The English National Character

• Closely related to English reserve is English modesty. Within their hearts, the English are perhaps no less conceited than anybody else, but in their relations with others they value at least a show of modesty. Self-praise is felt to be impolite. If a person is, let us say, very good at tennis and someone asks him if he is a good player, he will seldom reply “Yes,” because people will think him conceited. He will probably give an answer like, “I‟m not bad,” or “I think I‟m very good,” or “Well, I‟m very keen on tennis.” (i.e. I‟m very fond of it.) even if he had managed to reach the finals in last year‟s local championships, he would say it in such a way as to suggest that it was only due to a piece of good luck
The British National Character
In your mind, what is an English like?
conservative
polite
modest
humorous
selfconceited
sportsman ship
cold
practical
Because of the geography, history, culture and other reasons, the world of each nation to form the differences from other national characters. British is not exceptional also, after thousands of years of social change, they formed its own unique way of thinking and behavior, and other countries with people's different quality and characteristics. Generally speaking, we have the following several characteristics:
What a typical Englishman think?
• He secretly looks down on more excitable nations, and likes to think of himself as more reliable than they. • He doesn‟t trust big promises and open shows of feelings. • To those who are fond of flowery expressions, the Englishman may appear uncomfortably cold.
reserved: adj. (of a person or his character) slow to show feelings or express opinions, disposition, manner, etc. 寡 言的；矜持的； conservative: adj. opposed to great or sudden change 保守的， 守旧的; adj. & n.保守党(的)
Most British people have conservative ideology and not willing to accept new things. The symbol of British animal is “John Bull”（约翰牛）, because John is the most common English name even while the cow feature is stubborn clumsy (笨拙）. In the history, from the state systeБайду номын сангаас to royal status, Britain„s innovation（创新）is slower than other European countries. And what sustain the whole British society, just is the deep traditional and inflexible conservative style.
★5th sportsmanship
1 Finally, sportsmanship. Like a sense of humor, this is an English ideal which not all Englishmen live up to. English people have a strong love for sports. Soccer is one of most popular event and thereis a large number of loyal fans. But their enthusiasm at times has turned them to violence. Crowd disturbances often occurred. Among the football fans, British fans are the most notorious(声名 狼藉) all over the world.
★ 4th
Aloof and cold（冷峻孤傲 ）
Most of the British and others out of tune with Uncompromising character. Equivocal character of the British the most obvious features, they do not want to speak more than others, and never talk about themselves, feelings are not exposed, but not glowing terms. Other countries is very difficult to understand the inner world of the British. Why do the British have a proud and aloof personality characteristics? Reasons. First, Britain is an island, cut off the English Channel it and the outside world, the British did not even see themselves as Europeans. Second, the British history of this nation are very proud of. Among them,the final version of the Bible and Shakespeare's plays had a tremendous impact on the Western and world culture . British Council is Europe's oldest parliament, the United Kingdom is the world's first country to complete the Industrial Revolution. Special geographical location and unique history of civilization makes the country the British created the current character.
• human: adj. showing the feelings, esp. those of kindness, which human beings have 有人性的，有人情味的 Example
He seems quite human when you know him.
★ 2th modest
★ 3th English sense of humor
1
The famous English sense of humor is similar. Its starting-point is selfdispraise, and its great enemy is conceit. Its object is the ability to laugh at oneself---at one’s own faults, one’s own failure, even at one’s own ideals. The criticism, “He has no sense of humor” is very commonly heard in Britain, where humor is highly prized. A sense of humor is an attitude to life rather than the mere ability to laugh at jokes. This attitude is never cruel or disrespectful or malicious. The English do not laugh at a cripple or a madman, or a tragedy or an honorable failure. 著名的英国式幽默感也与此相似， 其出发点是自贬，其大敌是自负。 其目的是能够自嘲——嘲笑自己 的错误，自己的失败，甚至自己 的理想。在英国，幽默感受到高 度重视，经常听到“他没有幽默 感”这样的评论。幽默感是对生 活的一种态度，而不仅仅是一听 到笑话就能够开怀大笑。这种态 度决不是冷酷，决不是无礼，决 不是恶毒。英国人从不嘲笑残疾 人或精神病人，也从不会对一件 悲惨的或虽败犹荣的事情幸灾乐 祸。