Let me know what you're good at... in the most British way haha!

Whenever my manager tells me I'm underperforming, I thank him for recognising that I'm doing my hardest to ensure other people perform above my level.

I love this, but be aware in some cultures, they call this hypocrite😂.

To cut long story short, it’s a land of many pretences. So don’t get caught in the pretence. Be one step ahead. And don’t beat yourself about many pretenders along the way, be wise always.

I've been working in UK for the last 20 years. Lack of directness leads to poor results in productivity from what I see. Way too much wooling around and meetings without consensus and clear goals, resistance to act quickly. So I do not know what is more important for UK now. Talking to preserve social stance and politeness or just get things done to improve the economy overall. Happy to be corrected.

Yes, were fake all the time. Hence mental health and our reputatio,n is the lowest its ever been. Im tired of being fake to get along with people who are miserable. 44 from uk😢😂

British society is a very secretive society.  It's all about keeping your cards close to your chest.  Being open and honest makes you vulnerable to attacks from others, especially those with fragile egos.

this is why mental health is low for us in uk. Just live life and be happy with everything. too compliated all this

We all just need to be comfortable and with other peoples wins, whether exaggerated or not.

”Yeah i manage to not poison my familly” 😂 good chef right there

Over the past two decades, I’ve come across people who use self-deprecation almost as a kind of social armour as said in this video. Sometimes it comes from not wanting to appear boastful, but even as someone from a different culture, I could not help notice a subtle class dimension to it.

Among ordinary middle class people, I often feel there’s a real hesitation to celebrate what they’ve achieved. They’ve worked hard for it and may secretly want to acknowledge it, but society seems to put a cap on how openly they’re allowed to do that.

Then there’s another version among people who are already well-off or part of more elite circles. They can self-deprecate with ease because their status is already secure, and it can almost become a socially acceptable route into showing what they have or what they’ve achieved.

I find both versions quite artificial and, at times, exhausting to watch. People may call it politeness or modesty or cultural, whatever, but when it becomes performative it can reinforce the social divisions it appears to soften.

There’s something much more liberating about simply accepting yourself and other people as they are. You shouldn’t have to make yourself smaller, or bigger, to be acceptable. Being able to meet people at the level they’re actually at, including yourself, without either pretending or self-deprecating, feels far more liberating. Just my two cents.

Our middle and upper classes dont have any problems bragging particularly those that went to public schools!

I think there’s a point where self-deprecating humor becomes a kind of fake humility. When someone is obviously good at something but keeps making fun of themselves for it, the subtext can actually be, “I know I’m good, but I’m going to pretend I don’t.” And sometimes the more sophisticated or overdone the language is, the more performative the humility feels. You’re not just hearing what they say: you’re also picking up on what they’re signaling underneath it.
Sorry..

Roy, you are not only my English Teacher but also you are my life Teacher.  I would say the most difficult part is how to interact with others in a good  manner. You have explained your culture very clearly and let us to understand more the Brits.

I don’t have Brits friends but need to work with them sometimes. TBH, they will not tell us what we did wrong and make them unhappy. Therefore, I need to observe everyone and read the air in a room. It’s difficult to learn it😅!

As a German, I should like to express to you my heartfelt gratitude for the admirable work you are doing. Such a lesson in the English tongue ought, I believe, to find its place in every school throughout Germany, and to be given no less than twice in every month. We Germans, perhaps more than most, are apt to possess a certain harsh and disagreeable directness of manner, which we are too readily inclined to commend to others under the honourable name of honesty. I have long been a great admirer of English literature, and particularly of the literature of the nineteenth century.

That is absolutely the opposite of a lot of the people in my office. Arrogant, boastful, loud, brash - and we are in the UK. Quite a lot of folk find them distasteful and up their own. Really not nice to be stuck around.
I have to say, I love this content and I'm native. Brilliantly done 👏👏😎

You've joined that incredible orchestra? You must play very well. "Oh, not really. I was lucky actually. At the trial rehearsal, the brass section behind me was so loud that nobody could barely hear me playing"

I'm Spanish but I've been living in England for 30 years now, and I can say that British understatement is an endearing quality of the true natives of this land. My favourite one, when one high official in the civil service said of Boris Johnson, when interviewed: "When the Prime Minister doesn't follow the law, that sends a worrying signal." Priceless.

I was once a Ride Operator at a major amusement park. On the microphone, I used a posh English accent. One day, a woman with a real English accent got in her seat and was secured. She waved at me and asked, "Pardon me. What part of Great Britain are you from?" I had never thought about it until that moment. I was stumped, so I grinned like an idiot and ignored her. I had no answer. When the coaster returned, I could see her waving at me. Rather than giving an incorrect answer, I greeted the returning train in my American Southern deep drawl rather than make up something obviously wrong, like Leeds, or Cornwall, or Knottingham. "Welcome back, y'all!..."
She almost fell on the ground when exiting the car, laughing heartily. She said, "Brilliant!"I looked at her, smiled, and shrugged my shoulders to indicate I didn't know and that she'd caught me.

I met so many British people that show off. From English, Scotish and British Asians.
The most down to earth were Welsh people.