I have lived in Europe several times, and each time I love it! My family is in Germany this whole summer, and I’m really enjoying the history, culture, weather, architecture, and the bakeries!
But I admit I don’t like the fact that it is hard to interact in another language daily. If only I could get a brain implant that made me fluent in German, Dutch, French etc.
But what about England? How different is it from the rest of Europe? Obviously, Europe is no monolith, and there are different cultures all throughout it. But there are smiliarities too.
What do you see as the biggest differences between England and the continent?
Frankly, I think the differences within continental Europe are much, much vaster than they are between the UK and continental Europe. I guess that countries like Belgium or Norway are in many if not most ways much more like England than they are like Spain or Italy, let alone Slovakia or Hungary. The similarities are usually understated, in part I guess because the insular Brits like to believe they’re very unique and exceptional. This is not to say that they’re not - it’s just that the UK is as different from e.g. the Netherlands as Germany or Belgium are.
That said, I find it tough to find one thing that absolutely sets the Brits apart, but maybe it is exactly this: their feeling that they are so unlike the rest of Europe, and that they’re not part of it. Apart from the political issues surrounding the EU, and the resentment that at least some people in all 27 EU member states share towards it, this is not a sentiment I usually encounter.
I agree with that. As a north European country, Britain has a lot in common with Norway that it doesn’t have with Spain, for example drinking culture and family life. As a west European former colonial power with many decades of non-white immigration, Britain has a lot in common with Belgium or Holland that it doesn’t have with Poland or Croatia.
We certainly can’t match the OP’s bakeries. Every where I go in Europe, their fresh bread is better than ours. You just can’t get that sort of chewy crust + candyfloss texture combination here. As for pastries and stuff like that, they have us well beaten too.
I personally don’t find England overall as scenic as continental Europe. While there are certainly some very nice parts, there are too many dreary towns and too much nondescript countryside. France, Spain, Germany etc. all have spectacular scenery in places, that we just can’t match.
England has some gorgeous scenery; Britain has even more. We don’t have the mountains or the climate of the European mainland. But you must remember that Britain - and particularly England - is much more densely populated than Europe. We have roughly the same population as France but 1/4 the area.
The weather is a big one for Ireland. We have endless rain and it never gets as hot as much of the continent (nor as cold).
The culture in Ireland isn’t too dissimilar superficially to that of North America and I would imagine Ireland (or the UK) would be the easiest place for an Anglophone North American or Antipodean to visit and fit in easily. Our televisual and music cultures overlap significantly with the US/UK.
Continentals, probably because of the weather, are more apt to live their lives in public. There are various public squares and other public spaces in continental cities. We have fewer spots like that and much of our culture still revolves around pubs.
Which brings us to drinking, public drunkeness seems to be a more visible phenomenon here than on the continent.
Friendliness, it’s a cliché but Irish people are generally friendlier than continentals in my experience, especially to tourists but YMMV.
As others have posted there are probably greater differences in culture between different continental countries than between Great Britain and Ireland and the continent. My experiences in Germany have been completely different to my experiences in Spain or Italy etc.
I’ve travelled a fair amount around the world in general and Europe in particular,I’ve had a fair few foreign girlfriends and unusually for a Brit actually like the French.
I am totally pro E.U.
My declarations out of the way I’ll cut to the chase.
I tend to disagree with the statement that there are bigger cultural differences between the peoples of continental Europe then there are between Brits and the continentals.
Continental Europeans have previously lived in multi national unions historically for however short a time.
Under Napoleon,The Holy Roman Empire,the Papacy,occupied by the Ottomans etc.
Then of course theres the physical proximity.
IME theres Nordic Europe,Eastern Europe,southern Europe,the rest and then us.
We are closer to the Irish,Australians,Americans,Canadians,Indians and Pakistanis on a real level as an everyday cultural working level then we are to our French,German,Danish ,Belgian partners.
This is not a criticism but just an admission of our somewhat insular outlook.
Americans are Yanks but Italians/Dutch/Spanish whatever,are foreigners.
There is the old joke about England:
“If you like the food, you’ll love the weather!”
I lived in Germany for over 14 years, but had to go to England on business about once a year. I loved England - actually found some great Indian restaurants and liked the fact I could pick up lots of books in English, see some great musicals/plays and even hit a few movie theaters (cheaper than in Germany) and see new releases.
Still - I would never want to live there. It was just too damned expensive! I knew people who had decent apartments and when I asked the rent, they told me and I said, “That’s not bad.” Then I found out that was the rent per week!
Plus, I think the prices for food and drink were outrageous (compared to Germany) and realized it would cost as much to live like a pauper in London for what I could live quite nicely in Berlin.
And regarding getting an implant to speak German - just dive into it. Force yourself to go to bars/cafes/restaurants/grocery stores etc. where NOBODY SPEAKS ENGLISH and you will find you learn the language far quicker! Plus, learning German isn’t all that hard - it is difficult to master a lot of the grammar, but getting enough vocabulary to make yourself understood is actually pretty easy.
I had an American friend who just hated the concept of Der, Die, Das for nouns, so she simply used the word “Da” for everything. Germans laughed, but they understood her quite well and she was able to carry on decent conversations in German in about two months!
I’ve yet to find a place in Germany where NOBODY SPEAKS ENGLISH. Seriously, everywhere I’ve been in Germany when I’ve used my broken Deutsch I get English in reply.
If it’s at all like France or Greece, they really appreciate your making the effort.
Unless they take you to have a German accent and are of an older generation. In which case you quickly explain that you’re English. Many people still have bad memories of the War.
My experience of Germany is that virtually everyone in the west speak English but in the east quite a few dont,for the older people particulary Russian seems to be the second language.
I’ve been thinking about this recently as I want to live somewhere sunnier than Ireland when I come back from Australia, but am lazy/bad at learning languages. I was thinking of Malta - both Maltese and English are official languages, which means I can still use English while learning Maltese.
You could also try some more continental part of England such as Cornwall - I haven’t been there (yet) but it gets pretty good reviews and the scenery looks stunning.
Cornwall is completely magical. I’ve been going there for 25 years and we’ll move there someday. It has a sense of being very cut off from the rest of England. The eastern end has rolling Devon-like countryside, the central spine (Bodmin Moor) is very bleak, whereas some coasts are lush, particularly the Helford estuary where the trees hang down to the water’s edge; others are very dramatic. When you get to the western end (Land’s End), it feels like you’ve entered a different land. The real world seems very far away.
It has wonderful beaches of all types: surfing, family, scenic - take your pick. It also has wonderful place names: Indian Queens, Playing Place, Come To Good.
It’s strange economically: it’s both the poorest and in some ways one of the richest counties.
t’s true that virtually everyone knows some English, as in “had it in school”, but that doesn’t mean they all speak it well. Of course, the political, media, and business elites almost all speak English quite well, but I think that’s true just about everywhere.
Bear in mind, of course, that there’s a huge difference in expense between London and other parts of the country.
During the recent expenses scandal, one MP showed off the single room he rented in a small high-rise flat. The amount he was paying would get you a very nice three-bedroomed house around here.
