Vocabulary notes

to rally – собираться, сплачиваться, объединяться

under intense strain – под сильным сомнением, под угрозой, под давлением

to shatter - расшатывать

devolved - автономный

grip - контроль

to unfold - развертываться

this is the case – это действительно так

to split – раздваиваться, разрываться

margin - разница

Identity crisis: are we becoming a disunited kingdom?

Surveys suggest notions of Britishness are changing. The Guardian invites readers to share their views on national identity.

So what makes us? We share the same islands, but we aren't all British. We call ourselves Scots, Irish, Welsh, English and often, but decreasingly, British. Every four years, we rally to the union flag for the Olympics, but when it comes to rugby and football, the divisions open up.

There is much shared culture, whether on pop music, clothing, fish and chips, curries and Marmite, comedians and Coronation Street. But now, for the first time in several centuries, that notion of Britishness is under intense strain. Alex Salmond, the first minister of Scotland, will soon lead the country into a referendum that could prompt Scotland to declare independence, a move that would shatter a 304-year-old political union.

Regardless of the Scottish referendum, the UK has four separate governments and now the three devolved administrations, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, are winning greater economic and legal powers, cutting London's grip on the country. And in each part of the UK, notions of nationhood and Britishness are changing and, arguably, the links are weakening.

Because of this unfolding political situation, the Guardian invites readers to enter the debate about national identity and air your attitudes on Britishness. We will be asking if the country is more and more becoming a "disunited kingdom".

There is much to suggest this is the case. John Curtice, from the Scottish Centre for Social Research, is co-author of the Scottish Social attitudes survey. He said: "The crucial thing to realise is that in Scotland, British is now very definitely a secondary identity; that's undoubtedly true to a far greater extent than it is in Wales." In England there are plenty of people who, if asked whether they're British or English, will say 'what's the difference?'.

Comparing all the latest social attitudes surveys gives us this contrast: if voters are forced to choose, 52% of English voters choose British first compared to 19% of Scots, and 30% of Welsh.

Intriguingly, the latest evidence from Wales suggests that devolution may be making the Welsh feel more British. That is one reading of a new study of 3,029 voters by the Economic and Social Research Council. Its results find that 16% of Welsh voters now feel "British not Welsh", compared to 9% in 2007 and in 2003. Meanwhile, only 19% felt "Welsh not British", a fall from 24% in 2007, with 30% feeling equally Welsh and British.

In Northern Ireland, identity can be far more complex; loyalty to a larger nation splits between those feeling British and Irish, mostly down religious or ethnic lines. The 2010 Northern Ireland Life and Times the equivalent of the British Social Attitudes survey, have shown that 37% see themselves as British, 26% Irish and 29% Northern Irish. But asked the multiple-choice question, 58% of voters in Northern Ireland in 2007 saw themselves, to varying degrees, as both British and Irish. In 1998, 51% of those given a straight choice said they were British. It is 37% now.

In England last year, 52% described themselves as British and just 34% as English in a straight choice between the two. That is the widest margin since 1997.

Behind such figures emotions run deep. Yet, is national identity in the UK purely a personal badge to be worn with pride at sporting events – or could it fundamentally change the nature of British (and Northern Irish) state. You tell us …

• Comment on the title of the article.

• Can you imagine Great Britain (the UK) without Scotland? Will it be the same country?

• How sharp is the split along ethnic lines between peoples in Russia?

• Are there any nations (republics) in Russia that claim independence?

• What implications for Russia and its people can have movement for independence of some nations?

• Read and translate the extract and do the task that follows.

What does it mean to be British – and does it still matter?

It is a summer for celebrating Britishness, but in many ways our identity has never been more complex. In the wake of the Queen's diamond jubilee and before the Olympics, we asked five young people to debate the issue.

The Observer, Sunday 17 June 2012

Discussing what it means to be British, businesswoman Shazia Awan; Countryside Alliance campaigner David Taylor; Labour activist Rowenna Davis; green campaigner Charlie Woodworth; and web company founder Rajeeb Dey.

Charlie Woodworth: I would never really think of myself as British so much as English. I don't feel like I relate particularly to anything around the diamond jubilee or the Olympics….. In terms of being English, it's the nation and the state that I belong to. And I guess my sense of national identity probably comes out when I feel my country or my nation is being criticized. But I'm not a flag-waving, patriotic English person.

David Taylor : My mother's Scottish, my father's half-Welsh, so I can't really say I'm fully English but I am British. I'm a bit of everything. I'm a hybrid. And it's not until you go to a different country and look at the way they do things that we say, 'Oh, we do that differently'. So I think being British or being English is what we do naturally.

Shazia Awan: I'm very proud to be British. I consider it an absolute honour and a privilege to be born in a western society where we've got democracy, human rights, the right to vote, rights for women, parliament. We have politicians, with all, who battle what they feel are injustices. As a society we have become ungrateful. We've got the NHS, we've got an education system and we're actually quite a caring, accepting, tolerant nation. There are a lot of negative associations about British identity. But as soon as you step outside Britain, people would love to have a passport that said 'British citizen'. My passport says British, born in Wales, which, you know, is how I see myself essentially. I've met asylum seekers who have left home, country, everything, in the hope that there's something better in Britain. You've got people that say, 'I don't see myself as British' and I think, well, you should be jolly well ashamed of yourself.

Rowenna Davis: I was one of those teenagers who have dramatic political revelations and I decided when I was about 15 that you can feel English or British but the one that really should trump everything was your humanity and that was the bond that should really hold us together. And if we could just hold on to that as the strongest bond, then we could get rid of inequality and wars. And now I've changed. I recently watched Britain In A Day: it gave hundreds of cameras to people and made them film their days and talk. And I was incredibly moved by the fact that we share this time and this place, this tiny island together on this corner of the globe and every day we struggle together. We get up. We eat at the same times. We sleep at the same times. We share our sunsets. We share our institutions. That kind of common emotional bond is a reason to care about each other. It's a reason to pay our taxes at a time when things are really difficult. There's something about the way we live this life together that is quite British. It is about tolerance, this quiet struggle, about not giving up. It's the kind of awkwardness, it's the humour, it's the gentleness, and I'm proud of it.

Rajeeb Dey: I see myself as a British Asian. To be British is very much about being a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds. That's what I do love about Britain, the fact that there's people from so many different backgrounds who can share their own cultures, their backgrounds, their attitudes, and we live in a tolerant society where that is accepted and celebrated. And also what I like is the opportunity Britain gives you. So through the education system or the welfare system and healthcare and the NHS, people are generally given a basic level playing field to operate from and then it's up to you through your skills and your ambitions to make the most of that.

Writing

• Using the vocabulary from the article write an essay: “What does it mean – to be Russian?”

Tapescripts

Tapescript 1