Tell me the bad things about living in the UK

[alwayscrashinginthesamecar1]

In the interests of equality, as we have had other threads for other countries, I thought I'd start this thread.

I'll start it off with

Bloody awful weather
Obsessed with class
Racist and in some places sectarian too
Filthy cities.

The thing is, you have to do all those things - build vocabulary, learn how to construct sentences, read, listen, speak. It's not a choice of either books or interactive learning, either grammar or vocab. Any decent MFL department/teacher does all of that and uses books, online resources, worksheets, games, visual aids, audio etc etc. I've never known a school that didn't (even the not very good ones!) - it's standard practice tbh.

Has this been derailed into a TEFL related thread by any chance?

MFL, not TEFl. But point taken!

I've just discovered that you may not get a state pension in Australia if you have savings so I like that I have just started receiving a state paension in the U.K. even though I have savings.

Yeah you do have to learn all those thing lazy, of course you do. My school in the 80s/90s wasn't great but the books were good. My DC don't have books at all in their school language lessons.
Soz for derail anyway! I still stand by my point that however we learn if you have the will it's much easier to find language resources now than ever but British people often don't bother.

I’ve lived in Aus, US and U.K. so have all threads (I’ve seen covered)

I’d say
Aus - spiders and TV
US - beer and bars
U.K. - cloudy weather (Although pulling out stops atm) and cap doffing to royalty / aristocracy

On the racism issue they all suffer from it in their yeh way

US is shocking (current events)
U.K. more hidden and often mixed with class issue, lack of opportunity
AUS can be openly casually racist which can also stand out and shock

Own way

I wouldn’t say the uk is racist

There are racist people in it but institutionally I think it’s made great strides in recent years

Classism prob more of an issue in us - lack of social mobility - I think this comes from the great British public school tradition, it’s world famous

Uk* I should say

^ Agreed. I haven't lived in the US but have lived in Australia and the UK, and as a non-white person I don't feel Australia is more racist, it's just more open about its racism. I actually prefer that in a sense to the hidden and insidious racism I've experienced in the UK, because it's so much more difficult to address and challenge.

Should say, agree with @MarshaBradyo re racism.

I wouldn’t say the uk is racist

Of course it is, it's governed by racist people who encourage others to be racist. Here's a great example, this is what Gove was doing during lockdown.
www.travellerstimes.org.uk/news/2020/04/minister-accused-egging-racist-witch-hunt-after-traveller-camp-eviction-during

This is a really bad thing about the UK and it's government right now.

I'm patriotic and love this country - I will love it even more when we have left the shitshow otherwise known as the EU and David Frost is doing an outstanding job to ensure that happens.

I do think spending time in other countries and having family live abroad/friendships with people in other countries has made me appreciate the UK a lot more. Its easy to see the appeal of some countries and then when living there realise what youve taken for granted backn"home." Which Im sure applies whichever country you move from.

Well when people are trying to make out, as here, that racism is a particular big thing to the UK, I will point out thats a load of bollocks.

And for those easily confused- Im not saying the UK isnt a racist country, every country is racist.

HepzibahGreen

We did learn how to construct sentences around the pages that we learned that week.

How to ask questions, do something describe something etc.

You might know all about how you construct a sentence but if you don’t know the basic words you are not going to get very far.

@deydododatdodontdeydo

Worlds worst cuisine.

Ever been to Eastern Europe?

Yes I have. My parents are from Eastern Europe. Thank you for your comment. Much appreciated.

Re anxious children. Its really hard to explain but I can give you an example of when I really noticed it. I was eating out and the tone of voice the children were talking in was just completely different. As was their behaviour. Not bad behaviour, but just the way they were.

Bad things about Denmark:

Impossible to make friends with Danes. I go out with my mother group from dc2 and 1 friend from college. Ive been here 13 years.

Very bad at presenting information visually. Eg my class at adult education college was completely astounded by the brilliance of a table I made with the 4 EU institutions with sections for how they were appointed, length of service, responsibilities etc so you could compare. Its hard to find info at train stations, esp cph. Not like tfl with tube maps everywhere.

Lack of convenience. I can get a delivery from my local supermarket if I order a week in advance. I do live quite rurally though.

Very reluctant to employ foreigners. Dont really recognise the benefits to Danes of time abroad. Think the danish education system is the best in the world. If you dont have a certificate then you cant do x.

Journalists dont know the difference between England, GB and UK. "The english mp michael martin" made me turn off. Also muslims, immigrants and ethnic minorities.

They dont collect data on race and ethnicity which makes it very difficult to show that racism exists.

Nothing. The UK is a fantastic country and certainly not 'filthy' . We are privileged to live here.

Oh and I love the weather, the seasons keep it interesting. I lived in a Mediterranean country for 5 years and prayed for rain, I got so bored of constant sun.

Flying in over Heathrow after a trip overseas still makes me feel proud to live in such a historic, cultural and fascinating country.

the seasons keep it interesting
We had no seasons 2019/2020 tbh. Maybe 2 tops. There was no proper winter and many plants are paying for it. And very wet summer. Very wet. Obviously not all over uk. But where I am.

I love how people try to claim there is not a single bad thing on living in UK😂 Every country has some bad things.

I second (third?) the anxious children aspect. I don't think the UK (speaking mostly about England) is that great a place to raise children, between the rigid school system that starts children too young in formal schooling, developmentally inappropriate primary curriculum geared towards academic targets rather than social-emotional wellbeing, and the narrow-yet-disconnected subject focus in secondary that turns so many young people off education instead of providing them with a broad understanding of of the world. (This is not teacher bashing by any means - it's educational-system bashing).

The UK does not come out well in the UNICEF studies of child and adolescent wellbeing (in rich developed countries). Subjective wellbeing, in particular, is quite low with respect to other countries, so it's not all my personal view. www.unicef.org/media/files/ChildPovertyReport.pdf