University of Dalat British Studies

Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009

Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A

Group member:
1. Le Thi Hoang Giao
2. Dang Hoang Van Ha
3. Nguyen Tien Hung
4. Dinh Vo Duy Kha
5. Nguyen Thanh Tam
6. Pham Huyen Trang
7. Tran Thi Bao Trang
8. Vu Thi Yen Van
9. Lieng Roong Will

Topic:

Family life in Britain

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A
Presentation outline:
I. Introduction
II. Body
1. What is family life like in Britain?
2. What is popular food in Britain?
a. MEALS and MEAL TIMES
b. Traditional breakfast – lunch – dinner
c. The Sunday Roast Dinner
d. Popular food
3. What do British people like doing at the weekends ?
4. What sports do you play in Britain?
III. Conclusion
IV. Discussion

Presentation script:
I. Introduction
II. Body
1. What is family life like in Britain

Thanh Tam: The family in Britain is changing. The once typical British family headed
by two parents has undergone substantial changes during the twentieth century. In
particular there has been a rise in the number of single-person households, which
increased from 18 to 29 per cent of all households between 1971 and 2002.
In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult,
expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are changing. Many
couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together (cohabit) without getting
married. Only about 60% of these couples will eventually get married.
In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of
children in Britain are born to unmarried (cohabiting) parents. Cohabiting couples are
also starting families without first being married. Before 1960 this was very unusual, but
in 2001 around 23 per cent of births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.
People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not
want to have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and put off
having a baby until late thirties.
The number of single-parent families is increasing. This is mainly due to more
marriages ending in divorce, but some women are also choosing to have children as lone
parents without being married.

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A

2. What is popular food in Britain

Huyen Trang: MEALS and MEAL TIMES
We have three main meals a day:
Breakfast - between 7:00 and 9:00,
Lunch - between 12:00 and 1:30 p.m.
Dinner (sometimes called Supper) - The main meal. Eaten anytime between 6:30 and
8:00 p.m. (Evening meal)
And there is one more sub-meal, which is a part of British life, called:
Tea - anywhere from 5:30 at night to 6:30 p.m.

On Sundays the main meal of the day is often eaten at midday instead of in the evening.
This meal usually is a Roast Dinner consisting of a roast meat, yorkshire pudding and two
or three kinds of vegetables.

BREAKFAST
Most people around the world seem to think a typical English breakfast consists
of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, mushrooms and baked beans all washed down with
a cup of coffee. Now-a-days, however, a typical English breakfast is more likely to be a
bowl of cereals, a slice of toast, orange juice and a cup of coffee.
The traditional English breakfast consists of eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread,
baked beans and mushrooms. Even though not many people will eat this for breakfast
today, it is always served in hotels and guest houses around Britain.
The traditional English breakfast is called the 'Full English' and sometimes referred to as
'The Full English Fry-up'.

LUNCH
Many children at school and adults at work will have a 'packed lunch'. This
typically consists of a sandwich, a packet of crisps, a piece of fruit and a drink. The
'packed lunch' is kept in a plastic container.
Sandwiches are also known as a 'butty' or 'sarnie' in some parts of the UK.

DINNER
The evening meal is usually called 'tea', 'dinner' or 'supper'.
A typical British meal for dinner is "meat and two veg". We put hot brown gravy,
(traditionally made from the juices of the roast meat, but more often today from a
packet!) on the meat and usually the vegetables. One of the vegetables is almost always
potatoes.

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A
Bao Trang: THE SUNDAY ROAST DINNER
Sunday lunch time is a typical time to eat the traditional Sunday Roast.
Traditionally it consists of roast meat, (cooked in the oven for about two hours), two
different kinds of vegetables and potatoes with a Yorkshire pudding. The most common
joints are beef, lamb or pork; chicken is also popular.
Beef is eaten with hot white horseradish sauce, pork with sweet apple sauce and lamb
with green mint sauce. Gravy is poured over the meat.

POPULAR FOOD AS WELL AS TRADITIONAL FOOD

Besides Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, the British also have
Toad-in-the-Hole:sausages covered in batter and roasted.
Fish and chips: Fish (cod, haddock, huss, plaice) deep fried in flour batter with chips
(fried potatoes) dressed in malt vinegar. This is England's traditional take-away food.
Shepherds' Pie: Made with minced lamb and vegetables topped with mashed potato)
Cottage Pie: Made with minced beef and vegetables topped with mashed potato.
Gammon Steak with egg (Gammon is ham)
Lancashire Hotpot: A casserole of meat and vegetables topped with sliced potatoes.
Pie and Mash with parsley liquor
Bangers and Mash (mashed potatoes and sausages).
Black Pudding (Blood Pudding)
Bacon Roly-Poly (made with a suet pastry)
Cumberland sausage

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A

3. What do British people like doing at the weekends ?

Hoang Giao: The weekends are a time for families in Britain. Often the parents are not at
work having worked a five day week from Monday to Friday. Saturdays are a busy time
for shops with many families going shopping.
Sundays used to be a very special day of the week in Britain. It was the one day of
the week for 'worship and rest'. The shops were closed and most people were at home or
at church. Popular leisure activities on Sunday used to be going to church and doing odd
jobs around the home such as gardening and DIY.
Besides, British people enjoy various indoor and outdoor activities in Britain.
A recent Euro stat survey, the EU's statistical office, discovered that people in
Britain spend about 45% of their free time watching television, 24% of their free time
socializing, 22-23% on sport and hobbies, and 10% on other activities. Other popular
leisure activities are listening to the radio, listening to pre-recorded music, reading, DIY,
gardening, eating out and going to the cinema.
Television: The most common leisure activity in the UK is watching TV. The
average viewing time is 25 hours per person per week. Almost all households have at
least one television set.
Radio: People in Britain listen to an average 15 hours and 50 minutes of radio
each week.

