Can Brits Pass a British Citizenship Test? | Easy English 89

Hello, welcome to Easy English.

About 170,000 people apply yearly for British citizenship.

To gain it, the person must first complete 5 tasks;

some based on character, language ability and time spent in the UK.

The final task is a multiple choice quiz called the “Life in the UK Test”.

The person must answer 18 out of 24 questions correctly to pass,

so I thought it would be interesting to find out

if native Brits knew the answers, let’s go!

How often are general elections held in the UK;

three years, four years, five years, or ten years?

Five years. - No well, it depends, doesn’t it?

‘Cos the laws changed now, so they can be held whenever they want to be.

But in gen… in general, when are they supposed to be held? At least,

every five years. But they can be held every three or four years.

Correct. - Alright, smarty-pants.

When did Sake Dean Mahomet open the first curry house in the UK;

was it 1780, 1810, 1880 or 1940? - 1880.

Ah, you were close, its was 1810. - Oh!

You were in the right century though, that’s pretty good.

I don’t think we’d have gone (for) 1940 though.

What was the last battle between Great Britain and France;

Trafalgar, Waterloo, Hastings or Agincourt? - Oh goodness er…

What do you reckon? - I want to say Hastings.

You want to say Hastings? - Yeah but, was it Waterloo?

It was Waterloo! - Argh! - Is that what you were going to say?

I was more inclined to say Waterloo, but yeah.

Which of these is an Anglo-Saxon poem;

''Mister Hyde'', ''Jude the Obscure'', ''Beowulf'' or ''Pride and Prejudice''?

''Beowulf. - Beowulf, yeah. - Perfect.

Which flower is associated with Wales? - Oh, okay.

Is it the daffodil, the Rose, Shamrock or thistle?

Is it a rose? - it's a daffodil. - What! I thought they had a rose!?

Okay. - Well the do in rugby, is that not Wales?

What charity works to preserve important buildings,

coastline and countryside in the UK? And it’s a multiple choice.

Oh. - ''Shelter'', ''Age'', ''Crisis'' or ''The National Trust''?

''National Trust'', yeah. - Perfect!

Who was voted in 2002, the greatest Briton of all time;

you got, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, Alexander Fleming or Mo Farah?

Churchill. - Perfect, one out of one. - Whey!

When were the last Welsh rebellions defeated?

This is one for the history… history teacher;

14th, 15th, 16th or 17th century?

Well it’s Edward Longshanks, wasn’t it?

So it wasn’t the 16th, wasn’t the 1600’s.

No, it was during the time of the black death, I’m sure.

Was it 1400’s or 1300’s? Erm… ‘cos that’s when he couldn’t…

England couldn’t conq… couldn’t conquer Wales,

I remember writing an essay about it at uni. - Rebellions.

But he… he couldn’t conquer Scotland,

‘cos he couldn’t build his castles; the English.

And they… against Wallace… William Wallace. - Yes.

So is that 1300’s or 1400’s? I think it's 1300’s.

So that’d be the 14th century. - Yeah, is it? - Final answer?

And then you got the Newport uprising,

which is technically, in Wales, isn’t it?

when they protest about political rights.

But that was the 18th century, wasn’t it? - Yes.

It was after the Peterloo massacre. - So that’s… so that’s.

So that’s a bit late then isn’t it? - Yeah, that’s too late.

Okay. - We should call up the er… The British citizen test people,

you know? - Yeah, we do. Yeah, I… I think the 1300’s, 14th century.

What do you think? - I don’t know, it’s either

14th or 15th,

I don’t know. - Can we go 14th? - Yeah, it’s actually

the 15th.

Ah!

Which of these is a British overseas territory? - Oh God!

Ireland, Hawaii, the Falklands or Cyprus? - Falkland Islands. - Nice.

When did women get the right to vote at the same age as men;

we have, 1918, 1928, 1938 or 1948?

I should know this, shouldn’t I? B. What was B?

What was B? Wait! - ’28?

Correct! - I knew it would be!

What county does Stonehenge stand in;

Lancashire, Berkshire, west Yorkshire or Wiltshire?

Ah, not… not one of those latter two, I think it's fairly south.

What are the first two again?

Er… the first two is Lancashire or Berkshire. - Berkshire?

Or is it Lancashire? - It’s in Wiltshire. - Oh, is it?

Actually, I don’t… yeah. Now I know, now I know.

What was the purpose of the emancipation act;

freedom of religion, freedom of speech,

no one could be held prisoner unlawfully

or abolish slavery in the British Empire?

