イギリス英会話ブログ

Well, this is my first entry in the ‘Advanced’ category and I have been racking my brains to come up with something interesting for any readers out there… I’m not really much of an authority on anything, apart from speaking English of course; my opinions about things, whilst they may be in some respects typically English, are no more than the personal opinions of one individual. Nevertheless, I write this in the hope that someone will find what I have to say interesting or useful.

The first thing I would like to do is to recommend an excellent book about English society and culture. It’s “Watching the English” by Kate Fox, an anthropologist/sociologist with a humourous turn of mind who has spent most of her career studying the behaviour of English people to find out what our defining characteristics may be.

I really cannot recommend this book enough - it is intelligent, perceptive, humourous and very accurate in its portrayals of typical English behaviour. She covers a range of topics in the book from the English attitude to queueing, to behaviour in pubs, behaviour in public transport and a whole host of other situations. Half of the time what makes the book so funny is not so much her sparkling wit as simply that the English - seen in this way as if from the outside - are a very funny people. Without a doubt, the best book you can read if you want to get inside the minds of the English!

There is another book, also by Kate Fox, which I would also like to recommend. It’s “Passport to the Pub - A Tourist’s Guide to Pub Etiquette”. This book will open your eyes to the very special environment of the English pub and its unwritten rules and codes of behaviour. To be fair I haven’t read it yet myself, but if it’s anything like “Watching the English”, then you will not be disappointed!

So, go and buy a book - much better than straining your eyes staring at a computer screen.