What is the difference between being “English” or “British”?

    Nehézségi szint: Középfok
    Témakör: Culture and Civilization
    Lecke célja: Szókincsfejlesztés

Have you ever met an Englishman? And a Briton? Do you know what’s the difference between them?
Do you know what is the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom and England? If you are not sure about the answer just go on reading. 🙂

The British Isles

The British Isles

The UK (or United Kingdom) is made up of 4 countries :

  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • Northern Ireland

It’s official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Norhtern Ireland. It’s quite long, isn’t it? 🙂
Maybe that’s why it is not used too often. It’s capital is London, and the UK is the member of the European Union. London was founded by the Romans AD 43 and is standing on the banks of the River Thames which is 380 km long.

Great Britain comprises only England, Scotland, and Wales. So being English and being British means not the same.
Britain is often represented on illustrations by a woman with helmet and a trident (a long weapon with 3 points) called Britannia.
Britannia was the Roman name for Britain.

England is part of Britain, and is situated on the south part of the largest island of the British Isles.

The estimated population of the United Kingdom in the 2011 census was 63.182 million. 84% of the population lives in England.*

Words and phrases to remember
be sure about sg (v) – biztos valamiben
capital (n) – főváros
AD (adv) – anno domini – időszámításunk szerint, Krisztus születése után
comprise (v) – magában foglal, tartalmaz
to represent (v)- képvisel
estimated (adj)- becsült
population (n) – népesség
census (n) – népszámlálás

Németh Eszter
A céltudatos nyelvtanulók angol nyelvtanára

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