders will be draped a shawl with tassels and on their head they will wear the traditional Welsh hat.

England

England has no official national dress. In England certain military (mílitri) uniforms such as the Beefeater or the Queen's Guard are considered to be symbolic (symbólic) of Englishness, though they are not official national costumes.

3/ Political system and Religion

- The United Kingdom is a unitary (díunitơry) democracy (đìmó crơsi) governed within the framework of a constitutional monarchy (mónơki), in which the Monarch (mónợk) is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government.

- Executive (ịkzé ciutiuv) power is exercised by Her Majesty's (méjịtsty) Government, on behalf of and by the consent (cònsênt) of the Monarch.

- Legislative (lézịts lơtiuv) power is vested in the two chambers of the Parliament of the UK, the House of Commons and the House of Lords

- The judiciary (juidísơry) is independent of the executive and the legislature

- The UK's three major political parties are the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Democrats (đémôcrợt)

- The British Monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, is the Chief of State of the United Kingdom. She is also the Queen of SIXTEEN different countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc...

b. Religion

The United Kingdom was created as an Anglican Christian country and Anglican churches remain the largest faith group in each country of the UK. Following this is Roman (rấumân) Catholicism (kơthólisízâm) and religions including Islam, Hinduism (híndu ízâm), Sikhism (sík kizâm), Judaism (juda ízâm), and Buddhism.

4/ Architectural styles

- English Gothic architecture flourished from the 12th to the early 16th century, and famous examples include Westminster Abbey (tu viện), the traditional place of coronation for the British monarch, Canterbury (céntơbơry) Cathedral (cơthídrô - thánh đường), one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England, and Winchester Cathedral, which contains the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe.

- In the early 18th century Baroque (bơróck) architecture – popular in Europe – was introduced, and Blenheim (blénim) Palace was built in this era. However, baroque was quickly replaced by a return of the Palladian (pơlấyđian) form.

- The Georgian architecture of the 18th century was an evolved form of Palladianism (pơlấyđiânízâm). Many existing buildings such as Woburn (woubên) Abbey and Kedleston Hall are in this style.

- In the early 19th century the romantic medieval (méđi ívô) gothic style appeared as a backlash to the symmetry (đối xứng) of Palladianism, and such buildings as Fonthill Abbey were built.

- At the beginning of the 20th century a new form of design arts and crafts became popular. Arts and crafts in architecture is symbolised by an informal, non-symmetrical form, often with mullioned (mớliân) or lattice (létịcs) windows, multiple gables and tall chimneys. The Red House exemplifies the early Arts and Crafts style, with its well-proportioned solid forms, wide porches, steep roof, pointed window arches, brick fireplaces and wooden fittings.

- Modernism (after World War II): Modernists produced housing as well as furniture, textiles (tékstáiơ), and wallpaper to create a totally designed domestic environment.

The Shard London Bridge will be the tallest building in the European Union.

V. Tourism Characteristics

- The United Kingdom is the world's 7th biggest tourist destination

- Tourism is one of the UK’s biggest industries. The tourism industry generates about £115 billion for the economy each year and supports over 2.6 million jobs

- Domestic tourism remains the biggest component (compấunên) of tourist spending in the UK. The busiest period for domestic travel in the UK is during bank holidays and the summer months, with August being most hectic.

- The country's principal tourist destinations are in London, with the Tower of London being the single most visited attraction in the country.