Czech, British and American mentality

[Lenka]

This is a very short essay about the nature of my nation, British and Americans. I don't find it good at all. I know it's very bad (in a stylistical way), but I am lazy to write more and think of it . Anyway, it's not that important. I was just trying to write something on this topic (my English teacher didn't "force" me to write it, anyway - which is, perhaps, the reason I didn't do my best and it's very short and stupid)

Could you correct the mistakes I made in the essay, please?



THE CZECHS, BRITISH AND AMERICANS AND THEIR MENTALITY


It is not that easy to tell what a nation is like. It is always difficult to describe what a person is like and it is much more difficult to describe a nation in such a way.
I had a look on some internet sites that deal with Czech culture, language, etc., as I am very interested in this social topic and in what others (the foreigners) think of my nation.
I could read many opinions, from many people – from Poland, Germany, the USA, Japane and so on and generally, all of them said that the Czechs have good beer and beautiful women. However, this doesn’t tell us anything about the Czech nature.

The Czechs are mostly considered quite reserved people with low self-confidence and passivity towards anything (“It turns anyhow“). This is, probably, caused by the historical eras that affected the lives of the Czechs and their mentality. The Czechs had to recover from socialism – which meant no competition. Perhaps this made the Czechs come to realize that family, not their job and work, is the most important part of our lives. The Czechs attach much more importance to family, than to success.
As I said, the historical background influenced self-confidence of my nation and that is also why the people in the CZ aren’t sometimes used to decide for themselves - to take responsibility for our own destiny is still a very unpleasant fact of life for many people, especially the elderly ones.
The fact that the Czechs are reserved is connected with the fact that they don’t accept any novelties and are too conservative. However, the young generation is considered different, which is quite clear, as the young generation wasn’t brought up in the difficult eras of this nation and Czech country. Young people here are open to new things; you can see their joy that they have a choice.
On the other hand, although the Czechs are considered very reserved and passive to anything, they have a good sense of humour and love to smile and laugh. They love to spend their free time with their friends and families discussing anything. Family is a very important issue for them. The Czechs might seem cold to you, but the main cause is their reserve – in fact, they are very friendly and sincere, if you make friends with them.

Now, I should compare it with the British and American nation. I can’t say what the truth is, as I am not the right one who should compare it, as I don’t live in a very cosmopolitan city (I live in a rather small town with about 35 thousand of inhabitants) and I don’t meet British or Americans at all. I have never lived in the UK or in the USA, so I can’t judge it.

Anyway, the British are considered reserved too, which is very similar to the CZ. In the opposite of this we can see enthusiastic and spontaneous natures in the USA. The Americans aren’t afraid of anything. If you critisize them, they don’t notice it at all. The Americans are very self-confident.
I don’t like too self-confident people, so I’d like the British a little more, perhaps.

It is said that the Americans always want to achieve their target, have success in their lives and that is why they work really hard and a lot. The British aren‘t, on the contrary, interested in work and personal success so much and prefer eing with their families, working in the gardens, going out with their friends, walking their dogs. This is, in my opinion, very similar to the Czechs, too.

In the end, I’d like to mention that I love the British sense of humour, although many people don’t find it funny at all. I believe I’d get used to the British nature very soon. However, not every Czech has the same nature as I do. As well as not every British or American behaves the same I have described.

[Tdol]

passivity towards anything- this phrase doesn't work for me. How about something like 'have a passive outlook on life' ?
aren’t sometimes used to decide- deciding
eras of this nation and Czech country- there's redundancy here
free time with their friends and families discussing anything- discussing anything sounds weak to me- why n0ot use 'chatting' or, if you want to suggest more serious talk, 'coversing'
British and American nation- how many?
too self-confident people- people who are too...

[Lenka]

thanks :)
can I say "They love to spend their free time chatting with their friends and families. " instead? Or should I put some preposition in front of "chatting"?

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by Lenka

thanks :)
can I say "They love to spend their free time chatting with their friends and families. " instead? Or should I put some preposition in front of "chatting"?

The sentence is perfectly correct as it stands. It does not need a preposition.