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Lesson , Ex.1

Lesson 3, Ex.2a)

We know a lot of stereotypes concerning the United Kingdom and its natives. Using them we are able to create the national characteristic that British people are believed to present. Many stereotypes are wrong, but some of them seem to be good. We should be aware though, that some of them aren't true.

The typical British representative should be the tea lover. What is more, the tea should be drunk in the exact time. Most of the British drink their tea at 5 o’clock They are also known to have a big traditional breakfast. The breakfast consists of many toasts covered with jam or marmalade which seem to be typical British. We couldn't even imagine how various can the British toasts be. The other stereotype is connected with the traditional British cuisine and some cooking traditions. British meals are considered to be completely tasteless They are unlikely to be accepted by foreigners. The basic British dish is called ‘fish and chips’ but most of tourists don't like it.

There are a number of stereotypes about British gentlemen. They appear to be too stiff and conservative. Moreover they speak with a strange British accent. They call the accent "Received Pronunciation" and it is thought to be a very distinguished one, but in fact it isn't. What is more typical, the British sense of humour is very specific. It is presented mostly in such British films and TV series as "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Mister Bean" and "Black Adder". All of them present the stereotypes, which aren't often the truth.

The other stereotype is that the British youth are believed to be the clubbing lovers, which means that they enjoy walking form a club to the other club or pub at weekends. It is a kind of modern British tradition, which is today observed in various countries. But British young people are believed to enjoy their lives. In fact, the British young people turn out to be very different as the young people all over the world.

Summing up, the British aren't as conservative as they are thought to be. Their main characteristic is that they are talkative and very friendly. They seem to be also pedantic, but about every other nation we can say the same. Every nation has the stereotypical positive features and negative ones.

Lesson 5, Ex. 4a)

Presenter: Today, we continue speaking about national characters. Our guest is a Fulbright student Ariana Tobin and the usual question we ask people from different countries is: What makes Americans different from other nationalitiess? In other words, what is a typical American?

Ariana Tobin: It is not an easy question. I’d rather start from afar. Let’s say food. Choosing a restaurant in New York requires research. New cafés, streetcarts, and fancy dining halls open every day, on all corners of the city. Sushi? You can find it at 3 a.m. Tacos?* Of course, and everyone has a favorite kind of taco sauce. Low-fat frozen yogurt with full-fat chocolate syrup? Try any one of the four ice cream shops on the same block. They're all competing to attract the hungry passer-by.

As a visitor, maybe you would like to try some plain, simple, typical American cuisine. Where should you go? What to eat? Don't worry: in New York City, it won't take you long to find a restaurant with “American Food” written on the window. In fact, you will probably see what we call the “classic American diner.”

And there you might find some burgers and fries. But you also might not. Consider this a warning: the label “American food” is not much of a label at all. It will not help you to predict what might be on the menu, because no one can agree on what it means. Most diners serve everything from pasta and potatoes to seaweed and sauerkraut**, and few if any stick to one type of national cuisine. You are just as likely to find a painting of the Parthenon on the wall as you are to find Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceiling.

So is this misleading? Perhaps. A very small number of Americans can claim to come from families which are “American only” – those who identify as Native American or American Indian. Everyone and everything else came from Europe, or Asia, or Africa, or Australia at some point over the past 250 years. Including the food.

American food is difficult to characterize. In fact, American character is difficult to characterize. How can we draw comprehensive conclusions of any kind when no two neighboring households eat the same kind of cereal for breakfast, and when every coffee shop customer orders a specialized, personalized drink? Americans like to think of themselves as “diverse” and “multi-cultural,” as a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl” of immigrants and nationalities, a mixture too rich and too unpredictable for easy classification. The most common type of American is perhaps the American who doesn’t want to be a “type” at all, those who see themselves as what we call “rugged individualists,” “independent-minded,” “convention-defying,” and “non-conformist.” Ask an American a question, and she’s is likely to give you a different answer than anyone else – and chances are, she’ll be proud to tell you that her opinion is her own.