The document provides an overview of British culture by answering questions about key aspects of Britain such as:
- The four countries that make up the United Kingdom
- The current currency and monarch of the UK
- Prominent figures in British history like William Shakespeare and King Henry VIII
- Major cities, landmarks, and other iconic British elements of culture.
It also discusses the origins of words in the English language and how English has evolved over time from Old English to Middle English to Modern English.
2. c How many coouunnttrriieess mmaakkee uupp tthhee
UUnniitteedd KKiinnggddoomm??
• AAnnsswweerr:: FFoouurr
– EEnnggllaanndd
– SSccoottllaanndd
– WWaalleess
– NNoorrtthheerrnn IIrreellaanndd
3. WWhhaatt iiss tthhee ccuurrrreenntt ccuurrrreennccyy ooff TThhee
UUnniitteedd KKiinnggddoomm??
• The Pound
• Although the UK joined the EU in 1973, thus far
the country has not switch their currency to the
Euro. This has helped keep the UK financially
strong,
– $1= € .69
– $1= £.62
– €1 = £.90
– So for example, if you liked a desk that was £200, you
would be paying $321.
4. WWhhoo iiss tthhee ccuurrrreenntt MMoonnaarrcchh??
• Queen Elizabeth II—not to be confused
with the Virgin Queen Elizabeth of the
Elizabethan/Shakespearean age.
• Next in line to the throne?
– Prince Charles
• Then?
– Prince William
6. What famous rriivveerr fflloowwss tthhrroouugghh
LLoonnddoonn??
• The Thames (pronounced “Tims”
7. WWhhaatt CCeennttuurriieess ddiidd WWiilllliiaamm
SShhaakkeessppeeaarree LLiivvee??
• 16th and 17th; baptized in 1564, died in
1616.
– Apprx. 38 plays
– 154 sonnets
– Other prominent works
8. How many ttiimmeess ddiidd KKiinngg HHeennrryy
VVIIIIII ggeett mmaarrrriieedd?? WWhhaatt iiss tthhee nnaammee
ooff aatt lleeaasstt oonnee ooff hhiiss wwiivveess??
• Six times
• His wives include (in this order)…
– Catherine of Aragon (Spanish Princess)
• Divorced
– Anne Boleyn (mother of Elizabeth I)
• Executed
– Jane Seymore
• Died
– Anne of Cleves
• Divorced
– Kathryn Howard
• Executed
– Katherine Parr
• Widowed
9. What are tthhee ttwwoo llaarrggeesstt ppoolliittiiccaall
ppaarrttiieess iinn tthhee UUKK??
• Conservative
• Labour
10. Where aarree tthhee ccrroowwnn jjeewweellss kkeepptt??
• The Tower of London
– Most haunted
– Former prisoners
17. Works cited (pictures) in order
• Microsoft clip art
• bedandbreakfasts.co.uk
• visitbritain.co.uk; nihongo.istockphoto.com
• topnews.in
• treehugger.com
• latelink.com; londonpermaculturalists.ning.com
• Microsoft clip art
• royalpaperdolls.com
• aboutmyarea.co.uk
• goingtolondon.wikispaces.com
• liverpoollodge.com
• paranormal.about.com; scotland-calling.com; tripadvisor.co.uk
• Microsoft clip art (2)
• frot.co.nz
• englisheso.wikispaces.com
18. UK US UK US UK US
Clothing Items School Terms Food
Under- Rubber eraser Biscuit Cookie
wear/
panties
Private Chips FRIES
School
Public Jelly Jello
School
Green
beans
Runner
Beans
Public
School
State
School
Zebra crosswalk
Crossing
Knickers
Jumper Sweater
Under-shirt
Vest
Wellies galoshes
Trainers Sneakers Marks grades Scone Biscuit
19. EEttyymmoollooggyy
• Open the dictionary to a
random page.
• Look at the first word on
the page and make note
of the etymology
• Words noted as AS or OE
are native; the rest are
borrowed
• Make note of the
etymologies of 15 words
at the TOP of 15 separate
pages
Main Entry: et·y·mol·o·gy
Pronunciation: -jē
Function: noun Inflected
Form(s): plural et·y·mol·o·gies
EEttyymmoollooggyy:: MMiiddddllee EEnngglliisshh eetthhiimmoollooggiiee,, ffrroomm
AAnngglloo--FFrreenncchh,, ffrroomm LLaattiinn eettyymmoollooggiiaa,, ffrroomm GGrreeeekk,,
ffrroomm eettyymmoonn ++ --llooggiiaa --llooggyy Date: 14th century
1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown
by tracing its development since its earliest recorded
occurrence in the language where it is found, by
tracing its transmissionfrom one language to another,
by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying
its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its
cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral
language
2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies
20. What is the ratio?
22 NNaattiivvee
• Outlandish (OE)
• Woodruff (OE)
1133 BBoorrrroowweedd
• Irrevocable (Latin)
• Jangle (O French)
• Motion (Latin)
• Pointillism (French)
• Pulse (Latin)
• Serviette (O French)
• Suit (Latin)
• Vamplate (Anglo-Norman
French)
• Wheedle (German)
• Zygoma (Greek)
• Adequate (Latin)
• Aperture (Latin)
• Close (Latin)
22. OOuurr LLaanngguuaaggee
• English is incredibly diverse!
• English dictionaries: 600,000 words—closest rival
(German): 185,000 words
• Knowing where language originates from allows us to
connect and understand how and why we
communicate the way we do.
29. OOlldd EEnngglliisshh
• Old English has different LETTERS.
• "Thorn" (Þ or þ)
– Cloth (cláþ)
– Thin
• The letter "eth" (ð)
– Clothes
– Then
• Old English does not require a specific word
order, the way Middle and Modern English do.
• Instead, OE uses declensions (little endings
stuck on the end of nouns)
30. MMiiddddllee EEnngglliisshh
• Spelling has not yet been formalized in a
systematic way, and many Latinate terms
have entered English through intermediary
French influences under the Norman
conquerors in 1066.
31. EEaarrllyy MMooddeerrnn EEnngglliisshh
• Shakespeare’s day
– thou/you,
– thy/your,
– thine/yours,
• Shakespeare's alphabet in the early modern is
practically identical to ours
• Doesn't yet have identical punctuation conventions
to ours. For instance, the exclamation mark still
wasn't invented in 1590.
