With the purchase of this game you will also automatically be able to access our Country Knowledge Online Portal. It offers astonishing and amazing facts you might not have come across about the ten countries depicted in the game.  The following example “Great Britain” is taken from our ONLINE PORTAL.

However Great Britain isn’t just the home to legendary bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones or international Pop Stars such as Robbie Williams. The country has a long musical tradition. In context it is important to know that Great Britain consists of several countries and the population comes from different tribal origins. And every one of those has its’ own musical heritage.

The bagpipe for example may not come from Scotland, but it is regarded as the most typical Scottish instrument because its peculiar sound dominates the countries folk music since hundreds of years. In addition, the sounds of the bagpipe had become the terrifyingly familiar battle cry of the scots when marching against the English who have tried to seize the north of the island several times. Playing the bagpipe therefore has been prohibited more than once by the mostly victorious English. Today both parts of the island belong to the “United Kingdom” and the bagpipe can even be heard when the marching band plays in front of the Buckingham Palace.

The British choir-tradition comes from another once independent part of Great Britain as well, namely from Wales. People sang and still sing a lot during the masses in protestant churches, but men working in the coalmines also gathered together to form choirs and sing in their spare time. With this custom the men have taken up the musical recitations of the Celtic bards. In mediaeval times, the job of the bards was to present legends and historical events in the form of chants. Doing this, they entertained and informed the aristocrats and nobles they visited about things happening in and out of the countries boundaries. An important task since most people of those times never saw anything else but their own village grounds.

British choirs in our days sing classical pieces as well as multi-vocal versions of popular folk- and pop-songs. Every country has its own form of folk music by the way, it just sounds different because of the diverse local musical traditions. But many musicians all over the world still use their music to say something about the history of their countries or to criticise the present political conditions. “Bloody Sunday” by the famous Irish band U2 for example is an extremely moving song about the violent conflict between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland.

Musical education in England therefore often even has an historical background. Moreover most schools offer afternoon clubs for children who want to learn how to play a specific instrument, join the choir or play act. Others take private lessons for guitar-, recorder- or keyboard-playing.

02) “I like to eat” :: It may be hard to believe, but the food the English people of today like most is Curry! This dish originally comes from India but the British have adopted it just like others have done with pasta from Italy.
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So the exotic stews known as Curry have been brought into the country by expats, i.e. immigrants from India. A truly typical English dish on the other hand is “black pudding”, which isn’t a desert at all, but a sausage made with animal blood. This and other kinds of sausages are usually eaten for breakfast, which can turn out to be rather profuse on the Island. A classic “full English breakfast” consists of eggs, bacon, fried bread and baked beans in tomato sauce, but it isn’t as common anymore as a bowl of cereal or porridge – a mash made of oatmeal and milk.

Since parents and children usually don’t eat their lunch together on weekdays, a sandwich is taken along, to be eaten at school together with a small bag of crisps. There is some confusion around the word “crisps” as opposed to the word “chips” around the world, because what the British call “crisps” is known as “potato chips” in other countries whereas their “chips” are known as “french fries” or “pommes frites” depending on where you live. The infamous “fish & chips”, probably Englands oldest form of fast food, therefore is a serving of deep fried fish coming with French fries and vinegar dressing. But even these chips have their origin elsewhere, Belgium in this case, the reason being the fact that the British have been a seafaring nation for thousands of years due to their otherwise isolated position on an island. Even in mediaeval times the traffic on the canal separating Great Britain from the rest of Europe was lively and the foreign seafarers simply brought along their eating habits. Besides the “pudding” and “chips” there are even more names for typical English dishes that do not really explain themselves. “Short bread” for example are butter cookies, “bubble and squeak” are pancakes made from potato mash and cabbage and a “toad in the hole” is a casserole containing eggs, milk, flower and small pieces of sausage.

Of course even the British children can’t get around eating vegetables. The main meal of the British day is called “dinner” and it is being cooked mostly in the evenings even though some families have their dinner around noontime on weekends. Unless the kids get another serving of their above-mentioned favourite foods, they will find a meat roast, potatoes and vegetables such as carrots or Brussels sprouts on the dinner table. Unfortunately Great Britain is another one of those countries where healthy foods are loosing ground against the diverse choices of fast food, which is why there are many initiatives fighting for a better nutrition especially where school lunches are concerned.

