Platform for students and teachers of English language

The Voice Space - Online Collaboration Platform for Learning and Teaching English Language

United States vs United Kingdom. By Juta Kvederaitė 8B

image_printPrint This 🙂

Many of us know the US and UK, but how well do we know the differences and similarities between these two countries? Apart from their location in the world (United States is in North America, while United Kingdom is in Europe), are they more diverse or not? Let‘s find out.

United States‘ primary language is American English, unlike United Kingdom‘s – British English. British English uses a lot of the letter „u“ (favourite, behaviour, colour, humour, neighbour), while Americans like theletter „o“ – humor, behavior, favorite, neighbor, color. There are some different words too – british people don‘t say „hood“ of the car, instead – bonnet, it‘s not cookie, but biscuit, etc. However, British and American English have far more similarities than differences. If you can understand one style, you should be able to understand the other style.

What about the economy? The United States currently have a GPD (Gross domestic product is the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period) of $17.9 trillion which is the highest GDP in the world, meanwhile the UK has $2.85 trillion which ranks 5th in the world. In addition, US has a lower rate of unemployment (6,2%), unlike United Kingdom‘s 6,3%.

The difference in demographics is also quite big. There are 324M people living in the United States. This make the United States the 3rd most populous country in the world, making UK the 22nd with 65M people. On the other hand, if we would look at a world map we‘d see that United Kingdom doesn‘t have as nearly much land as the US.

Speaking of people, ethnic groups differ in these countries as well. Most common races in US are – 72% white, 13%lack, 5% Asian, 10% other. The most common races in UK are – 87% white, 7% Asian, 3% black, 2% mixed and 1% other.

Food in United Kingdom and United States is definitely distinguished too.

Traditional food examples in UK: Yorkshire Pudding. This dish is not usually eaten as a dessert like other puddings but instead as part of the main course or at a starter. Made from flour, eggs and milk, is a sort of batter baked in the oven and usually moistened with gravy.

Fish and chips. Fish deep fried in flour batter with chips (fried potatoes) dressed in malt vinegar. This is England’s traditional take-away food or as US would say „to go“. Fish and chips are not normally home cooked but bought at a fish and chip shop (“chippie” ) to eat on premises or as a “take away”.

Traditional food examples in US: Apple pie. According to a pie chart from the American Pie Council, apple really is their national favorite – followed by pumpkin, chocolate, lemon meringue and cherry.

Thanksgiving dinner. It‘s a meal of turkey, dressing (old loaf bread or cornbread, onion and celery, sausage, fruit, chestnuts, oysters – whatever your mom did), cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole with the French-fried onion rings on top, and pumpkin pie.

Visiting the United States or the United Kingdom would be super fun and tasting their food would be delicious, however, if you are planning to stay there for a while, depending on your financial state, choosing whichever of these two won‘t make a big difference.

 Comprehension Check:

1. What is the GPD of the United States?

A) $2.85 trillion;

B) $19 trillion;

C) $17.9 trillion.

2.How many people are currently living in United Kingdom?

A) 50 million people;

B) 65 million people;

C) 66 million people.

3. Is apple pie the traditional thanksgiving dinner‘s dessert?

4. Which country uses the letter „o“ in their language a lot?

5. Which country has a higherasian ethnicity‘spercentage?

A) United States;

B) United Kingdom.

6. Is American English different than British English?

7. Which country has a higher unemployment rate (6,3%)?

8. Where are the United Kingdom and the United States located?

9. What does the word ‚bonnet‘ mean in the United Kingdom?

10. Is Yorkshire pudding in the UK served as a dessert?

11. Is the US the most populated country in the world?

Next Post

Previous Post

4 Comments

  1. SoHo October 5, 2016

    I remember this word from Solutions:D hilarious, what’s the other one.. oh, it’s chap:D The British have awesome words which I quess are normal but sound somehow funnier than the American ones: dude for example. Anyways great article, especially the food part;)

  2. jutakv October 4, 2016

    hi! you got 10/11 right. that’s splendid! good job, Audre! now let’s talk about the question you didn’t get quite right. it was #9. bonnet, generally speaking, is like you said – a term for a wide variety of styles of headgear for both men and women, however the question was a tricky one – specifically UK’s usage of the word. A “bonnet” in the United Kingdom means the hood of an automobile.

  3. Audre Baublyte 8d September 27, 2016

    1. c) $17,9 trillion
    2. b) 65 million people
    3. no, it’s pumpkin pie.
    4. The united states
    5. b) united kingdom
    6. Yes, but they have more similarities.
    7. The united kingdom
    8. The united kingdom is in Europe, and the United states are in north america.
    9. Bonnet-Bonnet is a term for a wide variety of styles of headgear for both men and women, but most often female, which has been in use from the Middle Ages to the present.
    10. No. unlike other puddings this pudding is served as the main dish.
    11. No, it’s the 3rd most populated country.

  4. Liepa 8C September 26, 2016

    1. C) $17,9 trillion
    2. 65 million people
    3. No. Here is a traditional desert- pumkin pie.
    4. Americans like the later ,,o”
    5. United Kingdom
    6. However, British and American English have far more similarities and differences.
    7. United Kingdom
    8. United Kindom is in Europe and United States is in Norh America.
    9. Instead-bonnet, it’s not cookie, but biscuit.
    10. This dish is not usually eaten as a dessert like other puddings, but instead as part of the main course or at a starter.
    11. United Stase

Leave a Reply to Liepa 8CCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

© 2024 Platform for students and teachers of English language

Theme by Anders Norén