r/AskABrit

Hiya,

I live stateside. I have been to England a couple times when I was younger, just for a few days in total and only ever staying in central London. I'm nearly sixty and recently retired. For each of the past few years, I've taken a full month to visit another country - some I've been to before and others I've never seen before at all. This year was France, last year was Ireland and the year before was Australia. Yet, rather than spend a lot of time in the big cities ('cause that's where all the the art and sightseeing usually is) I've found that I enjoy finding a small town or village in the country and just hanging out in that one place for 2-3 weeks to seek a slower pace of the day. In this way, I get in a lot of long walks in the bush/countryside and can take a couple day trips to learn about the region. I can get a feel for the local meats, bread, produce, beer/wine & so on. Mostly, though, I get a chance to meet and talk to people and learn about them and what's important to their sense of place. I'm considering England for next year and I'm seeking suggestions for a nice, quiet little English town that's got some charm, maybe a half dozen pubs or taverns, and a slower pace of life. A friend from Scotland suggested Grasmere, in the Lake District, and it sounds nice enough. I'm seeking other suggestions. What are your thoughts? Many thanks! - BJG

I'll explain it properly.

Here, in Spain, the flag of our country has such a... controversial connotation. Depending of who you're asking to, you could obtain two opposite answers:

- You wear your flag because you're proud of your country, your culture and the place you've grown up.

- If you wear the Spanish flag it is a symbol of fascism, extreme-right and conservadurism.

I'm extremely curious about if this happens the same way in the UK. Has your flag been politicized? Does it have any connotation? (I mean, if you wear it, people assume you're from the right or the left...)

To pay all your bills/groceries/etc what’s the absolute bare minimum you need to keep your head above water?

23M. Currently going through the worst stages off my life. Baby’s mum has stopped me seeing the baby and I have been kicked out to the street by parents because of this. None of it being my own actions

As a man who suffers really bad with mental health issues , as you can all imagine this has sent me over the edge and currently spending my 1st night homeless, 1 pair of shorts , 3 tops , 2 pants , no extra underwear / socks and none of my medication, not even a charger for my phone. Not a single family member to contact either.

My first reaction was to jump on a train and go as far away as I could , which I have done.

This is not a sob story and this isn’t me asking for a penny from a soul, what I’m simply asking is what would you do in my situation ?

Unable to get a loan , unable to lend money from anyone , just me and my £20 against the world. What would you do besides begging ( the last thing I want to do) ?

Any help is huge help

Hey!

I'm a native Spanish speaker who will soon have a Spanish Language and Literature degree.

I was wondering if working as a Spanish teacher in the UK is a requested job or if I won't see a penny there.

I know this is such a subjective topic, but I want to know if people there are interested in learning foreigner languages such as mine. Thank you!

I make exploration videos around the UK, the problem is, I genuinely cannot tell whether anyone actually wants that sort of content anymore. It feels like travel videos now only work if it is Japan, Dubai, a £500-a-night hotel, someone spending loads of money, or a list of places TikTok has already decided are hidden gems….

Part of me thinks ordinary UK towns are far more interesting than people give them credit for. The other part thinks I am putting real time into making videos about places nobody cares enough to click. So be honest, would you ever watch someone explore a random British town properly, including the boring bits as well as the interesting ones or is this type of travel content completely saturated now and I should probably accept that people do not care and go back to my day job?

Examples of my videos in comments (for context on type of video)

My workplace (solicitor's firm) let us go early for the England v DR Congo match, and we're allowed a late start after the England v Mexico match.

I just wondered how common that is! My public sector (NHS) mother and sister aren't allowed time off, and my brother-in-law's company are showing the match at work during work hours (he does shifts) but doesn't get to leave/start early.

Edit: Just to clarify, I really don't care about the matches, I don't think it should be an automatic thing. I am more surprised that my firm DOES rather than other firms DON'T. I'm not going to say no to an early finish though!!

I just saw a very interesting post regarding football fans whose whole identity and religion is football so I am making this post.

If England win the world cup will you touch the trophy? No.

You say "We won" but will you be remembered for winning the world cup? No.

