Thursday, 29 September 2011

The Importance Of English In The Today`s World And Key Info About Life In The UK

By James Reiss


English has become a symbol of modernity and being able to speak the language gives to the modern man a sentiment of being part of something greater, like a global culture. English allow us to be part of a global culture in which every man finds its place thanks to this common language. The notion of "English as a lingua franca" has a great complexity nowadays and it is often included in the globalization discussions. It is important to know that English won its notoriety due to Great Britain Colonialism and to United States` power in all the domains.

As we can see, all the economic, political and commercial relationships depend on an efficient communication, common goals and of course, a common language, a lingua franca which allows people to interact. We all know something about the history and culture of the UK, but sometimes it is not enough if we have greater plans. To find more about life in the UK, you need more than regular books or random information on the Internet.

We generally know stereotypes about UK. One example will be the description of a "city gent" as a gentleman wearing a dark suit, a bowler hat, a briefcase, and an umbrella, working in the City and epitomising the pride of the upper middle classes. One can find some other stereotypes that are even more known: Irish are supposed to be great talkers, the Scots have a reputation of being careful with money, the Welsh are renowned for their singing ability, etc. All these descriptions cannot be seen as the characteristics of the individual people. Plus, if you prepare yourself for a citizenship test, it is not enough to prepare your information about life in the UK on the ground of some stereotypes. You can find online the right information and materials that provide you the help for this kind of tests.

Britain is a multicultural society, that`s why we can find many people who are interested in taking the naturalization test. Those interested have to take the test if they are applying for naturalization as a British citizen and their level of English is good. As of November 1, 2005 all applicants for UK naturalisation need to successfully complete the "Life in the UK" test before their application for UK citizenship may be submitted. The test lasts for 45 minutes during which the candidate is required to answer 24 multiple choice questions. To pass the test, the candidate must receive a grade of 75% or higher (at least 18 correct answers out of 24 questions). From November 2005 to March 2007, the questions for the test were based on chapters 2 to 4 of the book Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship.

The official test website includes a section describing "What you need to know" for each chapter, but the questions are not in the multiple choice format of the real test. We all need to see the importance of English culture and mentalities in the globalized world. One need to see the life in the UK not only as a necessity, but rather an opportunity to be accepted in the British society.




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