US Compared And Contrasted To England

US Compared And Contrasted To England

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420938” Similarities PAGEREF _Toc380420938 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420939” Food and entertainment PAGEREF _Toc380420939 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420940” Religion PAGEREF _Toc380420940 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420941” The Family Environment PAGEREF _Toc380420941 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420942” Differences PAGEREF _Toc380420942 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420943” Personal lives PAGEREF _Toc380420943 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420944” Values PAGEREF _Toc380420944 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc380420945” Lifestyle PAGEREF _Toc380420945 h 4

Both the US and UK are comparable in various ways with regard to their culture but also differ significantly in some cultural aspects. The two countries have diverse backgrounds with regard to the origin of their cultures, which makes it similar in some aspects, and vary in others. America’s culture, for instance is characterized of a cultural mish-mash considering that the country is vastly a nation of immigrants. The UK culture, on the other hand, is also diverse in its own way considering that it is made up of the Scots, Welsh and the English people. With the consideration of the cultural traits and diversities of the two cultures, this essay aims at establishing some comparisons between the US and the UK culture and the existing contrasts between them.

SimilaritiesFood and entertainment

The U.K and U.S share certain similarities even in the presence of differing cultural practises. Both cultures have similarities when it comes to food and the kind of entertainment they enjoy. This can be seen in the similarity of food brands shared across these countries, for instance Cadbury and Kellogg’s cereals (Amanda). When it comes to entertainment in the US, shows such as American Idol and The Office are comparable to the Pop Idol and Dancing on Ice versions enjoyed in the UK. The two further have various versions of reality shows, with the UK for instance enjoying Britain’s Got Talent and Americans having America’s Got Talent (Amanda). As such, these cultures enjoy similar food and entertainment types to some extent.

ReligionBoth the US and UK practice religion on a personal level whereby there is no state, nor cultural pushing for one to be religious. In the two countries, churchgoers believe that being religious simply means belonging to a church or attending a church regularly. However, many individuals attend church only on special holidays like Easter and Christmas and still consider themselves as Christians. Even in Britain where the Christianity religion was once held in high regard, religion nowadays have little place in peoples lives just as in America (Amanda). Many individuals in these countries do not consider going to church so fashionable and only choose to go when they feel like.

The Family EnvironmentThe family environment of both the US and UK cultures is similar largely with regard to the values, composition and activities. In both cultures, the immediate family is composed of the mother, father, and children. In both cultures though, this trend is changing with the continued rise of single parents. Children are expected to contribute to the family by doing household chores and are usually empowered concerning their rights and privileges (Amanda). The family life in both cultures have, however experienced some dynamic changes due to the presence of high divorce rates and extra marital relationships, hence some choose not to marry legally, or go on to have contractual marriages.

DifferencesPersonal lives

Just as there exists a difference in language between the US and UK, a further difference exists between their cultures in terms of customs, attitudes, opinions, and reactions. A contrast in the personal lives of Americans exists when compared to the personal life of the UK people. With regard to these, Americans are more open than the UK people.. In America, friends, together with their acquaintances discuss personal thoughts and opinions. In the UK, this behavior may seem to be intrusive of ones privacy, highlighting the differences between the two in the way approach their personal lives (Fulbright Commission). In the same line, Americans are not embarrassed to ask a fellow colleague private or presumptuous questions. In this case, such a person is usually in many cases sincerely curious with regard to somebody’s thoughts and feelings, and assumes that the individual would be willing to share them. Still in the aspect of personal lives, Americans are usually very much interested in knowing a person’s background and experiences when they meet them for the first time. This is in addition to other discussions concerning their personal lives. Such discussions are considered intrusive to someone’s privacy in the UK culture (Fulbright Commission). With regard to these, Americans are considered polite when compared to the UK people, the characterization of this being the welcoming attitude of greeting everyone, including strangers.

ValuesThe belief in values in America is observed, by the fact that Americans control their statuses by how much they work. Their work ethic is further reflected in their attitudes toward academics. As such, majority of students in America spend a great deal of their free time studying in libraries. This is enabled by the fact that Americans tend to care much about punctuality than their UK peers (Fulbright Commission). For Americans, everything including classes and lunch dates are expected to be done exactly on time. Though punctuality is also observed in the UK especially when it comes to attending meetings, its’ quite acceptable to arrive either on time or 30 minutes late for a party. Along with this, majority of activities in the US moves at a faster pace than in UK. An example of this is seen in restaurants whereby dinners can be done with in under a half hour and the bill availed without asking for it, something that lacks in many parts of the UK (Fulbright Commission). Many Americans also tend to be more patriotic than their UK counterparts. The growing up of American children is characterized by recitation of their allegiance to their country as a means of instilling these ideals in their children’s minds (Fulbright Commission). This is not to mean that the UK people are not patriotic to their country, it is just that Americans express it more openly. Just as most of the Americans do not appreciate sarcastic humor, they further do not appreciate self-depreciating humor either with regard to their country or even in anything else.

LifestyleThe difference between US and UK cultures with regard to lifestyle is typically evident through the various activities that constitute their lifestyle, such as sports, music preference and drinking and eating etiquette. The most preferred sport in the US during winter, for instance, is football and hockey, while the British enjoy rugby and soccer (British Expats). Differences in customs are also prevalent when it comes to legality in terms of the acceptable age of legal drinking and sexual consent. In the American culture, sexual consent and legal drinking age is 18 and 21 years respectively, while the British sexual consent and legal drinking age is 16 and 18 years respectively (British Expats). The difference in terms of their music preference also exists with the British embracing the pop culture more than the Americans.

Works cited

Amanda. Compare and Contrast: America and British Culture, 2011. WordPress.com

British Expats. Cultural differences between the US and the UK, 2007. BritishExpats.com

Fulbright Commission. Cultural Differences, 2013. Web. 6. March. 2013.< HYPERLINK “http://www.fulbright.org.uk/pre-departure/us-culture/cultural-differences”http://www.fulbright.org.uk/pre-departure/us-culture/cultural-differences >