Britain - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture PDF
Preview Britain - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
Copyright © 2015 Kuperard Revised and updated edition 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Culture Smart!® is a registered trademark of Bravo Ltd. ISBN 978 1 85733 715 0 eBook ISBN: 978-1-85733716-7 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library First published in Great Britain by Kuperard, an imprint of Bravo Ltd 59 Hutton Grove, London N12 8DS Tel: +44 (0) 20 8446 2440 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8446 2441 www.culturesmart.co.uk Inquiries: [email protected] Series Editor Geoffrey Chesler Design Bobby Birchall Cover image: Trooping the Colour on the Queen’s “official birthday,” Horse Guards Parade, London. ©Alamy Images on the following pages reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license: 2.18 © This file comes from Wellcome Images, a website operated by Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation based in the United Kingdom; 4.1 © User:Colin/Wikimedia Commons. Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license: 2.1 © Mogens Engelund; 2.2, 2.3 © Ad Meskens; 2.7 © Erik Christensen; 2.8 © P. Brundel at nl.wikipedia; 2.10 © Finlay McWalter at en.wikipedia; 2.11 © Julian Nitzsche; 2.17, 2.20 © Ardfern; 3.2 © Chesdovi; 3.4 © Carfax2; 3.6 © Hans Musil; 5.3 © Freaky Fries; 6.2 © Dmitry Tonkonog; 6.9 © Editor5807; 7.3 © Allen warren; 7.5 © Theospence. Reproduced under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license: 1.1 © http://www.flickr.com/photos/fanny/555925; 1.3 © S Pakhrin from DC, USA; 1.5 © garethwiscombe; 2.6 © Ninian Reid from Perth, Scotland; 2.9 © Gryphius; 2.21 © Lindsay Wilson; 3.1 © Dan Heap; 3.7 © Andre Engels; 5.2, 5.6, 5.8 © Ewan Munro from London, UK; 5.4 © Per Mosseby from Sweden; 5.5 © Heather Cowper from Bristol, UK; 5.7 © Trish Steel; 6.1 © John Pannell; 6.3 © luxpim; 6.4 © Tony Hisgett; 6.6 © Peter Bonnett from Manchester, UK; 6.7 ©Carine06 from UK; 7.1 © Leon S.K.; 7.6 © mattbuck; 8.3 © John Morris. v3.1 v3.1 About the Author PAUL NORBURY is a publisher, editor, and author who has written on international business practice and procedure, with particular reference to Japan and East Asia. He has specialized in publishing books on intercultural communications. Whereas previously he has focused on explaining Asian culture to Westerners (he is the author of the best- selling guide Culture Smart! Japan), in this book he draws on his experience as a mediator and interpreter to introduce his native Britain to visitors from abroad. The Culture Smart! series is continuing to expand. For further information and latest titles visit www.culturesmart.co.uk The publishers would like to thank CultureSmart!Consulting for its help in researching and developing the concept for this series. CultureSmart!Consulting creates tailor-made seminars and consultancy programs to meet a wide range of corporate, public- sector, and individual needs. Whether delivering courses on multicultural team building in the USA, preparing Chinese engineers for a posting in Europe, training call-center staff in India, or raising the awareness of police forces to the needs of diverse ethnic communities, it provides essential, practical, and powerful skills worldwide to an increasingly international workforce. For details, visit www.culturesmartconsulting.com CultureSmart!Consulting and CultureSmart! guides have both contributed to and featured regularly in the weekly travel program “Fast Track” on BBC World TV. contents Cover Title Page Copyright About the Author Map of Britain Introduction Key Facts Chapter 1: LAND AND PEOPLE • What Is “Britain”? • Climate • Who Are the British? • The Sounds of Britain • Historical Landmarks • Some Key Dates Chapter 2: SCOTLAND, WALES, AND NORTHERN IRELAND • INTRODUCING SCOTLAND • The People • Historical Perspectives • The Scottish Economy • The Bagpipes • Clans and Tartans • Golf • Food and Home • Education, • Gaelic • INTRODUCING WALES • Geography • Some History • Coal and Iron • The Welsh Economy • The People and the Language • INTRODUCING NORTHERN IRELAND • Glimpses of History • Today’s Political Landscape • The Northern Irish Economy Chapter 3: VALUES AND ATTITUDES • A Sense of Irony • A Sense of Trust • A Sense of Fair Play • Keeping Order • A Sense of Identity • A Sense of Fairness and Compromise • Royalty, Class, and “Honours” • Religion • A Sense of Duty • High Culture or Low Culture? • Drink and the Work Ethic • Humor as Entertainment Chapter 4: THE MONARCHY, POLITICS, AND GOVERNMENT • A Bird’s-Eye View • The Queen’s Role • Political Parties • Etiquette of the “House” Chapter 5: FOOD AND DRINK • Meals of the Day • Invitations • Table Manners • Eating Out • The Pub • Wine Bars Chapter 6: TIME OUT • Pomp and Pageantry • Where to Go and What to Do • “Casual” Is Good • Shopping • Sporting Life • The Season • DIY and Gardening • Travel and Transportation Chapter 7: FRIENDSHIP, FAMILY, AND SOCIAL LIFE • Informality and Friendship • Manners—Formal and Informal • The New Familiarity • The Family • The Class System • Taboo Subjects Chapter 8: BUSINESS BRIEFING • Britain’s Economy • Business Formalities • Written Communications • Formal Meetings and Dress Code • Smoking in Offices/Public Places • Gift Giving • Businesspeople • Negotiation Styles • Trade Unionism • Vacations • Conclusion Further Reading Map of Britain
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