That would be indoor activities. Now, my partner, Yen Van will tell you about outdoor
activities:

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A
Yen Van:
Entertaining: The second most popular activity in Britain is visiting or
entertaining friends or relations. They like to go to cinema, eating out or doing gardening.
Cinema (Movie house): Britons made 123 million visits to the cinema in 1998
making it the most popular cultural activity in the UK.
Eating out: Eating out has grown in popularity, with British people spending in
1999 an average of £5.63 per person per week on food (excluding alcohol) outside the
home.
Homes and Gardens: The British are known as a nation of gardeners. Most people
have a garden on their property. Gardening has been a popular pastime since Roman
times. Many people in Britain are proud of their houses and gardens. They want their
houses and gardens to look nice. Every town in Britain has one or more DIY (Do it
Yourself) centers and garden centers. These are like supermarkets for the home and
garden. These places are very popular with British home-owners at the weekends.

Going to pubs: Going to the pub is the most popular leisure activity outside the home.

Other activities include traveling and the sports – that will be presented to you by my
friends, Tien Hung and Duy Kha and Will.

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A
4. What sports do you play in Britain?
Duy Kha:
Sports play an important part in the life in Britain and is a popular leisure activity.
Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football,
lawn tennis, golf and rugby.
England's national sport is cricket although to many people football (soccer) is
seen as our national sport. Football is our most popular sport. Some of England's football
teams are world famous, the most famous being Manchester United, Arsenal and
Liverpool.
a. Cricket
Cricket is played on village greens and in towns/cities on Sundays from April to August.
The rules of cricket became the responsibility, in the 18th century, of the Marylebone
Cricket Club(MCC), based at Lord’s cricket ground in north London.
b. Football
Football is undoubtedly the most popular sport in England, and has been played for
hundreds of years.
In the English Football League there are 92 professional clubs. These are semi-
professional, so most players have other full-time jobs. Hundreds of thousands of people
also play football in parks and playgrounds just for fun.
The highlight of the English football year is the FA (Football Association) Cup Final each
May.
c. Rugby
Rugby originated from Rugby school in Warwickshire. It is similar to football, but played
with an oval ball. Players can carry the ball and tackle each other. The best rugby teams
compete in the Super League final each September.
For many years Rugby was only played by the rich upper classes, but now it is popular all
over the country
d. Tennis
The world's most famous tennis tournament is Wimbledon. It started at a small club in
south London in the nineteenth century. It begins on the nearest Monday to June 22, at a
time when English often have the finest weather. Millions of people watch the
Championships on TV live.
It is traditional for visitors to eat strawberries and cream whilst they watch the tennis

Now my friend, Tien Hung will list some more traditional sports in Britain.

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A
Tien Hung: Besides cricket, football, rugby and tennis, the British are also of other
traditional sports. They are:
e. Netball: Netball is the largest female team sport in England
f. Basketball: Over 3 million people participate in basketball in the UK.
g. Golf: Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf.
h. Polo: Another equestrian sport is polo, brought to Britain from India in the
19th Century by army officers. It is the fastest ball sport in the world.
i. Table Tennis (ping pong): Table tennis was invented in England in 1880.
j. Badminton: Badminton takes its name from the Duke of Beaufort’s
country home, Badminton House, where the sport was first played in the
19th century.
k. University Boat Race.

Will:
l. Fishing (Angling) – one of the most popular sports in UK, with an
estimated 3.3 million people participating in the sport on a regular basis.
m. Bowls
n. Boxing
o. Swimming: Swimming is also a popular pastime and enjoyed by people of
all ages
p. Martial arts: Various martial arts, mainly derived from the Far East, are
practised in the UK, such as judo and karate.
q. Darts - Darts is a very popular pub game
r. Boxing Day Hunts – a day for fox hunting. The huntsmen and
huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow
the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the
hounds. Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink
hot wine. But the tradition of the December 26th is changing. Now, some
people want to stop Boxing Day hunts (and other hunts too) They don't
like fox hunting. For them it is not a sport - it is cruel.

III. Conclusion
IV. Discussion

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University of Dalat British Studies
Faculty of Foreign Language Spring 2009
Class: AVK30D Instructor: Tran Thanh Hung, M.A

GLOSSARY
BANGERS n. 1. Sausages. A very common meal is BANGERS and MASH (sausages
and mashed potatoes). The sausages are called BANGERS because they will burst if you
do not pierce them while they are cooking.

BISCUIT n. 1. Cookie. 2. Cracker, as in, "BISCUITS and cheese". Other types of

BISCUITS include BATH OLIVERS, WATER BISCUITS, BOURBONS and
DIGESTIVES.

BLACK PUDDING n. 1. Not a pudding at all, but rather a form of blood sausage.

BLANCMANGE (blah-mahn-je) n. 1. A dessert rather like custard made by mixing a

white powder (today this is often fruit flavoured) with hot milk. When this cools it
solidifies producing a flavoured jello-like dessert. It may be eaten warm or after it has
cooled.

BUBBLE AND SQUEAK n. 1. Fried left-over potatoes and greens (with perhaps some
onions added for flavour).

CHIPPIE n. 1. A fish and CHIP shop.

CIDER n. 1. Not apple juice, but a rather strong alcoholic drink made from apple juice.

CINEMA n. (1) A movie theater. This is not to be confused with a THEATRE.

CRISPS. n. Snack chips; usually the potato kind.

GAMMON n. 1. Ham.

JAM n. A preserve of fruit boiled with sugar and water. It is spread on bread and butter.

MARMITE n. 1. A spread made from yeast extract.

PARLIAMENT The group of people who rule the United Kingdom.

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