![[short writing task] British Stereotypes](https://d2ieewwzq5w1x7.cloudfront.net/post-image/f24ad1f4-c934-4e5b-b183-19358856e2ce-large)
I am doing some short Writing tasks to familiarise myself again with using English.
It's very conventional and so are the topics at times, but I am very rusty and it's perfect to "get wet".
Here is today's topic:
・What are your stereotypes of the British people?
When I think of British people, I always think first of their famous love for tea. It was one of the first things that I'd learnt about Brits at school, and I remember that our English teacher showed us a video commercial for the Typhoo tea brand. It gave us all a good chuckle and I remember the visual of the ad up until now.
So I wasn't quite sure if that was still true in modern UK, as the ad was rather dated and my teacher herself was already of a certain age at that time. But a few English people that I have gotten to know while travelling assured me that it was a natural thing for them to have a few cuppas a day, without delving much into what kind of tea they preferred.
All of them displayed really good manners, which reinforced my idea of British people as being gentle and cultivated, an image that I got from old films. (Funnily enough, the depiction that I got of Brits from more modern films or tv series was less gentlemanly, as half of the dialogues were made of swear words.)
I also discovered during that trip that trying to cook together can prove challenging when the team is comprised of members from all over the world:
One of our friends who was a bit on the cheeky side, kept having a go at our English friend's opinion that we should "cook
the pasta until it sticks to the wall". She definitely got on his wrong side that night when she deemed him "a waste of space" in the kitchen.
It didn't seem to keep her up at night, as she repeatedly invited him for a drink the rest of our stay.
Surprisingly enough, he was always up for it. Which lead me to think that English people are rather gentle and forgiving.
All's well that ends well.
Note: Today's topic is from the British English Podcast by Charlie Baxter.
There are some exercises included in the Academy package for learners, and this was one of the assignments.
Excellent English! Yes we do love our tea, and generally are well-mannered and polite, although this sometimes leads to passive-aggressive behaviour, rather than assertive behaviour, haha. One thing I've realised about British stereotypes, is that there is a widely-held belief that we have tea at 5pm! Many people in Italy have asked me about this, so much so that I thought "oh, maybe we do, it's just me that didn't realise it!" So I googled it, just to check! (can you believe it). Of course my search confirmed what I already knew - that any time of the day is good for tea, but not specifically at 5pm! I think this is actually related to a habit known as "Afternoon Tea", which involves drinking tea but also eating - little sandwiches and cakes - and would usually take place around 3pm - 4pm. But we're talking about decades ago, and only among the middle/upper classes.
@Rachel2021 Thank you very much for your help and comment! I am so happy to have the opinion of a Brit on the subject. I myself am a tea lover. :) As you said, I think the image of Brits having tea in late afternoon is due to the Afternoon tea that is such a strong image that we have of English people.
Plus, in France for example (I do not know for Italians) we have this late afternoon little snack break that is a tradition we uphold especially for the children. They finish school, come home and would have that snack time. But no junk food! a cup of tea or juice with a bit of bread or some biscuits, maybe a fruit. When we become adults, we sometimes enjoy doing it too (especially on the weekends), and I think that's why we automatically assume that Brits who love tea, have theirs at a similar time. :)
Yes in Italy they have "merenda", which is the afternoon snack, and in fact I also had this when I came home from school as a child :-)