GREAT BRITAIN

Do you know that Great Britain is the largest island in Europe and the ninth
largest island in the world? Great Britain (GB) is also the name for England,
Wales and Scotland.

The United Kingdom (UK) is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The country has a population of over 65 million people.

Click & match!

England is located in the
south-east of Great Britain.
The capital of England is London.

Scotland is a country in the north of Great Britain,

and its capital is Edinburgh.

Wales is located in the west of Great Britain.

The capital of Wales is Cardiff, which is also the
biggest Welsh city.

The people of Wales call their country Cymru in

the Welsh language. Welsh is a Celtic language
and it is completely different to English!

Northern Ireland is situated on the island of Ireland.

Belfast is its capital and the largest city.

Look at the map and put the names of the UK member

countries and their capitals in the correct place.

THE FLAG
The national flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is called the Union Jack.
It is a combination of the flags of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

+ + =
England Scotland Northern Ireland Great Britain
 LONDON
London is the capital of the United Kingdom, and the biggest city
in Europe. Almost 9 million people live there. The city was built
by the Romans in AD 43 on the river Thames, and at first it was called
Londinium. The most famous tourist attractions in London are:

Buckingham Palace – where the British Queen Elizabeth II lives. The Tower of London –
The Queen has a couple of homes, and when she is staying at which was a fortress, a royal
Buckingham Place, the British flag flies above the building. palace and a prison.

The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

– Big Ben is the name of a bell that rings in the
clock tower in the Houses of Parliament.
However, most people, including Londoners, call
the tower ‘Big Ben’.

London Eye – a giant Ferris wheel. It is 135 meters

high and you can take great pictures of London from
the top. A ride on London Eye lasts about 30 minutes.

The Tower Bridge – one of the most

famous bridges in the world. It runs over the
River Thames and it opens up so that the tall
ships can go through it. The bridge is 244
meters long and each of its two towers
is 65 meters high.

The Shard – the tallest

building in Europe.
In 1666, London was almost completely
destroyed in the Great Fire of London.
Surprisingly, only a few people were killed.

Click & play

Click&take the London quiz!
THE LONDON UNDERGROUND
London is a very big city and it has 14 metro lines. People call it the Underground or the Tube. If you put all the
lines together, they would be as long as the distance from London to Paris!

Look at the map of the London Underground – quite complicated, isn’t it? Which lines do you need to take to get
from Paddington to St. James’s Park?

Paddington

St. James’s Park

In London, you can also take one of the famous red double decker buses.
The red buses are one of the most popular British symbols.

Click & play!

Do you know any other means of transport? Match the names with the pictures.

1 a train

2 a plane

3 a scooter

4 a bicycle

5 a boat

6 a bus

7 a ferry

8 a taxi
THE ROYAL FAMILY
Queen Elizabeth II is the oldest monarch Britain has ever had. She was born
in 1926 in London. The Queen has no real power, but she is really popular
and loved by the British people.

Here are some interesting facts about the Queen:

• She has no passport or driving licence, because such
documents are issued by the monarch, so she does
not need to issue them for herself!
• She celebrates her birthday twice a year. Her real birthday is celebrated on April
21st. Her official birthday is celebrated on the second Saturday in June because
the weather is usually much better then.
• She loves corgis and she has had over 30 dogs. She even created her own breed
of dog that is half corgi and half dachshund.

Look at the royal family tree: QUEEN PRINCE

ELIZABETH II + PHILLIP

PRINCESS
ANNA
PRINCE
CHARLES + PRINCESS
DIANA
PRINCE
ANDREW
PRINCE
EDWARD

PRINCE
WILLIAM + KATE
MIDDLETON
PRINCE
HARRY + MEGHAN
MARKLE

PRINCE PRINCESS PRINCE BABY

GEORGE CHARLOTTE LOUIS ARCHIE

Would you like to be a king or a queen?

What are the good and bad sides of being a monarch?

The tall hats worn by the guards of Buckingham Palace

are called ‘bearskins’. However, nowadays they are not
made from real bear fur.
 BRITISH FOOD
Do you like sandwiches? People eat them all over the
world, but not everybody knows that they were invented in
England! ‘The sandwich’ was named after an English aristocrat,
the 4th Earl of Sandwich, who liked this kind of food because he could
eat and play cards at the same time.

Traditional English food includes The world’s first chocolate bar was also made
fish and chips, and a full-English in England – it was ‘invented’ in 1847
breakfast is sausages, bacon, eggs, by Joseph Fry from Bristol.
mushrooms, tomatoes, tea and a toast.

The British are famous for drinking a lot of tea, and they
often put milk in it. However, afternoon tea is a small meal,
not a drink. The British often have it at five o’clock.

ENGLISH WEATHER
Britain is known for its changeable and rainy weather, but the winters are milder and temperatures almost
and there are about a hundred words for different kinds never drop below 0 degrees Celsius. This is why you
of rain in the English language! can see some tropical plants in the south and even
British summers are cooler than those on the continent, palm trees in London.

How many hidden weather words can you find on the umbrella?

weatherforecast
onsnowitsunnykickfoggycold
terthunderstormcloudyraintemperature
ntasteclimatentswindyorwetantdryisthailer
frosterheatwavehurricanecool

When the British say

‘it’s raining cats and dogs’,
it means that it’s raining heavily.
Click & play the game.
Then write your answers!
1. What is the name of the river that flows through London?

2. What is the population of London?

3. What is the capital of Wales?

4. What is the name of the British flag?

5. What is the nickname for the London Underground?

6. What colour are the famous London taxis?

7. What do we call the London red buses?

8. How many lines does the Tube have?

9. What is the Queen’s favourite breed of dog?

10. What popular kind of food was invented by and named after an English aristocrat?

11. Britain is the largest _________________ in Europe.

12. What does the idiom ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ mean?

13. What is the capital of Scotland?

14. What is the capital of Northern Ireland?

15. What is the name of the Celtic language spoken in Wales?

16. What is the name of the Queen’s London palace?

17. What do we call the tall hats worn by the royal guards?

18. What is the name of the giant Ferris wheel in the centre of London?

19. Who established London and what was it first called?

21. What happened in London in 1666?

22. Why does the Queen celebrate her birthday twice a year?