Competition

In British mentality competition is a good motivation for enterprising. Business interaction with Englishmen vividly shows that they compete, rather that cooperate. It can easily be observed when colleagues try to find each other’s faults and drawbacks to be used when the appropriate time comes. They think it’s a good motivation for better work. In Russia people used to have group projects, common ideas and interests. On the contrary, Englishmen look at each other as rivals. Once, while in the library I witnessed a striking scene. The first clerk finished her shift and could not leave the circulation desk, because the second clerk, who was supposed to be in at 9.00 p.m. was 3 minutes late. I was shocked when the first woman began to call the boss to inform him about the ‘extra-long’ delay. It might sound cruel, on the one hand, but on the other, it is a very good motivation for prosperity.

Practicality

Englishmen are seen as very efficient in decision making. Some Englishmen are characterized as very punctual people, who do not waste a single minute or penny. Once, interpreting for an English professor in a provincial city I was impressed by the questions he asked buying Russian nesting-dolls. «Is it really a good price?», «Could it be cheaper on the Arbat?», «Will there be a discount if I get more then one?» etc. Russian students while shopping in London were buying things emotionally, thinking about their relatives and friends, instead of the price differences.

In conclusion, as the examples show, British mentality characteristics are: individualism, optimism, informality, competition, and practicality. Whereas Russians are formal, cooperative, emotional in decision making and with a strong sense of community. Some of the British national traits are resulting from the British way of life. For centuries the British have been known as insular. Nothing has been more important in British history than the fact that Great Britain is an island. Its geographical position was one of the most important factors which contributed largely to making a distinctive character of its inhabitants, who tend, a little more perhaps than other people, to regard their own community as the centre of the world. The insularity produces a certain particula­rism among the numerous groups of whom the whole community is composed. The British look on foreigners in general with contempt and think that nothing is as well done elsewhere as in their own country. The British people have also been known as superior, snobbish, aloof, hypocritical and unsociable, self-assured, absolutely confident in their national sense of superiority.

British are usually considered to be unemotional, independent, reserved and a little bit eccentric. Besides they possess a specific sense of humour based on play on words, irony and subtle meanings of words. These traits may be multiplied by aggressiveness, obstinacy and indifference. British are regarded as quite calm in with respect to work and economic progress, and even a little bit lazy.

Englishmen tend to be rather conservative, they love familiar things. They are hostile, or at least bored, when they hear any suggestion that some modification of their habits, or the intro­duction of something new and unknown into their lives, might be to their advantage. This conservatism, on a national scale, may be illustrated by reference to the public attitude to the monarchy, an institution which is held in affection and reverence by nearly all English people.

Britain is supposed to be the land of law and order. The British people are prudent and careful about almost everything. Their lawns are closely cropped, their flower beds primly cultivated, and their trees neatly pruned. Everything is orderly. Drinks are carefully measured, seats in a cinema are carefully assigned (even if the theatre is empty you are required to sit in the seat assigned to you), closing hours rigorously observed.

Part of the British sense for law and orderliness is a love of precedent. For an Englishman, the best of all reasons for doing something in a certain way is that it has always been done in that way.

The Britons are practical and realistic; they are infatuated with common sense. They are not misled by romantic delusions.

Snobbery is not so common in GB today as it was at the beginning of the 19th century. It still exists, and advertisers know how to use it in order to sell their goods. The advertisers are very clever in their use of snobbery. Motorcar manufactures, for example, advertise the colour of their cars as «Embassy Black» or «Balmoral Stone». Embassy black is plain, ordinary black, but the name suggests diplomats and all the social impor­tance that surrounds them, and this is what the snobs need.

These characteristics have been noted by people from all over the world, but are they typical nowadays of all the Britons? In fact, there exist many differences between the four nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as the variety of cultural diversities within these nations.

The peoples of the modern UK keep important national and cultural differences. The English learned to describe themselves as Britons. But still, there never was a British nation. The Scots continued to describe themselves as Scots, the Irish as Irish, and the Welsh as Welsh. The English remained English. Even members of the ethnic minority groups do not consider themselves English at all, but black, or Asian, first and then British.

The inhabitants of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are the descendants of the Celts, while the English people are the descendants of Anglo-Saxons. Critics often stress that many residents of Great Britain do not consider themselves to be the “British” and they think that this term should be revised taking into consideration multinational and multiracial country which is now a part of the European Community.

Since the English are a relatively mixed people, their customs, accents and behaviour vary considerably, and local identification is still strong. The Cornish, for example, see themselves as a distinctive cultural element in English society and have an affinity with Celtic and similar racial groups in Britain and Europe. The Northern English have often regarded themselves as superior to the southern English, and vice versa.

The English sometimes like to think about themselves as calm, reserved, sensible and tolerant people with common sense. While according to their perceptions Celts are nothing but romantic, excited and expansive people. On the other hand Celts think that the English are arrogant and frigid while only they are the paragon of all virtues possible.

English language played an exclusive role in formation of Englishness and English identity. English became the unifying language in the 14th century, when Chaucer used it for his poetry. At the same time the English considered their language to be insular and probably exclusive. In the XIX – first half of XXth century England occupied leading position in the world and English language also dominated. Therefore from here is an unwillingness of English to learn foreign languages. Throughout the world the lingua franca is now English.