When do I become a real Londoner?

Task # 3

When do I become a real Londoner?

London is a huge multicultural city. Every year people from all over the world come here to work, study and live. But what does it mean to be a Londoner?

Text: When do I become a real Londoner?

It's been said, time and time again, that true Londoners - and by that I mean born and bred - are rarer than a tan-free WAG. As a girl with northern roots, I have no problems with the diversity of the London population. I do, however, have a problem with the limbo that my nondescript accent has landed me in.

My time in the capital has taken its toll on my previous - not strong but detectable - northern accent. This has led to frequent accusations by other northerners that I talk "too posh". After my latest encounter with such an accusation, I found myself wondering, "Do I now count as a Londoner?" Is there some universally known -but-never-talked-about time period after which a person is dubbed a Londoner, or is it more to do with having the attitude of a Londoner?

I like to think I've got my Londoner savvy down to a fine art. It has taken me six years of living in the capital, but I'm pretty sure that if I don't speak, you could mistake me for a Londoner.

Compare me today with me when I first arrived in London ready to embark on university life: I ea­gerly hopped on a fast train, oblivious to the significance of the word "fast", then looked on in horror as the train zoomed past my stop. That was lesson number one.

With time came more lessons in the art of the "Londoner"; for example, learning not to refer to the Tube lines by color (avoiding the confusion caused by talking about "the blue line"); and not to stop and listen to every nice person standing on a high street holding a clipboard just because they said "hello" and smiled.

Now, many lessons later, I look on obvious non-Londoners with the smugness of a new driver overtaking a learner. These are the people who hold their paper travel cards over the Oyster reader and look bemused when the barriers don't open, or those who choose the middle of Oxford Street to whip out their A-Z and form a geography circle with their friends at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon.

So do I count as a Londoner yet? Or am I just trying to convince myself that I'm not lying when I answer the "So, where are you from?" question in my non-southern-yet-not-quite-northern accent.

Discussion Points:

Name the features of the real Londoner.

What is an image of a Londoner for you?

Compare the features of a real Saint-Petersburgian with those of a Londoner.

Give your explanation to the words WAG, posh, Tube, Oyster Reader, A-Z

Vocabulary Exercise

I. Find the synonyms and antonyms to the following words: 

limbo, savvy, to be oblivious to, clipboard, to look bemused

II. Find the explanation and discuss the following expressions:

the diversity of the London population, to count as a Londoner, the art of the "Londoner"

Report:

1. Unusual sights of London. We all know “Big Ben”, “The Tower”, “Saint Paul Cathedral”, but there is a huge amount of other great London sights. Choose one and tell about it.

2.Who lives in London? Tell about the population of the city, who and why comes to live there.

3.Describe the London Tube. Compare it with the Saint Petersburg’s Metro System.

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