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

Coffee

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

TAKE AWAY FOOD (Eat out food)

Fish and chips is the classic English take-away food and is the traditional national food of England. It became popular in the 1860's when railways began to bring fresh fish straight from the east coast to the our cities over night.

Bowler hats are very rarely seen in England today. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen one being worn apart from in the movies!

Sports play an important part in the life in Britain and is a popular leisure activity.

Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby

England's national sport is cricket although to many people football (soccer) is seen as our national sport. Football is our most popular sport. Some of England's football teams are world famous, the most famous being Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

FOOD

Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

British Sayings/idioms

'Keep your pecker up' Remain cheerful - keep your head held high.

'Burning the Candle at Both Ends' Working for many hours without getting enough rest

'Tie the Knot' Get Married

British Proverbs

'Nothing ventured nothing gained' You have to try or you won't get anything.

'Out of the frying pan into the fire' From one problem to another..

General Superstitions

Good Luck

Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.

Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.

Horseshoes are generally a sign of good luck and feature on many good luck cards.

Bad Luck

Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder.

Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.

Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.

The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Unlucky to pass someone on the stairs.

British Mass media.

Newspapers are traditionally categorized into two types in the United Kingdom. Broadsheets which are larger in size and are seen as being more intellectual and upmarket; and tabloids which are smaller in size and seen as being more downmarket than broadsheets, containing more stories about celebrities or gossip.

Magazines . A bewildering range of magazines are sold in the UK covering most interests and potential topics. Famous examples include Private Eye, Hello!, The Spectator, the Radio Times and NME.

The Press

National Daily and Sunday Papers

three political functions: information, discussion and representation.

It is supposed

-to give the voter reliable and complete information to base his judgement.

-to let him know the arguments for and against any policy,

-to reflect and give voice to the desires of the people as a whole.

Two groups: quality papers and popular papers. . Quality papers - for the well educate. All the rest are generally called popular newspapers.

Quality papers include “The Times’, “The Guardian”, “The Daily Telegraph”, “The Financial Times”, “The Observer”, “The Sunday Times” and “The Sunday Telegraph”. Very thoroughly they report national and international news. Weeklies, (devoted to specialised and professional subjects) others the “Spectator” (with Conservative views), the “New Statesman” (the left wing of the Labour Party) and the “Economist” (politically independent). They contain articles on national and international affairs, current events, the arts, letters to the Editor, extensive book reviews.

Popular papers, the most important of them are the “News of the World”, “The Sun”, the “Daily Mirror”, the “Daily Express”.

In Britain newspapers are mostly owned by individuals or by publishing companies, and the editors of the papers are usually allowed considerate freedom of expression. This is not to say that newspapers are without political bias. Papers like The Daily Telegraph, The Sun, for reflect Conservative opinions, while the Daily Mirror and The Guardian have a more left-wing bias.

Advertising is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority, an independent body funded by a levy on display advertising expenditure.

Radio and Television

British broadcasting has traditionally been based on the principle that it is a public service accountable to the people through Parliament. Three public bodies are responsible for television and radio services throughout Britain:

1. the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcasts television and radio services;

2. the Independent Television Commission (ITC) licenses and regulates non-BBC television services, including cable and satellite services, and;

3. the Radio Authority licenses and regulates all non-BBC radio services.

Unlike the press, mass broadcasting has been subject to some state control from its early days.But it is free of influence by government or advertisers. First radio, then TV were entrusted to the BBC, The BBC’s monopoly was ended, when an independent board was appointed by the Home Secretary to give licenses to broadcast (“franchises”) to commercial TV companies financed by advertising.

The BBC has a strong regional structure. The three English regions – BBC North, BBC Midlands & East and BBC South

Finance The domestic services of the BBC are financed principally from the sale of television licences. Households with television must buy an annual licence costing ?80 for colour and ?26.50 for black and white.

BBC National Radio

Radio (channel) 1 rock and pop music. Radio 2 lights music and entertainment Radio 3 classical music , drama, poetry and short stories, documentaries, Radio 4 is the main speech network providing the principals news and current affairs service, BBC 5 (on medium wave only), which is devoted chiefly to sport, education and programmes for young people.

BBC World Service Radio

The BBC World Service broadcasts by radio worldwide, using English and 37 other languages. The main objectives are to give unbiased news, reflect British opinion and project British life, culture and developments in science and industry. The BBC has full responsibility and is completely independent in determining the content of news and other programmes. BBC English is the most extensive language-teaching venture in the world. English lessons are broadcasted daily by radio with explanations in some 30 languages.

BBC Television

The BBC television programmes are designed for people of different interests. BBC1 light entertainment, sport, current affairs, children’s programmes, as well as news and information. BBC2 documentaries, travel programmes, serious drama, music, programmes on pastimes and international films.

The BBC does not give publicity to any firm or company. The Government has no privileged access to radio or television. Radio and television programmes for the week are published in the BBC periodical, “Radio Times”, “The Listener”.

ITV In addition there are two independent channels: ITV (Independent Television) and Channel4, which is owned by the IBA (Independent Broadcasting Authority). The ITV has 15 programme companies, each serving a different part of the country.