The life of youth in Great Britain
Education and training are among the Government's priority responsibilities for young people. Underlying Britain's education policy is the principle that every young person should have the opportunity to get a good basic education until the age of at least 16. After 16, young people are encouraged to stay at school or college to achieve more advanced educational qualifications, or they are offered the chance to take part in a broad range of government supported training programmes leading to the achievement of specific vocational skills. In this way they are in some part prepared for adult life.
But the challenges that young people face at 16 and beyond, have as much to do with their ability to prosper in a rapidly changing world as they have to do with their knowledge of many basic skills. Learning how to live and behave in a multi-racial society, how to respect and support each other, how to make the most of opportunities, how to make a contribution, how to appreciate both spiritual and material qualities of life - these «life skills» and moral factors fall to parents, friends and peers, and to the very fact of life within the varied rural and city communities of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, that give Britain its diverse culture.
Within these communities - at local, regional and national levels - hundreds of voluntary youth groups and organisations play an active role in the life of young people in Britain. The majority of these organisations have become established on a voluntary basis by groups representing the interests of a particular sector of the population. They include:
a) religious community groups - Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist;
b) ethnic minority groups - organisations of youth in diasporas;
c) organisations providing for particular sporting and outdoor activities or hobbies, e.g. path-walkers, mountain-climbers, rockers, etc.;
d) groups focusing on activities for people with disabilities, etc.
While parental influence at home is a key factor in every young person's life, so is the wide social environment at school, and the whole lot of influences coming from «popular culture», offering role models ranging from the stars of Australian soap-operas to icons of pop-music, punk or rave. A great many youth fashions, fads, likes and dislikes and ways of talking (e.g. «it's really cool», «he's wild», «wicked», «dunno», «sort of») are absorbed and rapidly spread through popular TV channels and radio programmes.
Surveys show that only relatively few young people regularly attend youth clubs and organisations. Most of them are more interested in some activities that do not cost money and can be picked up or dropped with ease. Lack of their own money in the younger age group means that a great deal of their time is spent with friends, window - shopping in town, cycling or skate - boarding.
At 15 years old and above, young people try to find «Saturday jobs», working as assistants in shops, cafes or restaurants. There are a great many things that young people wish to buy, including clothes and magazines, CDs and cassette tape music, computer games and jewelry. They save money for bicycles, motorbikes and, eventually, cars of their own, and to have enough money to go to the discos and dances.
Most young men and about half of young women in Britain take a passive interest in sport or actively take part in a sporting activity on a regular basis. Fitness is encouraged through school and by a great - many outside organisations. Football, either in school teams or in rapidly assembled groups playing during the school break times, is highly popular. Outside school activities include darts, chess, bowling and many other more social games. Large commercial sports and leisure centres usually offer discount membership rates for young people.
LIFESTYLES
Are the British good listeners?
What is understatement?
Do people help charity in Britain?
In Britain strangers don't talk to each other; it is polite to queue for everything; people say "thank you" when they give money to a shop assistant: people open presents in front of people they receive them from. British people are good listeners. Understatement is another character trait of me British. If a continental youth wants to declare his love to a girl, he kneels down, tells her that she is the sweetest and the most charming in the world, that she has something in her, that he would be viable to live one more minute without her and so on. In England the youth pats his girl friend on the back and says softly: "I don't object to you, you know". If he is quite mad with passion, he may add: " I rather fancy you, in fact”.
About half the population of Great Britain take part in sport. The most popular outdoor sporting activity is walking about 2 miles. The most popular indoor activity is snooker /billiards/.
There are about 7 million dogs and over 7 million cats in Britain. One in ten people own a dog or a cat. Every year the British spend over 1,5 billion pounds on pet food. They support 380 charities which protect animals. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals /the RSPCA/ is the largest animal welfare society in Britain. It provides practical help and campaigns against animal cruelty. It has over 250 inspectors who make sure nobody breaks the laws which protect animals.
In Britain, people help charity. Once the RSPCA got 1,7 million from an animal lover to help them to prosecute people who are guilty of cruelty. Many charities get letters from the people enclosing a pound or two, saying "This all I can give".
Birth and Christenings. When a child is born its parents may announce the birth in a newspaper. The birth must be registered at the local registrar's office within 6 weeks in England and Wales and 3 weeks in Scotland.
At the christening there is one godmother and 2 godfathers for a boy and vice versa for a girl. No godparents are necessary at a Church of Scotland christening. The Godmother holds the baby during the ceremony. The true role of godparents is to watch over the spiritual welfare of their godchildren until confirmation.
Usually, the friends and relatives give a christening present. Traditionally, the godparents give a silver cup. Other presents include a leather-bound Bible, a poetry book, or a silver spoon.
21ST BIRTHDAY
The 21st birthday is an important date in any person's life. It is official coming of age. A 21st birthday party is generally arranged. All those invited send cards and bring presents. The cards usually have a picture of a key on them, which is a symbol of independence.
Twenty-one today, twenty-one today!
I've got the key of the door,
Never been twenty-one before....
Often the guests bump him 21 times. Now, young people have the right to vote at 18, so many celebrate the 18th birthday.
FUNERALS
During funerals, this very painful and difficult period, undertakers organize things and cover every detail. They register me death and print the form of service for the funeral. An obituary notice is sent to a newspaper and inserted in the "deaths" column. Those who send flowers do not carry them to the house in person. They place an order with a florist. The flowers will be delivered on the morning of the funeral. A plain card is attached with some very simple massage:" with deepest sympathy from..."
