How to understand the difference between the UK and Great Britain
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Find out how the United Kingdom is different from Great Britain.
Script
Man: So where are you from?
Woman: Scotland. Are you Scottish too?
Man: Well no, I’m English actually, but…you know…it’s all like the same thing, isn’t it?
Woman: Not exactly.
Man: Go on! Isn’t Scotland just like well, a bit of England?
Woman: No, it is not!
Man: Sorry, Britain I mean.
Woman: “Britain” is not “England”!
Man: Well yeah…I know…that I’m not stupid or anything…but Britain’s like, England, Scotland and Wales, isn’t it?
Woman: Not exactly.
Man: Yeah, it’s the UK – the United Kingdom.
Woman: The United Kingdom is “Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland”.
Man: Oh I see, but we’re all like the same nation, aren’t we?
Woman: Not really. Four nations, one state.
Man: Oh, I get it! So the UK (is) like the same as Great Britain...
Woman: Great Britain is a geographical term – it’s a big island with Scotland, England, and Wales on it.
Man: All right, but we all have the same prime minister, don’t we?
Woman: Yes. And the same head of state.
Man: The Queen!
Woman: Exactly.
Man: And the same government?
Woman: Well, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own local parliaments.
Man: Oh. I see.
Woman: It’s complicated.
Man: Yeah, I can see that.
(The End)
Glossary
A nation (noun) is the same as a country, where people are living in a single area and have shared culture, government, language, traditions and so on.
A state (noun) refers to a country or its government. There is a slight difference between "nation" and "state" as the latter signifies a political entity.
Fri, 11/09/2009 - 9:23pm — JosephAu
So confusing!
Tue, 04/08/2009 - 11:31am — English Online Visitor
Good explainations!!!
Thu, 02/07/2009 - 3:59am — English Online Visitor
I get it
Thu, 02/07/2009 - 3:55am — English Online Visitor
It's really complicated
Tue, 30/06/2009 - 10:20pm — English Online Visitor
ohoh,it's really comlicated...
Sat, 09/05/2009 - 2:02pm — English Online Visitor
"it's complicated"
that's the understatement of the year and i didn't feel any clearer after watching (and reading) this presentation; "four nations, one state" what does that mean exactly...?
so i did a google search and found some other websites with more information. feel free to check them out:
http://geography.about.com/library/faq/blqzuk.htm
and especially
http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/britain/britain.htm
Mon, 13/04/2009 - 10:14pm — English Online Visitor
get it!
Mon, 06/04/2009 - 1:02am — admin
Hi Hannibal13, you may like to click 'play' and then pause the video to wait till it is fully loaded. Alternatively, please click the 'High-Quality Video' tab and see if you can watch the complete video online. Cheers.
Sun, 05/04/2009 - 3:57am — Hannibal13
i can't watch the complete video on my computer.i can only see maybe the first one-third of the video.
Thu, 05/02/2009 - 10:49am — andernp
Yeah! It's complicated, but I catch it, finally.