03) “I like to paint” :: Just like other children in Europe, British kids like to draw what they see or what they dream of.
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Accordingly, it depends more on the child itself than on the country it lives in, since the lifestyle of people in Western Europe is pretty much the same. Ever since 1000 years before Christ was born there were ships, which carried goods from France to England and back – in mediaeval times travelling across the channel was perfectly normal for aristocrats and merchants. No wonder that art and artists from the mainland have found their way to the British isles as well.

Then and now the taste for art was determined by everyday life. The majority of the renowned artists of old Europe came mostly from Belgium, France and the Netherlands, but they were invited to visit the British Kings and Queens to paint their portraits. This wasn’t unusual at all, bearing in mind that photos didn’t yet exist, and people liked to hang up paintings showing their famous ancestors. Alongside with pictures of oneself of course, simply to display ones splendour.  Paintings of great battles were also very popular, especially British naval battles where the wind blows up the sails and canons roar. Naturally, the enemies ships never stood a chance, after all who would like to have a picture showing ones defeat on their walls? So the artists created paintings and statues of certain nobles and rich merchants, which means, they couldn’t just paint what they liked, they were obliged to paint what was asked of them.

While Great Britain had only a few great painters to boast with, there were a lot of very talented architects and open-minded sponsors paying for the construction of the most daring churches and castles. Within only 300 years (1100 – 1400 a.d.), the unbelievable number of 30 cathedrals and a great many country manors had been built – without the help of tower cranes, dredgers and concrete. They weren’t meant for the good of the British people however, they were built to make kings and bishops immortal as a visible sign of their power.

Today the balance of power has changed dramatically. Now actually, it is the artist who holds the power, because he is allowed to express things in his paintings that others wouldn’t dare to speak of. It is called “freedom of artistic expression” if an artist decides to turn some famous personality into an ugly monster or ridicule him or her in any way. Making fun of someone would, by the way, be a “very British” thing to do since they simply love ironical jokes and have no fear at all to overstep any sort of boundaries. On the contrary, an artist makes sure to have the publics’ attention by doing such things.

04) “I like to do sports” :: Great Britain is a country of football. Every single child has its favourite team and Robin Hood or King Arthur are nothing compared to British football-stars.
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While scientific studies about the favourite sports of British children place swimming at the topmost position, it is so much easier to meet up with friends to play football on the neighbourhood grounds, than to try and get to the next public pool on a daily basis. Besides, football is more exciting to watch on TV, you can wear your favorite players’ football shirt and discuss techniques just like most fathers do.

The more typically English sport however is Cricket – a rounders game in which the player of one team tries to beat the ball thrown by the opposing teams bowler into the far corners of the playing field. The bowlers team is spread out across the field to then catch it and get t back to him as quickly as possible. It’s a game very close to baseball with rather complicated rules and it may take up to 5 days until it’s someone has won.   Besides Football and Cricket, Tennis and Netball (a variation of basketball) are the sports played most at schools. Rugby, he British predecessor of American Football, is also still very popular. It is a very rough game where the teams are even allowed to jostle their opponents to the ground to get the ball – so it may seem just the right thing for kids who need to get rid of their excessive energy.

Primary und Secondary Schools offer to take part in these games by joining one or more of the various clubs that take place in the afternoon when classes are over. Participation doesn’t only help to keep fit, it also deepens the solidarity amongst the pupils.

The actual sports classes during school time in Great Britain are called “Physical Education” or simply PE. Amongst the things taught there, dancing may seem the most “girlish” in comparison to the above mentioned favourites, but that is misleading: The first written account of a female Rugby players goal dates back to 1887 – a time when women on the street were to wear floor length skirts so as not to offend the public.

05) “I like to learn” :: Great Britain is the place to be for late risers, since school only begins at 9 o’ clock. On the other hand, the school day is very long. Nobody seems to notice however, because school is like a second home for everyone and teachers and pupils mostly get along very well.
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Reading, writing, numeracy – those are the basics every pupil no matter where has to learn before being able to understand anything else. The question is, how? Just like most other countries, Great Britain has disbanded the utterly rigorous school form of earlier centuries – pupils aren’t supposed to struggle for good grades out of fear of punishment, but for their own interest. So when children are having trouble solving certain assignments, the teachers join in to help work on them, even after school if necessary.