The wearing of mourning is private affair. Everyone who attends a funeral should wear black or dark-gray. The men should wear black ties and hats.
Letters of condolence or flowers should be acknowledged only by letter or published in a newspaper.
Sports in Great Britain
The British as a nation do all kinds of things in their free time: they go shopping or jogging, they play darts or football, they collect records or stamps, they go to church or to the pub. Of course, some of their free time activities, like visiting relatives or taking driving lessons, may not be fun, but whatever they do, the way they spend their free time is probably providing other people with work. Leisure is the fastest growing industry in Britain.
According to the latest figures, the most popular activity of all is walking: 35 million British people regularly walk two miles or more a day. More energetically, 10 million people go to «keep fit» classes or take part in aerobics or yoga, and half as many do some weight training in a gym. About 9 mln people go cycling, 4 mln go jogging, and the same number play football and golf. Other popular sports are bowling, tennis and squash.
Watching other people playing is also a popular leisure activity: the favourite sports among TV viewers are football, horse racing, cricket and tennis. But although millions watch the matches on TV, not so many go regularly to the stadium to watch football matches.
The fitness boom of the eighties led to a big rise in the numbers of people participating in sports. To cater for this boom over 1,500 private health and fitness clubs and the same number of public leisure centres have been built during the past 20 years. These modern centres with swimming pools, tennis courts and gyms are places for people to go to spend their leisure time - and their money. Families can even spend their holidays at huge indoor Water parks, where they can play or relax all day long without worrying about the weather outside. But this may not be helping them to get fitter: the British may become a nation of splashers but not a nation of swimmers. The big question fitness experts are asking is: «Should sport be taken seriously or should it just be fun?»
British literature
1. Shakespeare sometimes combined writing plays with acting principal roles in them.
2. The British readers of the 19th century had to wait for the continuation if they wanted to know what happened next in early Dickens's novels.
3. You can find out much about the life of peasants from Jane Austin's novels.
4. The main attention in Charlotte Bronte's novels was paid to strong and independent men.
5. Walter Scott was the best representative of Romanticism in British literature.
6. Stevenson's descriptions of the sea are very truthful because he travelled a lot.
7. Lewis Carrol never signed his books with his real name.
8. Geoffrey Chaucer is the most popular contemporary poet.
9. Both Byron and Shelley died when they were young.
10. The Booker Prize is given only to people who live in Britain.
British literature
The playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) and the novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) remain two of the most popular and widely known British writers the world over. In addition to writing 35 known plays, Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets and sometimes acted small parts in his own plays - he is known to have played the Ghost in «Hamlet». His best known plays include «Romeo and Juliet», «King Lear», «Hamlet» and «A Midsummer Night's Dream».
Dickens began his writing career as a journalist, and all his novels were first published serially in periodicals. Many of his works highlight the injustice of the 19th century social institutions and the inequalities between the rich and the poor. His most famous works include «01iver Twist», «A Christmas Carol» and «David Copperfield».
The novels of Jane Austin (1775-1817) are known for their subtlety of observation and irony, together with their penetrating insights into the provincial life of the middle classes in the early part of the 19th century. Her works include «Emma», «Pride and Prejudice)) and «Sense and Sensibility» - all successfully dramatised on film and TV.
The Bronte sisters, Charlotte (1816-1855 ), Emily (1818-1848) and Ann (1820-1849), were three talented 19th century women novelists whose works are regarded as classics today. Charlotte is best known for her novel «Jane Eyre» and Emily for «Wuthering Heights))"- both novels featuring strong independent heroines.
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), Scottish poet and novelist, displayed his passion for the history of his country in his works. His narrative poems «The Lay of the Last Minstrel», «Marmion», «The Lady of the Lake» were immensely popular. The novel«Waverley» was the first of a long series, published anonymously, including «Ivanhoe» and «The Talisman)). Walter Scott's influence can be traced in much of the romantic art of the early 19th century which took ballads and folklore as its theme. Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), one of the most favourite children's adventure story-teller. His «Treasure Island)), «The Kidnapped)), «The Black Arrow» have been among the best-read children's books for more than a century. Stevenson grew up as a sickly child and never spent much time outdoors or at sea, but his bright personality, his vivid imagination and his creativity helped him to see the islands he had never been to and convincingly write about the events he had not witnessed. )
Lewis Caroll, is the pen-name of Oxford professor of mathematics Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the author of the famous «Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland» and «Through the Looking Glass», which can't stop amazing both children and grown-ups with its serious humour and kind wisdom.
One of the most widely known English poets is Geoffrey Chaucer, who lived in the 14th century. Since then his works have been continuously transcribed, published, read and commented on. His best known work is «The Canterbury Tales», a collection of tales told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral.
Another famous British poet is George Gordon Byron. His journey to the Near East in 1809 inspired several of his poems, especially «Childe Harold's Pilgrimage», whose publication made him immediately popular. In 1823 he joined the Greeks in the fight for liberty against the Turks, and died there of fever at the age of 36. Some of his poems were full of dramatic, romantic and sometimes deeply moving lyricism, others were sentimental, sflll others full of satire and sarcasm. He led an eccentric life, and stories about his love affairs made him even more popular.
Persy Bysshe Shelley was the most idealistic of all British Romantic poets and he died very young too, having drowned in the sea. His wife Mary Shelly is famous for her novel about Frankenstein.