English-study Experience

English is an international language but too difficult to learn to different-culture people. There are thousands of words we should remember, and too many complex grammars to be applicated. Fortunatelly, I live in Edinburgh now, and have more opportunities to learn English, and I'd like to record the process of learning English and collect some good english passage in different situations...

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Pub-British Culture

Today, I learnt a fantastic passage from BBC website. It is located in learning-takeaway English, the passage is as follow:
-Start:
Your Round
One thing Britain is famous for is pubs, and no trip to the UK would be complete without a visit to one of the thousands of pubs across the country.
Pubs play an important part in the social structure of the country. They are places where all ages and social classes mix to talk, do business, or just spend a couple of quiet hours before heading home in the evening.
There are many different types of beer available in pubs. Traditional British beer is called bitter, or ale, and is usually served at room temperature. As a result, the British are famous for their ‘warm beer’!
If you prefer a cold beer, ask for lager. This beer is a light yellow in colour whereas bitter is usually a darker brown. Another type of beer is stout – you may have heard of Guinness, which is a type of stout. This is a cold, black beer and takes a long time to pour, so don’t be surprised if you have to wait for it.
All beers are served as pints (500 ml) or halves (250ml). To order, you need to ask for a pint or half, and then name the beer. So, you could say ‘A pint of bitter, please.’
Another drink is cider. This is like beer, but it is made from apples so it can taste sweet. Wine, red or white, is normally available in all pubs, as are spirits such as whisky, gin or vodka. These are served as singles (25ml) or doubles (50ml).
It is not, however, necessary to drink alcohol. Non-alcoholic drinks are called soft drinks. You can have juice, lemonade or cola, among others.
If you visit a pub in a group, it is important to pay for your ‘round’. This means that you buy a drink for everyone in your group. Not buying your round is a big social mistake! Remember that you need to order and pay for your drinks at the bar.
So, follow these tips if you want to get the most out of visiting a pub, and, ‘cheers!’
-The End

When I read and listened to it, I found the best way to learn English is to indulge its culture. As you can see from the passage, it is hard for beginners to catch and understand the meaning of specific words like 'lager' and some other drinks , but if we live in the enviroment, it will be very much easy to understand.

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