Culture notes
British towns and cities
Class Book pp.32–33
London is Britain’s biggest city and its capital city. It is in fact
the biggest city in Europe. About 8.5 million people live in
London. It is very expensive to live there, so many people
live in very small flats or houses. People from all over the
world live in London, and more than 300 different languages
are spoken there! Because of the multi-cultural population,
there are shops and restaurants selling clothes and food
from all different countries in the world. Because London is
so large and crowded, there are lots of ways to travel around
the city: the red London buses with two levels (double-
decker buses), taxis, known as black cabs, where the drivers
need to take a test to show they know all the streets in the
city, and the famous London Underground train system, also
known as The Tube. It is the oldest underground train
system in the world and there are 270 stations!
There are other cities in Britain, but none nearly as large as
London. The biggest are Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow and
Sheffield. Only Birmingham has more than a million people.
The rest of the British people live in towns and villages. They
are not as busy, it is not as expensive to live there, and the
houses are bigger. In many smaller towns and villages, there
are no longer many shops or restaurants, places to work or
even schools, and people must go to the larger towns to
shop, eat, work and study. Lots of British families live in small
towns but work in bigger towns and cities and they drive or
take trains and buses to get to work.
The British royal family
Class Book pp.58–59
Although Queen Elizabeth II is the Queen of the United
Kingdom, she is not really the leader – the Prime Minister is
the leader and makes all the important decisions. After the
Queen dies, the crown will pass to her eldest son, Prince
Charles, and he will become king. Although the Queen has
two more sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, they are
not next after Charles. When Prince Charles dies, the crown
will be passed to his eldest son, who is Prince William.
The royal family has lots of palaces and big houses, not only
Buckingham Palace. While the Queen and her husband live
there when they are in London, they also have two castles
in Scotland, another castle in London, called Windsor Castle,
and several more very grand houses or palaces in London
and other parts of the country. The Queen’s family live in all
these grand houses. The royal family spend much of their
time attending official ceremonies and events, and the
Queen has some official duties with the government: for
example, she travels in her carriage to the British Houses of
Parliament at the beginning of the year to ‘open Parliament’.
When the Queen performs these official duties, she wears
her crown and robes, but at other events, she dresses in
normal clothes.
Rainbow Bridge 4
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British schools
Class Books pp.84–85
Children in Britain usually start school in the September
after their fourth birthday. They attend primary school for
seven years, until they are eleven years old. Then they go
to secondary school. There is no middle school. Almost all
children in Britain go to state schools, which are free to
attend and do not require any exams to enter. Less than 7%
attend private schools, which are expensive. Some require
students to pass an exam in order to gain a place, but not all
of them. Most of them are also boarding schools. Many of
the children at boarding schools come from other countries.
Most schools in Britain are co-ed. It is mainly private schools
that have girls or boys only.
Almost all schools in Britain require children to wear school
uniforms. At primary school, the uniforms are usually quite
informal, comprising a sweater and polo shirt with trousers
or a skirt. At secondary school, the uniforms are more
formal, often including a blazer and tie, for both girls and
boys. Sport is an important part of school life in Britain.
Typical primary school sports include football, gymnastics,
dance and athletics. At secondary school they may also play
cricket, rugby and hockey. Many children play more sports
after school and at weekends. Football is probably the most
common, especially for boys. Many girls take dance lessons
during primary school.
Halloween
Class Book pp.94–95
To celebrate Halloween in the UK, people carve funny or
scary faces into pumpkins, then they put a candle inside and
display these on Halloween night. Some children go trick-or-
treating. They dress up in costumes, including witches, black
cats, ghosts, skeletons, vampires and bats, and wear masks
or have their faces painted. Then they go out in groups and
visit houses in their area or the houses of friends and family.
When they knock at the door, children shout Trick or treat!
and then they are given sweets or chocolate. Some children
go to Halloween parties, and dress up in costumes and paint
their faces.
Christmas
Class Book pp.96–97
People in Britain begin preparing for Christmas at least one
month before. For children, the Christmas period often begins
on December 1st when they get their Advent calendars.
Children open a door on their Advent calendars each day
until December 24th; behind each door there is a Christmas
scene or a treat like chocolates. Families put up their Christmas
trees a few weeks before Christmas and decorate them with
baubles, tinsel and lights. There is usually a star or an angel at
the top. Father Christmas delivers his presents on Christmas
Eve, and puts them under the tree for children. Many people
bake sweet treats before Christmas, for example mince pies,
Christmas cake (a rich fruit cake soaked in alcohol), and
gingerbread biscuits or gingerbread houses. Gingerbread is a
biscuit made with brown sugar and lots of spices.
Culture notes 1
 These biscuits are cut out in the shape of a little man and
decorated with coloured icing and sweets. Gingerbread
houses are constructed with large flat pieces of gingerbread
and children decorate them with icing and sweets as well.

Easter
Class Book pp.98–99
Children in the UK have two weeks of holidays at Easter.
Typical things to do during the Easter holidays include
visiting botanical gardens, or walking in the woods and
parks to see the beautiful spring flowers. Many families like
to visit a farm or ‘petting zoo’ to see all the new baby animals
that arrive in spring. Children are allowed to hold baby
animals like rabbits, ducklings and chicks, and often, they
are allowed to feed lambs with a baby bottle full of milk!
The highlight of the Easter holidays for children is, of course,
Easter Sunday. Many primary-age children have an egg hunt
in their gardens. Typically, small chocolate eggs are wrapped
in colourful foil and children race around the garden with
their baskets, trying to collect as many as possible. Families
often get together for lunch on Easter Sunday, but the best
part for children is eating their chocolate eggs, bunnies,
chicks and sweets.

Rainbow Bridge 4 Culture notes 2

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