The English National Character
A nation is born from its land, its history, its art, its traditions and its institutions. These things work together to make people what they are. But above all, a nation is made up of people, and although there are things they all share, all of those people are different. We can say there is still a “British nation,” and one of the most characteristic features of Englishmen is their traditions, which they respect, and which they have kept for centuries. The traditions don't only accumulate the experience and wisdom of many generations, but they bring some stability into the rapidly changing world.
The National Character exists. It is not a myth, it's a reality. But the National Character doesn't describe the character of every person, it describes the character of people of nation in general. Every person has its own character, but according to the person's belonging to some nation many traits of character are similar and these features may be explained as the national character.
As is known in Britain there exists the accepted code of behavior. This accepted code of behavior of the British people doesn't allow the straightforward expression of what they think and feel. In contrast to Russians who prefer directness, British people tend to understate things. A conversation in English is full of hints, half tones and half-statements.
British people will not particularly like to interfere in other people's affairs. They are known to have a cult of privacy. They generally tend to keep to themselves to hate to intrude in other people's privacy. For example, as a matter of fact, they don't particularly like to speak about their personal matters and interests and when they do, they always do it in an apologetic manner.
In a conversation they mostly avoid direct questions and strong dogmatic tones, because the culturally accepted code of behavior doesn't allow asking other people about their personal matters in a direct way. So we see that the British are guided by the principle of non-interfering in other people's affairs.
The British see self-possession as the highest quality of human character. They regard the free display of emotions as vulgar and antisocial. They value highly the ability to stay calm in all kinds of situations and leave things unsaid.
In one word - British are extremely reserved people. They are also considered to be industrious, polite, tradition-loving, courteous, honest, extremely nationalistic and etc. They are known to have a specific sense of humor. Their humor is delicate.
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. English people are 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. But the people of the North and West of Britain are much less reserved than those of the South and East. Most British people queue when they are waiting for a bus or waiting to be served in a shop. But during the rush hour, when a bus or train arrives, people often push forward to make sure they get on. This is called jumping the queue. British people keep their old traditions and are very proud of them.
English people show great love for animals. And, of course, English people are fond of sports. Many continentals think life is a game; the English think cricket is a game. To many Englishmen cricket is both a game and a standard of behaviour. When they consider something unfair, they say “That isn't cricket”.
The traditional love of English people for tea is well known. They like to drink tea with milk. They have their five-o'clock tea not only at home or in offices, but also in tea-rooms and tea-shops, which can be found in every town. 
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Marriage is a thing which only a rare person in his or her life avoids. Truebachelors andspinsters make up only a small percent of the population; most singlepeople are"alone but not lonely".
Millions of othersget married because of the funof family life.And it is fan, if one takes it with a sense of humour.
There's a lot of fun infalling in love with someone and chasing the prospectivefiancee, which meansdating andgoing out with the candidate. All therelatives (parents, grandparents andgreat-grandparents, brothers andsisters, cousins, aunts anduncles, nieces and nephews, stepmothers andstepfathers and allin-laws) meanwhile have the fan of criticizing your choice and giving advice. The trick here is not to listen to them butpropose to yourbride-to-be and somehow get her to accept yourproposal. Then you may arrange theengagement andfix the day of the wedding.
What fun it is to get all those things, whose names start with the word "wedding" —dress, rings, cars, flowers, cakes, etc.! It's great fun to pay for them.
It's fun for thebride and thegroom to escape from the guests and go on ahoneymoon trip, especially if it is awedding present from the parents. The guests remain with the fun of gossiping whether youmarried for love or for money.
It's fan to return back home with the idea that the person you are married to is somewhat different from the one you knew. But there is no time to think about it because you arenewly-weds and youexpect a baby.
There is no better fan for ahusband than taking hiswifeto amaternity home alone and bringing her back with thetwinsortriplets.
And this is where the greatest fan starts:washing the new-born's nappies andpassing away sleepless nights, earning money to keep the family, taking children to kindergarten and laterto school. By all means it's fan toattend parents' meetings and to learn that your childrentake after you and don'tdo well at school.
The bigger your children grow, the more theyresemble you outwardly and the less they display likeness with you inwardly. And you startgrumbling at them and discussing with your old friends the problem of the"generation gap". What fan!
And when at last you and your grey-hairedspouse start thinking that your family life has calmed down, you haven'tdivorced butpreserved your union, the climax of your fan bursts out!
One of your dearestoff springs brings a long-legged blonde to your house and says that he wants to marry. And you think: 'Why do people ever get married?'