CPI Tino Grandío Bilingual Sections: UK

Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Food in Britain

There are several aspects of food and eating in Britain that are shocking or at least surprising for a Spaniard:

Meal times and names:

Marmite by Malcolm Farmer

Large breakfasts. A proper traditional breakfast might include fried eggs, sausage, baked beans, bacon, toast, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, toast or fried bread ... and, of course, a cup of tea or coffee. However, nowadays, most people in Britain just have a simpler breakfast with cereal, toast, a cup of tea or coffee and some juice. A "nice cuppa" refers to a cup of tea.
Many people will drink tea or coffee while having a meal, instead of drinking water. It might be difficult to imagine someone eating soup while drinking soup, but not from a Briton.
Almost anything can be eaten on toast: beans, Marmite, egg, tomato, cheese...

Tea time at Lucy's by MrsWoman

Tea is the national drink. It is drunk at all meals, any time of the day and any time of the year, not just for the meal called "tea".
There are also some foods that may seem strange to foreigners:

haggis
Scotch eggs
Toad in the hole
black pudding
Welsh rarebit

Fish and chips. If you don't know what to eat any time, you may pop into a fish and chips shop and buy your dinner there.

Penny Lane fish and chips shop by Loco Steve

Fish and chips by Richard Allaway

Traditional british food from comeniusnewclans

British food from Anthonny Garcia

QUIZZES:

READ MORE:

https://britainexplorer.com/ten-strange-british-foods/

https://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/food-quirks-that-british-people-dont-realise-are-weird

Monday, December 31, 2018

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Differences between Christmas in Britain and in the USA

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

It is a traditional dance seen throughout the month of May is Morris Dancing. It is a traditional English form of folkdancing, performed by groups of men or women.

Morris Dancing has been danced for centuries, and passed down through the generations in the villages of rural England. The dances are usually performed at festivals such as May Day, Whitsun and Christmas.

Morris men dacing - image by Richard2s

What is its origin?

There are different hypotheses about the origin of Morris Dancing. The name might refer to the possibility of the form of dancing coming to England from the Moors of North Africa; or it may have been called 'Moor-ish' simply because the dancers sometimes painted their faces black, and people compared this to the dark-skinned Moors.

The Music

The dancing is very lively and accompanied by an accordion player, a melodeon or fiddle player (Cotswolds) or a noisy band with a drum (Border Morris or North West sides).

Morris dancing - image by Kaihsu

Costumes

Morris dancers wear different clothes depending on the part of the United Kingdom where they are from. They are often dressed in white with coloured baldrics (coloured belts) across their chests but red or green are also common.

The Dances

There are usually six or eight dancers arranged in two lines or in a circle facing each other. The dancers may carry white handkerchiefs that they shake, or short sticks that they bang against each other as they dance. Some dancers have bell-pads tied at their knees, which make a loud and cheerful rhythm as they dance.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

The United Kingdom and the British Isles

Great britain and the british isles from Ana Arias Castro

Saturday, February 10, 2018

British currency and money

This presentation by Taylor shows the different coins and bills used in the USA:

Moneymaterials from Ana Arias Castro

And this other presentation will tell you about British money:

British currency from Ludivina

Thursday, February 8, 2018

English courses abroad for Galician students

Cartel informativo 2018 from Ana Arias Castro

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

What is Boxing Day?

Boxing day from Tino Grandio

Friday, December 22, 2017

Guide to British Christmas

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Types of houses

Thursday, June 8, 2017

UK elections explained to non-Brits

from The Guardian

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

How to Make Tea

Water boiling in a kettle

Boil the water. Using a kettle, bring more than enough water to a boil. The better tasting your water, the better tasting your tea. The best water is filtered or bottled (but not distilled). If using tap water, let it run cold for 10 seconds before using it for tea. Make sure you only boil the water one time. If you boil the water more than once, the oxygen levels in the water will be reduced and make the tea taste flat.
Pre heat whatever you want to put the tea in. This will prevent the steeping water from dropping in temperature as soon as it is poured in. Add a little boiling water to a ceramic or porcelain teapot or the individual cups--wherever the tea will be steeped (ceramic and porcelain retain heat well). Cover the teapot with the lid and a cozy, if you have one. Let the water stand until the vessel is warm, then pour out the water and proceed immediately to the next step.
Put the tea in an infuser, strainer, or directly in the bottom of the teapot. Steeping without an infuser or strainer gives the tea more room to unfold and release additional flavor. Start with one heaped teaspoon per cup of tea to be made, unless you have instructions which say otherwise. The amount of loose tea you use will depend on the type and strength of the tea, as well as your individual taste, so a little experimentation may be in order.
Add hot water. Pour it over the tea. Use an amount in proportion to the quantity of tea you've added (eg. 5 cups of water for 5 teaspoons of tea). The ideal water temperature varies based on the type of tea being steeped. The more oxidized (fermented) the tea (e.g. black tea) the hotter the water should be, whereas less oxidized teas (white, green) should be steeped in water that isn't as hot.

