English culture and traditions

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 – a day of fun and jokes St. George‘s Day – 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‘ - this typically consists of a sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink A typical British meal for dinner is meat and usually the vegetables (one of the vegetables is almost always potatoes)

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 Easter tradition, it is also traditional to eat fish instead of meat 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 Hot cross bun Simnel cake

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.