Nevertheless, behaviour in British schools may seem rather formal. It is for example perfectly normal to stand up when a teacher enters the classroom and he is addressed with a “Sir” rather than a “Mister so-and-so”. Pupils in most schools also wear a school uniform, which doesn’t only look very proper, it helps to clarify the fact that no child is superior or inferior to another. Plus, no one can brag about having new fashionable clothing, since everyone is wearing the same school shirt, blazer and trousers or skirt coming with a pair of black shoes. So the rules followed in Harry Potters „Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry“ aren’t that far-fetched, the scenes for the film were shot in several cathedrals and castles though, normal British schools do look a lot different!

There is another interesting British school habit besides the school uniform though: Every morning, before going to their classes, all pupils meet for “Assembly” in the assembly hall. In many schools they still say prayers to start the day, in others they sing or recite stories, which are supposed to teach something about proper conduct amongst each other. These gatherings help children develop a feeling of closeness not only to classmates, but to the whole school. Eating together at lunchtime strengthens this team spirit even more.

So going to a British School isn’t really the most casual way of learning things, but a very good experience. Pupils get to know all about letters, numbers and sciences and about how to get along with each other, about respect, courtesy and cooperation … for which they don’t even get grades, because good behaviour is a matter of course.

06) “I like to laugh” :: British Humour is so unique, that it has become a fixed term for a certain way of being funny. The British will laugh about everything that is off-key somehow, including themselves.
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A man walks into a doctor's office. A cucumber is stuck up his nose, a carrot in his left ear and a banana in his right ear. "What's the matter with me?" he asks the doctor. The doctor replies, "You're not eating properly."

Staying utterly serious while saying something extremely funny is the most important thing about British Humour. That is why it is also called “sober”. People will tell stories on just about anything while seeming completely untouched, be it the appearance of their boss as an Easter bunny at a Christmas party or their own inability to open a can of tuna without braking their fingers. For better effect everything is likely to be exaggerated, but the joke-teller will keep a straight face at least until his audience has started laughing.

“Better to loose a good friend than to pass up on a good joke” is the motto. Everything that is bound to be a good story will be shamelessly obscured to fit the plot, regardless of the fact that friends or family may be involved. That may seem rather mean at first glance, but the respective victim knows how to take it and laughs along. And it’s up to him to come up with a matching answer – so quick-wittedness is the name of the game. Moreover, the British are considerate enough not to go too far and really hurt somebody’s feelings and they’ll make just a s much fun of themselves as they do of others.

Of course foreigners always need some time to get used to this kind of humour, but many people envy the British for their way of not taking life all that seriously. It helps them handle even the worst experiences a little better by simply laughing more than walking around worrying all the time. Growing up in this background, the children develop their own sense of irony very early and learn to differentiate between what was said and what was really meant. And they’re having a lot of fun with their own plays on words.

Here are some more samples of British children’s jokes to better understand their sense of humour:

A travelling salesman passes through a small village when he's held up by a huge funeral procession. asks one of the locals "Who died?" "I'm not sure" said the villager "But I think it's the one in the coffin"

„Why do they always lock the bathrooms at gas stations? Are they afraid somebody could clean them?“

„What happens when you scare someone half to death twice?“

A man picks up the phone and calls a travel agency. He asks: „How long is a flight to Hon Kong?” The travel agent says: ”One moment …”  The man says: “thank you very much” and hangs up.

A car driver is stopped by a police officer, who then leans into his window to ask: “Haven’t you heard me call you and tell you to pull off to the side of the road?” The driver answers: “Oh, I’m sorry officer, I thought you just called to say good morning.” “It’s all right”, says the police officer, “I just wanted to warn you about the traffic jam coming up ahead.”

Exercise
“Mr. Bean” is a very well known British TV Series. Why don’t you try to borrow some sequels from the rental shop or library and have a look at them together with your teacher? Afterwards you could talk about it to find out, if you think it’s funny at all and what is so “British” about it.

