Let’s talk about national character and stereotypes. How will you describe a typical Englishman?

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1. Let’s talk about national character and stereotypes. How will you describe a typical Englishman?

You will probably agree that it is difficult to give a general idea of what more than 50 million people are like. But I`ll try.

The British are said to be very conservative. The houses are traditionally not very high, they are usually two-storeyed. People keep fireplaces in their houses instead of central heating, their letterboxes and telephone boxes are red since old times. They keep up the left side of the road and use double-deckers. They stick to their own measurement system and continue to measure distances in miles and yards (not in kilometres and metres). They measure cheese in pounds and ounces, milk in pints, petrol in gallons.

English people are famous for their habit of politeness. It is considered polite to give up one's seat to a woman who is standing, to open a door for her, carry things for her, and so on. Most British people expect the person in front of them to hold the door open for them. People think you are rude if you don't do this. Most British people queue when they are waiting for a bus or waiting to be served in a shop.

English people are believed to be very reserved. This means that they don't talk much to strangers and don't show much emotion. A reserved person never tells you anything about himself.

British people have a specific sense of humour. In 1957 BBC Television played a joke on its viewers. It showed a film about a spaghetti bush grown in Southern Switzerland. After the programme was over, hundreds of viewers telephoned the BBC. They wanted to know where they could buy spaghetti bushes.

The traditional love of English реорle for tea is well known. They like to drink tea with milk. The British are famous for their love for animals and sport. The legend says that until ravens are in the Tower, Britain will be powerful and London will be the capital of the country.

Other traditional features of Great Britain are numerous clubs. They unite people of various interests. Englishmen like to spend their time in pubs and discuss traditional matters: politics, sports and weather.

To conclude, I`d like to say that although stereotypes still exist, they are not reliable descriptions of individual people.

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