British and American families

When two persons are married, the man is called the husband; the woman becomes the wife. When a child is born in the family the father and the mother of the child are called parents. A family generally consists of a father, a mother and children – sons and daughters or both. The first born child is the eldest; the last born child is the youngest. Two children that are born together are called twins.

The father and mother of the husband becomes the father – in – law and mother – in – law of the wife. The husband is the son – in –law; the wife is the daughter – in law; they have brothers – in – law and sisters – in – law.

The other members of the family are the relatives: uncles, aunts, cousins etc.

The brothers and sisters of any of these parents become the uncles and aunts of the children.

In case of second marriage we speak of a step – father or a step – mother, half – son, half – daughter.

British and American families are small. In fact the populations of both Britain and the USA have stopped growing. The typical family has a father, mother and two children. Grandparents come to visit, but do not usually live with their children. Most people get married between the ages of 20 and 23 but many marriages end in divorce. This means that both countries have a large number of "single parent families", one father or mother looking after their children alone.

The typical British family has a car, a colour TV set, a washing machine, and a cat or dog as well. They start the day at about 7 o'clock, have breakfast at 8 and are off to work by 8.30. More and more women now go out to work as well as men. The children have lunch at school at about 12.30, and come home at 4 in the afternoon. Their parents are usually at home by 6 o'clock, and the family eats together at 6.30 or 7. In the evenings, father may go to the pub for a drink, or stay at home and watch TV with the others. Children go to bed early, at about 8 o'clock, two or three hours before their parents.

The typical American family has more money than a British family. Many of them have two or three cars, large modern kitchens and more electrical goods. They eat more meat and spend more on clothes. But their daily programme is nearly the same. Like British children, American children eat lunch at school, come home mid-afternoon, and go to bed earlier than their parents.

My flat

I live in a new nine-storied block of flats in Pushkin Street. It is a tall, well-built house. There is a big grocery, a hair-dresser’s and a laundry on the ground floor. Our flat is on the third floor, so I never use a lift. There are three rooms in our flat: a living-room, a bedroom and a study. We also have a kitchen, a bath-room, an entrance hall and a balcony. The first place you get to when you enter our flat is the entrance hall. It is rather large. There is a hall-stand, where we hang our hats and coats when we take them off. We have also a large mirror with a little table under it there. There is a beautiful carpet on the floor. Our living-room is nice-furnished. The windows face south-west, so the room is very light. The floor of our living-room is yellow, the ceiling and the walls are white. The curtains on the windows are light-brown. There is a cozy green sofa in our living-room. It is at the wall to the left of the door. The sofa with cushions looks very comfortable. There are two arm-chairs in front of the TV-set. We like to rest there after a hard day’s work and enjoy a TV program. On the wall you can see some beautiful pictures.

Our bed-room is rather large. It is papered pale pink and there is cream colored jalousie on the large window. There is a double-bed and a chest-of-drawers where we keep our sheets, blankets, pillow-cases and bedspreads. Two bedside tables and a bureau are in the bed-room too. Next to the chest-of-drawers there is a large built-in wardrobe for clothes and linen. Our study is small. There are bookshelves full of different books. A little desk is in front of the window. There is a computer on it.

The kitchen is rather large. There is a kitchen unit in it. Here we keep saucepans, frying pans, plates, cups, saucers and teapots. In the draws at the bottom of our kitchen-unit there are knives, forks and spoons. There is also a fine electric cooker, a refrigerator, a table with stools in the kitchen too. We have also a food processor, an oven, a toaster, a dishwasher.

Our bath-room is not large. There is a toilet, a washing-machine, a bath, a wash-basin, a towel-rail with towels and a laundry-basket. In the bathroom cabinet we keep toilet-rolls, tooth-brushes, sponges, soap, shampoo, a hair dryer, and air-freshener. I like my flat very much and I like to receive our guests here.

Things I love about the US

Sarah Araf is British but she lives in Ohio, in the US. Here are some things she loves about living there.

1 ________________________________________________________________________

In the US, the customer is really important. When you walk into a store, the staff greet you with a smile and ask “How are you?”. The customer is always right too. If you have a problem with something, you take it back and they solve the problem quickly. You don’t even need to have the receipt.

2 ________________________________________________________________________

I love real American coffee shops. Not chains like Costa and Starbucks, but those old-fashioned places where the waitresses come to your table and call you “honey”. You pay a dollar for coffee, and you can drink as much as you like. You can also stay as long as you like. You can sit there all day and read a book for the price of a cup of coffee.

3 __________________________________________________________________________

Eating out here isn’t as expensive as in the UK, so we go out quite a lot. People are very friendly here too. When you go to a bar or a restaurant, you often have a conversation with the people at the next table. It is really nice.

4 _____________________________________________________________________________

Everyone is so optimistic here! They believe that everything is possible if you work hard. If you say “We can’t do that”, they say, “Why not?”!

Starbucks, summer, and other things I love about Britain

Mark Vanhoenacker, an American journalist who lives in London, says the UK’s not just OK it is paradise. There are some of his reasons…

Walking

Britain isn’t a good place for cyclists. But for pedestrians it is wonderful. When you walk on a zebra crossing, all the drivers stop.

Banks

British banks are great – you do everything online, and you don’t pay when you take money out of an AMT. and if you want to change banks, the banks do all the work, not you.

Drivers

The British are very polite when they drive. They don’t hoot, and they are patient with other drivers. They always say thank you when you let them pass.

Boots. The Chemist

Chemist in the UK are wonderful, friendly shops and completely different from US pharmacies. Boots sells everything you want, not just medicine, and the shop assistant give you good advice.

No ID Cards

Britain is one of the only places in the world where people don’t have ID cards. In the US you need ID when you buy a drink, go to a club, use a credit card, or take an intercity train.

Summers

I love British summers! A good summer day in Britain is dry and warm, but not very hot.

Starbucks

Starbucks isn’t British, of course, but I prefer the Starbucks in Britain. They are nice, friendly places where people read the newspaper and drink good coffee. And the waiters don’t write your name on the cups. I feel stupid in America when the waiter calls “Mark, your tall cappuccino with extra chocolate!”