“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” High School US & UK CULTURE - SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES - Student: Teacher: October 2014

CONTENT: Argument Chapter 1 – BACKGROUND – Location on map and general geographical data Chapter 2 - EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM Chapter 3 - SOME LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES Chapter 4: SPORTS Chapter 5: ABOUT FOOD HABITS Conclusions Bibliography

ARGUMENT: Culture is the totality of material and spiritual values ​​produced by a human society. Culture is a way of life of a group of people — the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. Culture is “the way we do things around here” . That is why when we speak about culture we speak about everything. United States of America and United Kingdom have many things in common from the colors on their flags to their languages … While British culture is an old one, refined, sophisticated and full of traditions, American Culture is a relatively young “hybrid” and some of the composing seeds come from UK There are a lot of similarities and there are a lot of differences between these two cultures. In this presentation I will try to point out some of them.

CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND - WORLD LOCATION & MAPS US MAP: UK MAP:

CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND – GENERAL DATA USA – United States of America is located in the northern part of America continent It has 50 states and 1 district (District Columbia) that are shown as stars in their flag The country bordered with Mexico on the South, and Canada on the north Capital: Washington President: Barack Obama Area: 9,826,675 km2 (3rd largest country in the world after Russia and Canada) Population: 314,555,000 (3rd most populated country in the world after China and India) Currency: US Dollar ($) Independence Day: 4th July 1776 UK – United Kingdom is located in the western part of Europe continent It has 4 countries: Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland. Their flags form together the UK flag named Union Jack The country bordered with Atlantic Ocean and North Sea Capital: London Head of state: Queen Elisabeth II Area: 23610 km2 Population: 64.1 million people Currency: Pound sterling (£) UK National Day: 21st April

CHAPTER 2: EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM: BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM :

CHAPTER 3: SOME LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES American English (AmE) is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States of America. British English (BrE) is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom. MAIN DIFFERENCES: VOCABULARY (i.e, lorry-truck) PRONUNCIATION (i.e, twenty) VERBS (i.e, verb “To have” – “To get”) PREPOSITIONS (AT/ON) VOCABULARY: Different spelling, same pronunciation. BrE: AmE: Colour Color Realise Realice Centre Center Traveller Traveler Dialogue Dialog VERBS: BrE: “ Have you got any sisters or brothers?” “Yes, I have” AmE: “Do you have any sisters or brothers?” “Yes, I do” BrE: I have got much better at playing tennis. Get/got/got AmE: I have gotten better at playing tennis. Get/got/gotten PREPOSITIONS (AT-ON): BrE : AT Someone is knocking AT the door. At weekends, I play paddle with my daddy AmE: ON Someone is knocking ON the door. On weekends, I play paddle with my daddy.

CHAPTER 4: SPORTS US Sports: Since the late 19th century, baseball has been regarded as the national sport; American football (nothing in common with European football), basketball, and ice hockey are the country's three other leading professional team sports. College football and basketball attract large audiences. Football is now by several measures the most popular spectator sport. Boxing and horse racing were once the most watched individual sports, but they have been eclipsed by golf and auto racing, particularly NASCAR. Soccer is played widely at the youth and amateur levels. Tennis and many outdoor sports are popular as well. UK Sports: Sport plays a prominent role in English life. Popular team sports in England are association football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league. Major individual sports include athletics, tennis, golf, motorsport, and horseracing. Cricket is a bat-and-ball team sport. Cricket is widely regarded as the world's second most popular sport, after football.

CHAPTER 5: ABOUT FOOD HABITS … in US: In the USA, characteristic dishes such as apple pie, fried chicken, pizza, hamburgers, onion rings and hot dogs derive from the recipes of various immigrants . Wheat is the primary cereal grain. Traditional American cuisine uses ingredients such as turkey, white-tailed deer venison, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn and maple syrup. Sauces like: Ketchup and mustard are really well-known too. … in UK: Most popular food in UK are: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, Yorkshire pudding, peas, boiled carrots, gravy and mint humbugs (mint sweets). Everybody knows that the British drink tea , but did you know that they drink around 165 million cups every day? Tea is not just a drink, it is a tradition, and is part of the history and culture of the UK. Afternoon tea is a popular tradition from the early 1800s when people had tea parties in their homes.

CONCLUSIONS: BIBLIOGRAPHY: Only some aspects of the UK and US culture were presented. The geographic data shows how different is the environment of these two societies. The educational system has both similarities and differences Between American English and British English the differences aren’t big enough and that is why the American people and British people can understand each other The American football has nothing in common with European football And even the food habits are different These are only some aspects that depict how different are the two cultures. BIBLIOGRAPHY: US Culture – Slideshare presentation; UK Culture – Slideshare presentation; American and British culture and language - Slideshare presentation;