Arthur m. Jensen endorsed by the following professors of English

THE ENGLISHMAN AND HIS COUNTRY

Some nations, perhaps most, talk much about themselves, but the Englishman at home in his own country seldom talks about Britain. When he does talk about his own country, is generally to express his opinion of all the things that might be, and should be, better in Britain. In fact, it is not until the Englishman finds himself in foreign countries, that he is prepared to admit to himself that he loves Britain, but he will hardly mention it to foreigners.
We may learn something of the English if we have a look at them abroad. They behave differently from people from most other countries. If Germans met in the past outside their own country, they would talk of their political system. If the Russians of to-day meet, they will soon commence talking of what the new Russia has done for the people. The Dutch
w ill talk to each other of trade and their empire in the East. The French will, in a very short time, get to the question of internal politics. The Americans will very quickly get to the subject of money.

Cricket [ˈkrɪkət]

What do Englishmen talk about when they meet abroad? Generally speaking, none of the things already mentioned. Instead, they will talk of the fun they had in playing cricket, football, tennis, or some other kind of sport. They will talk of fa-

m ous football and cricket games they have been to watch. They will talk of the wonderful times they spent out in the country or at the seaside; of the land of small houses, each with its own garden; of trips they made to the mountains of Wales and Scotland,

tennis [tenis]

or to the lakes of North-West England; of days of peace and brilliant sunshine spent in fishing; of the many famous old inns all over the country and the quality of the beer drunk in them. tennis They will talk of hundreds of small things that go to make up British life.

For hundreds of years foreigners have tried to find the good and bad points of the English,

and to understand them as a nation. In speaking to foreign students from different countries, an Irish buck
professor, P. C. Buck, once expressed his opinion [bʌk] of the English as follows:
“I am not an Englishman, so I can tell you quite frankly that the English people are extremely difficult to understand. I have got to understand them now, because I have had the advantage of being brought up in England; but I must give you a Get = learn warning not to allow the things that you notice to take very much part in forming your opinion of them. The English are not at all the people they seem to be. Whether they are angry, unhappy, hurt or anything else, they will not show it. You may watch Englishmen receiving telegrams containing news of some terrible happening or of a piece of Terrible = extremely good luck; but from his behaviour and very the expression of his face you will not be able to unpleasant say which it is.
“The English are the strangest people. Although they have invented most of the good games the world plays to-day, I believe
they are the only people who play them just because they love them and not because they want to win. I really believe that when French tennis players or German runners come over here and beat

André Maurois [ɑːndre mɔrˈwɑ]

fact, you never know why an Englishman does anything in the world.” André Maurois, a French writer, understands the English better than most foreigners. He says that the first thing the Frenchman thinks of the Englishman, is that he is like a bull-dog, who will hold

_{Knock out} them, they are quite pleased, whereas I, as an Irish[n_ɒk a_ʊt] man, want to knock out any man who beats me. In

on to a thing without being shaken off. Then he
says that the Frenchman finds that the English are difficult to understand. A Frenchman likes to make for himself an exact picture of the future, whereas an Englishman is very much against any such thing.