07) “I like to cuddle” :: Naturally there is a lot of hugging and kissing going on amongst British parents and children as well. But that’ll stay in the family, since people less close are to be treated with restraint and utter politeness.
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In Great Britain people are very mindful about proper conduct. From early age on children are taught to say “thank you” or “please” whenever they need help or are given something and to instantly excuse themselves in case they may have disturbed anyone. Of course that is even more the case around grown-ups. When two people accidently bump into each other on the street for instance, not only the person having made that mistake will say “I’m so sorry”, even the one that’s been jolted will apologize with something like “my mistake”.

Such typically British rules of conduct are meant to make every day life as pleasant as possible. So there’s no reason to feel insulted when people don’t greet each other by shaking hands let alone embraces or kisses. It is the respect for the others privacy and his or her feelings, since not everyone appreciates physical contact to strangers. Instead, the person greeted will acknowledge an initial hello with a friendly „pleased to meet you“ succeeded by “how do you do?”. A typical question, that is always received with a „Very well, thank you“ rather than being answered honestly and in depth. The fact that you may not really be that well at all, would only be told to closer friends. In truth, these phrases seem to be nothing more than meaningless words of courtesy, but the respect shown by using them is taken very seriously.

Astonishingly enough, there is an abundance of terms of endearment with witch even strangers that are sympathetic in a way may be addressed by an Englishmen or woman. Men and boys for example will call each other “mate”, “son”, “chuck” or “guy” just to express their fondness. Women and girls are charmed with terms such as “my dear”, “my flower” or “me duck”, duck coming from the Old English word for “duke” by the way, not from the quacking water bird. Extremely affectionate names for a people known to be rather cool and reserved.

All this goes to show that in Great Britain correct behaviour is a sign of appreciation, which doesn’t mean they don’t love each other as much as others do. Close family members even expect certain physical signs of love and affection. The hefty and for most kids rather terrifying smootches on the cheek from grandparents, aunts and uncles at family gatherings is therefore almost impossible to avoid without being rude.

08) “I like to play” :: Cowboys and Indians, jump rope, playing tag or hide and seek – many children’s games are common and loved all over the world and nobody knows exactly, where they came from. But who cares, as long as kids get to run around, have a good romp and laugh.
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Just like most kids, British boys and girls love to play outside, because it’s the best place to let off steam without having to watch out for much. They meet to play football or hopscotch on the street or playground, they may grab their bikes and skateboards or they run around ringing the bells of some grumpy neighbours just to instantly run off screaming. Yes, even the otherwise extremely polite British children allow themselves some funny little tricks like that.

And naturally they will ask themselves what can be made out of the things simply dropping from the trees depending on the season – conkers for example. In autumn, there are great conkers competitions traditionally going on where you tie your conker on a string and try to destroy your adversaries’ conker by smashing it with shots of your own. If you miss, your opponent gets his chance. You collect points for every conker you managed to destroy. Plus your adversaries have to hand over all their points to you in case they lost. The player reaching a score of 100 first wins the competition.

The now wellknown game of commandos called “Simon says” originally comes from England as well. When playing this, children follow the instructions given by the designated “Simon”. It will say: “Simon says jump” and everyone jumps. It says: “Simon says tickle your nose” and all players do so. In case the Simon leaves out the “Simon says” though, the other kids aren’t supposed to do anything, so it all is a matter of listening closely, because whoever makes a mistake has to drop out. The last child playing with Simon wins and takes its turn to be the new Simon.

Having developed their special kind of humour, the British also have come up with some especially mean variants of common games. When playing “whoever laughs first looses” for instance, kids do not only try to stare each other down, they may face up to another irritating it with some sort of declaration of love. And hardly anyone will manage to keep a straight face when asked “Honey, do you love me” by a seven year old. Things like that may be a little embarrassing as well, but they make it all the more fun.

Another very popular way for British children to spend their free time is watching television. Supposedly an average child spends 25 hours a week watching game shows, science programs or soap operas. In addition to that, many hours are spent in front of the computer or game console. But whenever the sun comes out or some friends knock at the door, most kids are up and out faster than any parent can say “homework”. Obviously – or would you prefer to hang around alone at home