How to talk to the locals

First thing that I learned is that you don’t use the word “English” to talk about everyone living in the UK.
French people commonly use this word to talk about the British people in general. Huge mistake I know… Now, I promise that I use the word “English” when I talk about the people living in/from England only 😉

So let me give you a nice tip if you are not coming from the UK. Do never use the word “English” when you talk about people living in the UK in general. They are all British but not all of them are English. Only people living in/from England. A Welsh or a Scottish won’t be happy if you consider her/him as an English.
If I compare with France, imagine a guy from Marseille if all visitors were calling him a “Parisian”, not “French”… He will probably be upset… 

For your information, keep in mind that there are 4 distinct governments in the UK and each territory owns a culture that is slightly different from each other: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Respectively, you will call them: English (England), Welsh (Wales), Scottish (Scotland) and Northern Irish (Northern Ireland). Don’t forget “Northern”, otherwise you will talk about people living in the Republic of Ireland. War is not far in history, please be careful if you don’t want to upset anyone. If you can’t keep in mind all of this, just call them all British, it will be easier.

For the next page, click on: Open-minded and Generous.

Be First to Comment

    Leave a Reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *