WAYS OF LIFE

GOING OUT
If you are an American, or do not live in the UK for many years. When you want to
go out in the UK, you may be overwhelmed by the obvious differences between
the UK and the United States. For example, the lack of a blue mailboxes, no
overhanging traffic lights or twenty-foot-high billboards.
In the UK, the house tend to look smaller and closer together and the billboards
not erected along motorways. Therefore, the tips below are extremely useful for
you.
 The downtown doesn't exist in British cities. If you ask the natives how to
get downtown, they'll probably ask you where that is! You'll need to say
either that you want to go "into town" or to the town center.
Many cities in the UK are very old and the town centers consist of extremly
narrow streets. For this season, many have been paved and are now pedestrian-
only shopping areas. This, couped with ever popular one-way traffic systerms,
make driving around these town and cities a nightmare until you memorize the
route.
 London is considered the most congested city in the world. If you want to
drive around London, you must pay the daily congestion charge or face a
fine.
 You will know when you are entering the Congestion Zone as there are red
large “ C” signs everywhere. The Congestion charge is in effect Monday
through Friday from 7 A.M until 6.30 P.M .
 Congestion charge and penalties must be paid before 12:00 PM on the day.
If you pay after 10 P.M, there is an additional charge. It can be done online
by phone or by mail or gas stations and shops with the” C “logo. Of course,
your car license plate is photographed and entered into a database.
Therefore, almost people choose walk and take the Tube, hop on a bus. or
take a taxi instead of driving their car into central LonDon.
Talking about public transport in the UK, you might be surprised because you can
take a train or a bus to any corner of the country. Because there are so many bus
route, so when you look at it, you will not know which way to reach your
destination. Although there is a digital sign that give the estimated arrival times of
the buses scheduled to stop there. But it seems unuseful. For example, it provides
incorrect bus numbers.
 When travelling by train, you can often buy ticket a head of time either at
the station or online. Make sure you have a ticket before youu board as
ticket inspectors can fine you. The transport strikes also happen at the
busiest time of years.
You can travel quite well using taxis in the UK with 2 types are black cab and mini
cab, each with different rule.
 The black cab is called" Hackney carriage" are the only taxis that can
legally"ply for hire". If they are empty and available for hire, they will have
a lit up sign on the top of the car and you can stick your hand out as you
would anywhere. These cab can be found outside various city center
locations. But not found in rural areas.
 The other type of taxi is generally known as a mini cab. These cab allow you
book a cab to come and pick you up from wherever you state. These cab
must be booked ahead of time either by phoning the company office or
booking online and you will receive the price for your ride.
In British, there are pubs, churches, dead ends, curving streets and identical
houses everywhere. So, if you want to go around by driving, taking a taxi, sending
mail to someone, finding people's houses, make sure you have the exact address.
 Be warned, that some houses may have very strange addresses- or no
number, also don't assume everything is a street or avenue. You should
also consider the vital clue how the house looks.
 London and individual counties in the UK have a Travel Council. Advice for
you if you want to come here you should learn them on the Web, because
they not only provide the information that your destination, but you can
also get discounted tickets and other bargains.
VOCABULARY:
Overwhelm /ˌəʊvəˈwelm/: choáng ngợp
Erect /ɪ'rekt/: đứng thẳng
Billboard /'bɪlbɔ:d/ : bảng quảng cáo
Pave /peɪv/: lát (đường, sàn….)
Pedestrian/pɪ'destrɪən/: dành cho người đi bộ
Congestion/kənˈdʒestʃən /: sự tắc nghẽn (đường xá,….)
Licence plate /'laɪsns pleɪt/: biển số xe
Corner/'kɔ:nə(r)/ : góc ( tường, phố,…)
Route/rʊ:t/: tuyến đường, lộ trình
Destination/,desɪt'neɪ∫n/ : nơi đến
Inspector/ɪn'spektə(r)/: sự kiểm tra.
Hackney carriage /'hæknɪ kærɪdʒ/: xe ngựa
Rural/ˈrʊərəl/: (thuộc) nông thôn, thôn dã, ở vùng nông thôn
Dead end /ˌded ˈend/: ngõ cụt
Vital clue /ˈvaɪtl kluː/: đầu mối quan trọng
Bargain/ ˈbɑːɡən/: sự thỏa thuận mua giá

ATTIRE AND ACCESSORIES

Most confusing is the fact that the British and Americans use the same names for
differents thing.
For example: a vest in the UK is the undergarment worn on the top half of the
body, a waistcoat is the name used for a vest
 In Chicago in the winter, guests entering my home almost always remove
their shoes at the door. In the UK, this wouldn't be expected and you might
even make your host a tad uncomfortable if you pad around in your socks.
 In the UK, the don’t decorate themselves according to the seasons or
holiday because the temperature is fairy mild all year round.
 The women don’t tend to wear dark colored socks. And then don’t wear
white or cream pantyhose unless it’s part of a nurse’s uniform.
 Pants" refers to underpants and not to trousers.
 A woman's shoe sizing in the United States will be two sizes smaller in the
UK.
  Clothes sizing (for women) is also different. If you're an 8 in the United
States, expect to go for at least a 12 in the UK—jump up two sizes.
 A raincoat will be referred to as a "mac".
A slightly padded raincoat will be an "anorak".
A rain slicker is a "cagool."
A rubber, rainproof boots are your "wellies”.
The hat you might wear is your "Sou' Wester".
The rubber overshoes ” galoshes”
VOCABULARY:
Attire /əˈtaɪə(r)/: quần áo
Undergarment /ˈʌndəɡɑːmənt/: quần áo lót, quần áo trong
Pantyhose /ˈpæntɪhəʊz/: quần bó
Underpants / ˈʌndəpænts/: quần đùi, quần lót
Slicker /ˈslɪkə(r)/: áo đi mưa
Rubbers /ˈrʌbə(r)s/: giày cao su.

WORK LIFE IN THE UK

 British women are not affected in office uniforms
 Finding a job—In the United States, word of mouth is used a lot when job-
hunting, but in the UK, job vacancies are often advertised in daily
newspapers or handled by recruitment companies.
 The Brits draw a sharp distinction between being fired (sacked) and being
let go for any other reason. "Getting the sack," or being fired, would mean
that the employee had done something fairly egregious at work, since oral
and written warnings must ordinarily be given before anyone can be fired.
When employees are let go due to financial problems or restructuring in
the organization, this is usually termed "being made redundant," and has
much less stigma attached.
 The British government always has policies for workers very generous such
as health insurance benefits or pension benefits, and maternity benefits…
 In the UK, the office workers often schedule into a separate diary for work
confience.
 When using documents, the British often focus on spelling. For examples,
although Brits are aware that Americans use "z" where they would place an
"s" (e.g., organize). And they usually write down the day, followed by the
month, rather than the month first.
 Meals - unlike Viet Nam, the Brits mostly eat breakfast at home. In the
workplace they are served cakes, tea, coffee in around midmorning and/or
mid-affernoon.
 Professional terms are also often different.
The term "CPA" is not known; its equivalent is a chartered accountant.
"Attourney" is not much used (and is spelled "attourney") since the British
legal profession is divided into barristers and solicitors, depending on which
courts they appear in.
Barristers are known as “advocates”.
Corporate attorneys are usually called solicitors; and there are no such
things as paralegals.
Realtors are known as estate agents.
Doctors are rarely called physicians.
 We advoid using sports anologies and phrases when speaking to British co-
workers as the meaning is almost guaranteed to be skewed, if not
completely lost such as “ touch base”, “ step up to the plate”, “ticking on
the boxes”.
 To "table" a topic in the UK means to put something on the agenda, rather
than to adjourn the discussion until the next time.
 The verb "to revise" also causes many problems. Typically, "to revise" in the
UK means to study for an exam, not to mean a change in something.
 When you don't know the person's name, use "Yours faithfully," and if you
know the person's name, use "Yours sincerely.". If you don't know whether
the recipient is male or female, the salutation is "Dear Sir or Madam."
Letters, especially in business, would not usually conclude with "Sincerely"
or "Best regards" unless you had developed a personal relationship with
the addressee.
 Acronyms provide a whole new language for you to learn. The Brits use
totally different acronyms altogether:
 o AOB—Any other business
o NB—Nota bene "Note well,".
o POETS day—Piss Off Early, Tomorrow's Saturday
o PTO—"Please turn over."
o OTT— "Over the top
o TTFN—Ta ta for now.

VOCABULARY:
Hunting /ˈhʌntɪŋ/ : tìm kiếm
Egregious /ɪˈɡrɪːdʒɪəs/: cực kì tệ
Ordinarily /ˈɔːdnrəlɪ/: thông thường, bình thường
Restructuring /ˌrɪːˈstrʌktʃərɪŋ/: tái tổ chức
Redundant /rɪˈdʌndənt/ : không cần đến, dư thừa
Stigma /ˈstɪɡmə/ : sỉ nhục
Pension /ˈpenʃn/ : tiền trợ cấp, lương hưu
Equivalent /ɪˈkwɪvələnt/ : tương đương
Attorney /əˈtɜːnɪ/ : luật sư
Corporate/ˈkɔːpərət/ : hợp thành
Guarantee /ˌɡærənˈtɪː/ : sự bảo đảm
Advocate /ˈædvəkeɪt/ : người bào chữa, biện hộ
Table /ˈteɪbl/ : đề trình ( một đề nghị….) để thảo luận
Adjourn /əˈdʒɜːn/ : hoãn lại, dời lại
Revise /rɪˈvaɪz/ : ôn thi
Acronym /ˈækrənɪm/: từ cấu tạo bằng những chữ đầu của một nhóm từ.