What do you REALLY know about

the United Kingdom…

or is it Britain….

or is it England???

British Culture Quiz

Answer each question to the best of your ability, explaining where needed. Remember…this is a QUIZ so you may NOT talk to your neighbors about these questions. To do so would be a violation of my GOLDEN RULES.

1. How many countries make up the United Kingdom?

2. What is the current currency of the UK?

3. Who is the current monarch of the UK?

4. Where does the monarch officially reside?

5. What famous river flows through London?

6. What centuries did William Shakespeare live?

7. How many times did King Henry VIII get married? What is the name of at least one of his wives?

8. What are the two largest political parties in the UK?

9. Where are the crown jewels kept?

10. Where were the Beatles from?

11. Who is Nessie and where does she reside?

12. What is a double decker?

13. St. George is the patron saint of England—what is he famous for killing?

14. What is the most popular food in Britain?

15.What is the name of London’s most famous time piece?

UK vs. US Language

In the US column, write our word for the UK term; if you believe we use the same term simply write “Same”. “Chips” is done for you.

UK / US / UK / US / UK / US
Clothing Items / School Terms / Food
Knickers / Rubber / Biscuit
Jumper / Public School / Chips / FRIES
Vest / StateSchool / Jelly
Wellies / Zebra Crossing / Runner Beans
Trainers / Marks / Scone
Creative Writing

Using all of the target words AND at least 2-3 of the UK words above, complete the rest of the story. Really let your imagination flow. Don’t try to have the story make sense—just go with whatever comes to mind. Don’t forget to create a title. 1 Page Minimum (hand written; front and back)

Target words: England, suitcase, aviator sunglasses, brick wall, dangerous, cliff, rose colored vase, Stonehenge,

I was on my way to the Tower of London when…

The Development of the English Language

English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, all of which developed from a long-dead language known as Proto-Indo-European (circa 4000 BC). This common ancestry can be traced by looking at similarities between words.

Pәter
Sanskrit / Piter
Classical Greek / Pater
Latin / Pater
Gothic / Fadar
Old Irish / Athir
French / Pere
Spanish / Padre
Portuguese / Pai
English / Father
German / Vater

Proto-Indo-European

Germanic

*Thus, there are many borrowings in the English Language from other languages based on the history of not only England, but Europe and the United states as well.

The English language is divided into three periods: Old English (OE, also called Anglo-Saxon, from the 400s through 1066), Middle English (ME, from 1066 to about the 1400s) and Modern English (MnE, from the late 1400s onward). What is the differencebetween them? You can see the difference by looking at a text in each version.

OLD English / MIDDLE English / EARLY MODERN English / LATE MODERN English
Uren Fader †at art in heofnas
Sic gehalyed †in noma
To cymeð þin ric
Sic þin willa sue is in heofnas
and in earðas
Uren hlaf ofer wirðe sel us to
daeg
And forgef us scylda urna
Sue we forgefan sculdgun
urum
And no inleadeð uridk in
costung
Als gefrig urich fro ifle / Our Fadir that art in heuenes
Halewid be thi name
ThiKingdom comme to
Bi Thi wille done as in heuen
so in erthe
Gyve to us this dai oure breed
ouer other substance
And forgyve to us oure dettis
As we forgyven to oure
dettouris
And leede us not in to
temptacioun
But delyvere us fro yvel / Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our dayly
bread,
And forgyve us our trespasses,
Even as we forgyve those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into
temptation
But delivere us from evil / Our father who is in heaven,
Blessed be your name.
May your kingdom come,
May your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily
bread
And forgive us our sins,
Even as we forgive those who
sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.

Old English has different ______.

  • "Thorn" (Þ or þ) represents a th sound at the front of words. The sound it represents is like that in the modern words ______and ______.
  • The letter "eth" (ð) usually appears at the end or middle of words, and it represents a sound like that in the modern word ______and ______. A capital eth is written as a crossed-d (Ð).
  • Other Anglo-Saxon letters include the letter "ash" (æ), which stands for a nasal /-a/ sound
  • The runic letter "wynn" (ˇ), which stands for a /-w/ sound
  • The letter yogh (Z), which stands for a gurgling /g-/ sound in the back of the throat that we no longer use in modern English.

Other differences are that Old English does not require a specific ______order, the way Middle and Modern

English do. Instead, OE uses declensions (little ______stuck on the end of ______) to show what each word is doing in the sentence.

Middle English is much closer to Modern English. Spelling has not yet been formalized in a systematic way, and many ______terms such as "substance" (Latin substantia) and "temptation" (Latin temptatio) have entered English through intermediary French influences under the Norman conquerors in 1066.

The Early Modern English of ______day still retains a distinction between thou/______, thy/______, thine/______, which will be lost in late Modern English, and it still retains some spelling variation, though not so much as Middle English. Shakespeare's alphabet in the early modern is practically identical to ours--including the letters "J" and "Z." However, Shakespearean English or Early Modern English doesn't yet have identical punctuation conventions to ours. For instance, the ______mark still wasn't invented in 1590.

(adapted from

Amaral English III: Brit Lit IntroPage 1 of 3