What are the differences and differences between British and American cultures?

Although the British and Americans speak the same language, they have many completely different attitudes and living habits. In many details of life, you can tell the indifferent Englishman from the informal American at a glance. The following is what I have compiled about the differences and differences between British and American cultures. I hope you like it!

Cultural differences between Britain and America. language

Language is closely related to culture. Nida, a famous American translation theorist, said when describing the relationship between language and culture. Language is always an inseparable part of culture, and the meaning expressed in any article is directly or indirectly related to culture. In the final analysis, words lose their meaning without relevant culture. Cultural differences naturally mean language differences? Therefore, cultural differences include language differences.

British English and American English are not two independent languages. As we all know, the United States is an independent country in North America that broke away from British colonial rule, and English was also brought to the United States by British immigrants. Great changes have taken place in British English and American English in the past few hundred years. Their development is different, but there is not much difference between them. These differences are reflected in pronunciation, spelling, vocabulary and so on.

Just as every place has its own dialect, Britain and the United States have different pronunciation rules because of their different geographical distances. This is why people divide English pronunciation into British pronunciation and American pronunciation. In spelling, American English is more concise and closer to pronunciation than British English, such as color (USA) /colour (UK), realize (USA) /realize (UK), theater (USA) /theater (UK) and prolog (USA) /prologue (UK). The lexical differences between Britain and the United States are reflected in the different tendency of English and American to choose words when expressing the same meaning, such as flat (English) /apartment (American), lift (English) /elevator (American), rubber (English) /eraser (American), mailbox (English) /mailbox (American) and film (American).

Second, population.

Britain and the United States are both immigrant countries, but their populations are different.

Britain is made up of different races that invaded Britain from Europe at different times in history, including Iberians, Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons. Saxon), Danish, Norman. Among them, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, the Germanic tribes that invaded Britain, formed the foundation of modern British people.

The United States is a multi-ethnic country and a big immigrant country. 80% of the population in the United States comes from Europe, and most of them came to the United States in the19th century. The number is second only to whites, and there are indigenous Indians, Mexicans, China, Filipinos, etc. Therefore, the United States is called? A melting pot of national culture? .

Third, political power.

As highly developed capitalist countries, Britain and the United States have the same political system in essence, and they all implement the separation of three powers (that is, state power is divided into legislative power, executive power and judicial power) and bourgeois dictatorship, but the forms of the two are different.

Britain's political system is constitutional monarchy. According to the principle of succession to the British throne, the king of England is hereditary. According to the British Constitution, the King of England is the head of state, the commander-in-chief of the national armed forces, the head of justice and the secular leader of the Anglican Church. But the king's power exists in name only, which is commonly used by the British? Facing North Korea and ignoring politics? To describe the actual status of the king of England. The legitimate kingship has long been ceded to the cabinet. Parliament holds the legislative power and consists of three parts: the king, the upper house and the lower house; Cabinet is the leading core of the British government; Judicial power is exercised by the Chief Justice, and the Procurator-General and the Deputy Procurator-General also exercise some judicial power.

America has a federal system. According to the US Constitution, Congress is the highest legislative body; The president is the executive head of state and government; Judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court, and the two restrict each other.

Fourth, customs.

In terms of traditional customs, Britain and the United States have their own characteristics.

English people like to talk about the weather. The first thing they usually talk about is the weather. This is related to the changeable weather in Britain. Some people even say that a person can experience the changes of the four seasons in one day. ? Therefore, it is not surprising to see people wearing raincoats or umbrellas on sunny days in London.

What are the characteristics of American history? Do it yourself? National spirit. Hundreds of years ago, when poor Europeans first settled in this land, they saw vast wilderness. In order to cultivate and grow grain, they must reclaim land; In order to keep warm and cook, they have to dig mines; They had to build a house in order to have a place to live. They did everything themselves. Therefore, Americans respect labor and those who succeed by their own efforts.

Verb (abbreviation for verb) festival

Christmas, Thanksgiving and Halloween are all familiar western festivals, but not all of them are common in Britain and America. Thanksgiving Day is a typical American holiday. This is a historical, ethnic and religious festival, which began with Protestant immigrants. 102 Protestants ride horses in September 1620 to escape the religious persecution of the Anglican Church? Mayflower? After sailing at sea for 66 days, I came to Plymouth in the ice and snow. After the cold winter, there are only half of people left. The following year, with the help of local Indians, these Protestants learned to farm and had a bumper harvest in autumn. In order to thank God for his kindness and care, they invited Indian friends to have dinner and party for three days. Since then, the celebration date has been changed several times, and finally, the US Congress will set Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday of 165438+ 10.

There are many factors that make up culture, so this paper can't cover everything. American culture and British culture are identical in most respects, but they are different in some respects. American historian Louis? Hartz put forward in his masterpiece "American Freedom Tradition"? Fragment theory? This phenomenon is explained as follows: the United States was driven out of Britain during the English Religious Revolution? Fragments? . After being left in the North American continent, due to the complete change of the external environment, in the subsequent development process, the United States? Fragments? It mainly retains the maternal characteristics when it left the British mother, and evolves according to the requirements of the environment and its own needs, and finally forms its own unique characteristics with the passage of time.

As we all know, Britain and America are two countries linked by a common language. But in fact, it is more interesting to observe these differences, as the BBC recently did in a report entitled "Eight Situations in which British and Americans behave differently". The following teenagers chose four for you. Take a look.

As we all know, Britain and the United States have many similarities because they use the same language. But in fact, it is more interesting to discuss the differences between British and American cultures. Recently, the BBC published an article entitled? Eight situations: different performances of British and American people? . Let's take a look at four of them:

1. When someone hits you.

How did you react after being hit?

If someone bumps into an American, the victim is likely to face up to the unexpected aggressor and expect an apology. However, if the victim happens to be British, the victim is likely to say? sorry Before the other party apologizes.

If Americans are hit, most of them will look directly at the bold person and hope that the other person will apologize. On the other hand, if the people who happened to be hit by a bus happened to be British, they would probably say so before the bus-bumpers apologized? Excuse me. .

When you get dressed for dinner.

What to wear for dinner?

English people don't wear evening dresses at dinner, as you see in the popular TV series Downton Abbey. But when they go to a good place to eat, they do make efforts. However, Americans may wear casual shirts to high-end restaurants.

While enjoying dinner, the British people don't wear evening dresses as in the popular British drama Downton Abbey, but when they go to high-end restaurants, they will put a lot of effort into their clothes. On the other hand, Americans may wear casual shirts and go to high-end restaurants.

3. When you haven't finished your food.

What if the food is not finished?

English people don't think of taking leftovers home when they eat in restaurants. They think the food is somehow. A stain? Once they poke it with a knife and fork. In the United States, it is standard practice to pack and take home.

When eating out, the British don't pack the leftovers away, because in their opinion, once the food is eaten with a knife and fork? Did you get it? Was it later? Pollution? Yes However, for Americans, packing leftovers is a routine.

4. When you get in a taxi

How do you behave when you take a taxi?

The British will give the taxi driver an address and then think that this is interaction until it is time to pay. Even if they are taken away in a roundabout way, they are unlikely to say anything. However, in the United States, after telling the driver the destination, most passengers think it is nothing to tell him or her which route to take.

The British will follow the driver after telling him the destination? Zero communication? Don't talk until you get off the bus and pay. He won't even say anything when he sees the driver detour. Americans, on the other hand, most passengers will guide their own driving route after telling the driver their destination; And I don't think there is anything wrong with it.