English culture and traditions

Kateřina Kusá

Outline

 English festivals  English food  Sports  Media  Traditional clothes and costumes  Transport  Religion

English festivals (1) - Christmas

 The most important festival of the year    A carol service Houses are decorated Christmas tree   Giving presents

Father Christmas

and a long sock at the end of the bed  Christmas Day – 25th December

English festivals (2)

    

Boxing Day

– 26th December, a public holiday

New Year‘s Eve

– celebrating of coming of the year at midnight on 31st December

St. Valentine‘s Day

– 14th February, sending cards, flowers and chocolates to someone you love

Ash Wednesday

– the day in February, the Christian period of Lent begins

Pancake Tuesday

– the day before Ash Wednesday, people eats lots of pancakes

English festivals (3)



Easter

– Easter Sunday - chocolate eggs, a new birth, Good Friday – hot cross-buns, Easter Monday – a holiday    

April Fools Day St. George‘s Day

– a day of fun and jokes – 23rd April is a national day in England, St. George is a patron of England, people do not celebrate it much

May Day

– 1st May, celebration of the end of the winter, connected with dancing

Ascension Day

– a christian holiday, it is the 40th day after Easter Sunday

English festivals (4)

• • • • • •

Pentecost

(Whitsunday) – 10 days after Ascension Day, the coming of holly spirit

Harvest festival

- Thanksgiving ceremonies and celebrations for a successful harvest, usually in September

Halloween

– 31st October – holly evening, connected with witches and ghosts, strange costumes, pumpkin latern

All Saints Day

– 1st November

All Souls Day

– 2nd November

Bonfire Night

– 5th November, the anniversary of the Gunpowder plot, huge fireworks, burning an effigy

English food (1)

     traditionally based on beef, lamb, pork, chicken and fish generally served with potatoes and one other vegetable no national food, but the most common and typical foods include fish and chips , sandwiches, pies and puddings a selection of Indian, Italian, Chinese and Greek restaurants take-away meals Fish and chips

English food (3)

     Three main meals a day : breakfast, lunch and dinner (sometimes called supper) Dinner is usually the main meal of the day A typical English

breakfast

- a bowl of cereals, a slice of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee

A 'packed lunch

sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink ‘ - this typically consists of a A typical British meal for potatoes)

dinner

is meat and usually the vegetables (one of the vegetables is almost always

English food (3) – Christmas dinner

 the main Christmas meal  eaten at mid-day or early afternoon  roast turkey, Brussels sprouts, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, rich nutty stuffing, tiny sausages wrapped in bacon and lashings of hot gravy  a rich, fruity pudding which you douse in flaming brandy – said to ward off evil spirits.

Pictures of Christmas Dinner

Roast turkey Brussel Sprouts and chestnuts Stuffing Roast potatoes Parsnips and Swede The Christmas pudding

English food (4) – Food at Easter

  On Good Friday - warm 'hot cross buns' with their combination of spicy, sweet and fruity flavours have long been an Hot cross bun Easter tradition, it is also traditional to eat fish instead of meat Simnel cake Easter day - roast lamb is the traditional meat for the main meal, served with mint sauce and vegetables, the traditional puddings are custard tarts sprinkled with currants and flat Easter biscuits, Simnel cake is baked for tea, chicken has long been a modern favourite for Easter Sunday dinner mainly due to the baby (spring) chicken being associated with birth and new life

Sports

           An important part in the life of Englishmen A popular leisure activity Many of the world’s famous sports began in England, including cricket, football, lawn tennis and rugby England’s national sport is

cricket

To many people

football

(soccer) is seen as their national sport

Rugby

is similar to football but played with an oval ball The world’s famous

tennis

tournament is Wimbledon

Horse racing

, the sport of Kings, is a very popular sport (The Grand National)

Polo

is played by men on horses.

Table tennis

(ping pong) was invented in England in 1880

Fishing

(angling) is also one of the most popular sports in England

Media

          Three public bodies are responsible for

television

and

radio

throughout England

The British Broadcasting Corporation

(BBC)

The Independent Television Commission

(ITC)

The Radio Authority

People in Britain watch TV on average 25 hours of every week Television viewing is Britain's most popular leisure pastime There are five main channels in Britain (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and

Channel 5)

The BBC has been providing regular television broadcasts since 1936 There are about 130 daily and Sunday

newspapers

British newspapers include the following:

The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Times, Western Mail

and Echo, The Sun, The Mirror, The Herald, Written by Rachel.

Traditional costumes and clothes

   England has no national dress Some people think men in England wear suits and bowler hat but it isn’t true English customs and traditions involve a variety of costumes –

Beefeaters

(the nearest thing to English national costume) „Typical Englishman“ Beefeater

Transport

       Most people in England travel by

car

Goods are transported by

lorries The red double decker buses

in London In London,

taxis

are black The name of London’s underground system is “

The Tube

” In England there are also

Euro trains

There are 470

airports

in England

Religion

 The main religion is Christianity  Most Christians belong to the Church of England  there are also Roman Catholics, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim communities  The Queen is head of Church of England.