White or green teas (full leaf): Well below boiling (170-185 F or 76-85 C). When the water boils, turn off the heat and let the water cool for 30 seconds for white tea and 60 seconds for green tea before pouring it over the leaves.
Oolongs (full leaf): 185-210 F or 85-98 C
Black teas (full leaf): Water must be at a rolling boil (212 F or 100 C). The most common mistake is to steep black tea with water that is not hot enough, which can prevent the active substances in black tea from developing.
Pu-erhs: Full rolling boil (212 F or 100 C).
Tea bags: Never let the water boil. Since tea bags often include tea dust and fannings (the smallest tea particle grades) and so have more surface area, use slightly less hot water.

Let the tea steep. Cover with the cozy to retain warmth. Different teas require different steeping times. In general, whole-leaf tea should be steeped longer than broken-leaf tea.Check the box for guidance. If there are no instructions, steep for a minute or two, then taste frequently until it's flavorful but not bitter. If practicing gong-fu brewing to make multiple infusions, use shorter infusion times, typically 30 seconds to 1 minute. For normal (Western) brewing, the steeping times are longer. The following recommendations are guidelines:

Oolong teas: 4-7 minutes
Black teas: 3-5 minutes

Green teas: 2-3 minutes

Remove the tea leaves. Get rid of the tea leaves in the pot (if you have a strainer or infuser) or pour the liquid into another vessel with a strainer to catch any tea leaves. Tuck the teapot back inside a tea cozy if there is tea remaining in the pot after serving everyone. This helps keep the tea hot longer.
Serve. Depending on your taste, you may want to serve black tea tea with milk, sugar, lemon or honey. Do not serve the tea with both lemon and milk or the milk will curdle. If you use milk, add the milk to the cup first and then add the tea; this prevents the hot tea from scalding the milk by heating it gradually.
Infuse again if you want to make more tea for a second serving. Many teas, especially whole-leaf green and oolong teas, can be infused multiple times, so repeat the above steps, increasing the steeping time with each infusion, to get the most out of your tea.

Finished.

Text from:

Wikihow: How to Make Tea

Monday, January 23, 2017

England, the United Kingdom and Great Britain

Monday, December 26, 2016

Boxing Day

St. Stephen - image from Wikipedia

When is Boxing Day?
In Britain, Boxing Day or St. Stephen's day, is usually celebrated on the following day after Christmas Day, which is the 26th of December.

Like Christmas Day, Boxing Day is a public holiday in Britain. This means it is typically a non working day in the whole of Britain. When Boxing Day falls on a Saturday or Sunday the following Monday is the public holiday. Children don't go to school and can play with their new toys, whereas adults have another day off after Christmas day.

Where does the term Boxing Day come from?
It started as a day when poor people were helped by wealthy people. Traditionally, the 26th of December was the day to open the Christmas Box (a wooden container with gifts - what we might call aguinaldo in Spanish) to share the contents with the poor.

Origins of this celebration
These Christmas Boxes were used in different ways:

To protect shipts
In churches to help the poor
A present for the workers who had to work on Christmas Day

Shoppers in Toronto - image from Wikipedia

What do people do today?

It's a time for staying with one's family, similar to Christmas Day.
Shops open for the sales, so it's a great day to go shopping for bargains and shops and shopping centers are full of people.
Children play with their new presents

LEARN MORE:

Saturday, July 23, 2016

United Kingdom vs. Great Britain

Thursday, June 16, 2016

What is Brexit?

WHAT IS IT?
The UK is going to hold a referendum to decide if they stay in the European Union or if they are the first country to leave it.

WHEN?
The referendum will take place on the 23rd of June.
Polling stations will open between 7 a.m. and 10 p. m.
If they decide to leave, that process would probably take years.

PROS OF LEAVING THE EUROPEAN UNION

The UK would stop paying the fee they pay to the EU every year.
Taxing might change as EU taxing regulations would not apply.
CAP (The Central Agricultural Policy) is said to be very expensive and not very effective.
The EU is thought to have a lot of "useless" bureaucracy.
In the EU there is free movement of people so the UK has little power controlling immigration and immigrants are supposed to benefit from and even abuse the British welfare system.

CONS OF LEAVING THE EUROPEAN UNION

Free trade with the EU would be limited and about 50% of their trade takes place with the EU.
If the UK keeps special agreements with the EU (as Norway does) they would still have to pay and their situation would not be very different from the one they have now.
London is one of the most important financial centres and it might be affected.
The EU is one of the largest world markets and access to it would resent.
The EU has introduced legislation protecting workers: regulated working hours (limited to 48 a week), paid parental leave and anti-discrimination laws.
Many jobs depend of the current relation with the EU.
Britons travelling to the EU would need their passports again.
Most immigrants into the UK have a higher education level than Britons themselves.