Emancipation of the peoples act. - Yeah, emancipation of the peoples act,

D. - Perfect.

Haggis is the traditional food of which country;

England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland? - Scotland.

Perfect and goods impression. - Thanks.

Which was the last successful invasion of Britain;

was it, the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans, the Vikings or the Romans.

The Normans. - Perfect!

How many colonies were granted independence in 1947;

er… 7, 9, 11 or 13? - Oh, erm… India was one.

But there… there’s so many… - You got the…

you got the two different ones, you got the dominions and the…

what’re the other ones called?

Unless there’s basically the Barbados, possibly.

No, I’m not sure, off the top of my head. - So 1947.

‘Cos there were a lot of colonies we’d already given…

Yeah. - Independence to. Shall we go seven? - Yes.

I’m not sure, I’m… I’m just guessing. - Let’s hope India was ’46.

Okay, seven? - Er… it was 9, but that’s the… you’re… you’re… you know.

We’re close, we’re close. - You’re on that path.

Yeah, it was a good guess, I’d have thought it was more.

What yearly event happens between Oxford and Cambridge University;

is it, a rowing race, a game of football,

a tennis match or game of basketball. - Rowing. - Perfect.

Who is Sir Chris Hoy;

is he a rower, a cyc… - A cyclist. that’s… oh good, I can make it,

that’s good. - Boom! You smashed it.

You should’ve… if the microphone wasn’t on a stand,

you could have just, done a mic-drop.

From that test you just did, what’s your like, thoughts on it?

As, you know, knowing it's a test for people

to get their British citizenship. - I think it’s quite…

I think it's quite hard for people, because I mean,

well we've been… we've been citizens for like,

forever and we know the answers, but I think for somebody else,

from abroad, I think that would be… quite tricky.

I think it’s quite good, ‘cos they’re trying to show

the cultural knowledge rather than factual. And that’s more important.

And so, the eventuality of this,

is you have to get 18 out of 24 in some fashion.

Er… what is your opinion of this test, from what you've done?

Um… sort of good. So long as some of the other questions

are a bit more relevant to everyday living in Britain, I think.

Do you? That, they need to be… A; it’s good to know a bit of the history

erm… and good to know about the constitution and you know,

how to vote and that sort of, thing.

But I think it's also got to be practical as well, about…

More cultural things maybe? - Yes, perhaps. Yes, a little bit.

And the history is good,

but I think it needs to be more of a practical test.

I see. Like… - With a little bit of history, sure.

As in day-to-day stuff. - Yes. And like,

who's the present prime minister and erm… thing… things like that.

Perhaps a little bit more up to date, yeah.

So what’s your kind of, overall opinion of that test?

To become a British citizen? - I think bit (too much) history.

It’s too much about history. - Yeah. - Because we both like history.

I had an unfair advantage and so do you, ‘cos you like history too.

I think it should be; where is Manchester?

Yeah. What… what… what is Liverpool famous for?

Or yeah, more about culture, as well as, yeah.

And a bit of geography. Or where’s the Royal Opera House

and how do you get from A to B on the tube?

Yeah, that’s a good idea, actually. - Yeah, what is tube?

Yes, that sort of thing. - Yeah. - I like it.

And, should you stand in a queue?

Yeah. What the British thing to do?

Constantly say sorry for something you haven't done.

Yeah, what is… what does a tut mean? - Yeah exactly, things like that.

Or like, you know, what is a pub? Or you know just, yeah it’s…

it's too history centred.

I feel like a lot of these questions are like,

trivia questions, a little bit, you know.

And like, it’s good to know, but I don't know whether they kind of,

really define whether you have integrated or not, really.

So I feel like ther… there could be other things to measure that on.

Any suggestions about what they could add,

to actually improve this, do you think? - Yeah, especially like,

I think just like, seeing how well somebody communicates,

not maybe just speaking but like, how… how they are…

how they integrated with the culture

and also how they contributed to the society.

So kind of maybe, looking a little bit into what they do.

Erm… because I feel like, for instance; I work in education,

so I feel like you know, I… I've been contributing to that.

And try to also, always integrate into like the society,

because I… I love the culture here and I feel like

it has become a huge part of who I am. Erm… so yeah,

but it’s… you know, it’s like, factual info is important,

but how does it actually contribute to understanding the culture?

Thanks for watching this week’s episode,

check out the description below to find a link to some example tests,

let me know how you get on and we’ll see you next week, bye.