Do the players even know who you are?

I get this post will be downvoted but I am geniunely curious with the obsession. I would like to hear the arguments for giving a damn maybe someone can change my mind.

I'm starting to get into British culture and want to listen to some British bands—specifically all-male ones—to get a feel for it. Can anyone give me some recommendations?

Trying to find the best one on the list?

I’m a Gen X American struggling to find things in common with my peers. This is mostly due to my love of British music. I know that sounds like it shouldn’t be a big deal but music is a huge part of my life. When I have people over I want to be able to put on music and have someone get it. I ask about Brit pop in the 90s because that seems to be the only British music people here are pretty familiar with (oasis, blur,etc). I love that stuff but I also love soooo much music from the uk that no one here has ever heard of. I feel like such an outsider and have no idea if I should give up and just start trying to find friends there. But maybe people my age there listen to a bunch of American shit. If so, then where are my people???
**Edit**
I sincerely appreciate every single person who responded. You reminded me of even more bands that maybe I hadn’t listened to in a while. Also made me realize I need a /DateaBrit or to just move the hell out of Arkansas.

​

After I finished my level 3 hairdressing qualification, I tried so hard to get a job in it. I phoned so many salons and ones that were close to me. I handed in CVs, and nope, nothing.

All the salons I rang either weren't hiring or they were a self-employed salon only.

I have just under a year's experience in salons, some unpaid work, and I had a Saturday job but was let go due to low profits.

Regardless of my qualifications and experience, I couldn't get a job in it at all.

Most of my classmates from college didn't want to go into the profession properly, so I couldn't comment on them, but it feels like all my hard work was for nothing.

I'm currently working part-time in a restaurant whilst building up my own clientelle mobile so i save on chair rent, but I mean it would be much more ideal if I was employed before this.

I hope my business works out. Truly. It just sucks that I can't find a job for the life of me.

I thought that since most salons are small businesses, I would have a higher chance of getting a job, but obviously not!

Has anyone else experienced similar?

Was it good? Passable? I'm in Arizona and we had Pete's Fish and Chips here for a while and it was ok, I guess..

I watch a fair bit of British TV. I watch a lot of British TV. I've recently finished "Keeping up appearances", and throughout the series, it's "our Hyacinth", "your Daisy", etc. I've never heard this on any other show (except one episode of Line of duty). Was this a joke, or is that actually how people from some area/group of people talk?

Thank you from a confused Canadian.

As a Canadian who only knew him because of the scandal, I had no idea why was he that appealing. Even after seeing the Netflix documentary, I still struggle to figure out why the British public hero worshipped him to the point that he was given the same kind of funeral as Princess Diana. It made me think “so Rowan Atkinson, Sean Connery and Elton John weren’t available to do all of the things that Savile was doing in Britain, so they had to pick the first person they can think about.” At least you’ll have a less problematic celebrity to represent these during the same time

Hi everyone!

I'm an English Literature student from Indonesia, and I'm looking for someone from the UK who would be willing to participate in a 25-30 minute interview for my British Society and Literature course.

The interview is for an academic assignment and will focus on British society, culture, daily life, and personal perspectives. There are no right or wrong answers I simply want to learn from your experiences.

If you're interested and have some time to help, please leave a comment or send me a DM. I'd really appreciate your support.

Thank you so much!

I know this might be better suited for a general language or linguistics sub, but here I am.

Why do many Brits pronounce "sixth" more like "sickth", dropping the last part of the "x" sound?

I feel like such a dumb American for asking, especially since it's such a dumb thing to be nitpicky about, but honestly when I started becoming such a fan of Anglo radio and TV, it's one of the first things I noticed. (I felt like I was hearing it every other word in a show I watched with one of the children characters attending sixth form.)

I'm documenting all such in map form. Stuff like Ilson (Ilkeston), Chumley (Cholmondeley) or Cossy (Costessey). Ideally the local variants would still hopefully be in use amongst the oldest generations!

(Obviously there's also the well-known ones like Lestuh, Gloster, Wooster, and also stuff like Suvvuck, Berry and Norridge)