FREE ENGLISH LESSON (download file)

Today’s lesson will provide you with an in-depth overview of what British culture looks like. To get the most from this lesson it is important that you fully participate, ask questions and share your opinion during discussions.


LESSON: MULTICULTURAL BRITAIN

1. READING: Please read the article below

Britain is a very multicultural society. If you walk down a street in England, you will see people from a mixture of diverse ethnic groups, each with their own distinct culture and sometimes their own language or religion. London is the multicultural centre of Europe. It has over 7 million inhabitants who between them speak 300 different languages making the capital the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

The British Isles was invaded by the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Norman armies. Later Africans were brought to Britain by force in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as slaves. Over the years, thousands of people have arrived in Britain as refugees from France, Ireland, Russia, and many other countries, escaping from persecution or famine in their own countries. There are British people whose parents first came to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s from the Caribbean, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Africa. More than 11% of the population of Britain today originates from other cultures and ethnicities.

According to the Manila Times, there are approximately 250,000 Filipinos living in the United Kingdom. The largest Filipino community is in London, based around Earl's Court. Other towns and cities with significant Filipino communities include Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Barrow-in-Furness.

2. VOCABULARY: List any words you cannot pronunciate or do not understand.
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3. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

What is your perception about British people?
Do you know any Filipinos that live in the UK?
What countries make up Britain?
What are the largest cities in the United Kingdom?
What does multicultural mean?
How would you describe the Filipino culture?
Would you describe the Philippines as multicultural?
What do you think are some of the problems of a multicultural society?
Where do black people in Britain originate from?
Which country or countries do British Asians come from?
When was the main period of immigration into Britain?
What is the largest ethnic minority in the UK today?
What do you think is the national dish in Britain?
What was the main reason for immigration to Britain after the war?
Where did most immigrants in the UK decide to live?
What parts of your country might attract immigrants?
What have you heard about the UK?

4. BRITISH SPORT: Can you name the most popular sports played in the UK?

• Cricket
• Football
• Rugby
• Tennis
• Golf
• Motor sports
• Horse racing

Do you know much about any of the sports listed above?

5. BRITISH SLANG: Slang has always been part of Britain's rich and diverse language.

All right: "Hello, how are you"?

Barmy: If someone tells you that you're barmy they mean you have gone mad or crazy.

Bloody: Mostly used as an exclamation of surprise i.e. "bloody hell". Something may be "bloody marvellous" or "bloody awful".

Bollocks – Can be used in many different contexts usually to describe something that is no good (that's bollocks) or that someone is talking rubbish (he's talking bollocks). I is also used in a positive manner to describe something that is the best, in which case you would describe it as being "the dog's bollocks".

Botch: To do a botch job means that the work done was not of a high standard.

Cheerio: A friendly way of saying goodbye.

Chuffed: You would be chuffed to bits if you were really pleased about something.

Doddle – That is easy.

Lovely-jubbly: Clearly another way of saying lovely.

Not my cup of tea: This is a common saying that means something is not to your liking.

Porkies: More cockney rhyming slang which goes with lies.

Posh: High class

Rugger: An informal name for rugby; a similar game to American football but the players wear no protection!

Taking the mickey: Is an expression meaning to mock, tease, ridicule or scoff at someone

Throw a spanner in the works: Is when someone prevents something from happening smoothly in the way that it was planned, by causing a problem or difficulty.

Waffle on: To waffle on means to talk on and on about nothing.

Whinge: To complain or protest, especially in an annoying or persistent manner


6. FILIPINO PHRASES: Many Filipinos may be surprised to find out that some of the phrases they use daily are unique to this country, thus sound odd to visitors.

For a while: This expression does not exist in the rest of the English-speaking world. On the phone, "for a while" is frequently used in the Philippines, in England we might use "Please, hold the line" or, informally "hang on."

I will be the one: This is a Filipino-English way of saying "I'll do it" or "let me do it." These shorter versions would be the idioms I would use more commonly in the UK.

Sir/Maam: Filipinos sometimes greet men or woman with “Good morning sir/maam”. This is very confusing to British people. Make sure you only base

Thrice: While it is also used in other forms of English, it is much more prevalent in Philippine English.