Developing intercultural communicative skills

Handout 4
This exercise looks at some of the things that you should do or should not do in the UK. In many cases, these will be the same in your country, but you might find some differences. Match the first part of each sentence on the left with its most appropriate second part on the right, then decide if each situation is acceptable or unacceptable. In some cases, this will depend on the nature of situation;
Visits to friend’s Houses

Visits to friend’s houses are often quite informal. If you are invited over, especially during the day, you will probably be offered a drink (usually a cup of tea!) but will probably not be offered a meal, unless it was specifically mentioned.

If you are invited to dinner most people will take something eg. flowers, chocolates or a bottle of wine to go with the meal.

It is polite for guests to offer to help out with aspects of preparation, including laying the table, helping prepare the food and clearing up after, though again this is not always the case. Whether you actually help out or not is less important than making the offer.

Food

Breakfast is often a very fast and simple meal for most British families, especially during the week. Breakfast cereal and toast is the most common breakfast. At the weekends families might take a little longer with their breakfast.

You may hear people talking about a full English breakfast. This includes things like sausages, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, fried tomatoes and toast.

Most British people tend to have a small breakfast, a middle sized lunch and a larger evening meal.

During the week most people who work outside the home or who study will have a ‘packed lunch’ or will buy a sandwich. Packed lunches are not just for school children in the UK!

You might find you get a little tired of bread and potatoes. British people eat them a lot! Rice, pasta and other staples are also readily available though so you can find some variety.

You may find it strange that British people spend so little time preparing their food. You may find British people eat more ‘processed’ food than you are used to. ‘Take Aways’ are also popular.

In different parts of the country meals can be called different names so it is always good to check what someone means. In some northern parts of the UK dinner is a midday meal whereas in the south it can mean an evening meal. Don’t worry about this as even British people get confused at times!

Some visitors can be surprised at the unsocial way that British people eat. Some families, for example, eat their evening meal in front of the television.

A culture of queues and thank-you’s!

The British are usually very polite. They use the word “Thank-you” and “Sorry” a lot! People say "Excuse me" if they want to pass someone and "I'm sorry" if they accidentally touch someone. British people even say sorry if you stand on their toes!

British people will queue for everything from getting on a bus to being served at the Post Office. If you want to get served it is best to copy this behaviour and join the back of the queue. If you try to rush in or hurry someone, you are likely to annoy people.