What are the British like?

“The biggest attraction in Britain is Britain - the whole package. Our heritage is not just a collection of ornaments scattered across the country, it is Britain itself and makes us gloriously distinguishable from any other country.”
Bill Bryson

Photo by Julie70

The British have a reputation for being quite different from their continental neighbours: they drive on the left, use different units of measure, a different currency ...

Discuss with your partner:

Have you ever been to Britain? If so, what were your impressions?
How do you feel about these differences? Do you appreciate them or resent them?

American author Bill Bryson moved from Iowa to Britain in 1973 ... and he stayed for 20 years. In the prologue of Notes from a Small Island, he gives his first impressions of Britain as he arrived in Dover on a foggy March night.

Read this extract in which he describes looking for and finding a room in a guest house
Do this vocabulary exercise
Answer these comprehension questions
Here on this site you can read the whole prologue