We`re all going on a summer holiday -

We’re all going on
a summer holiday -
EUROPE
FOT. LE MOAL OLIVIER
FOREVER
When the Brits talk about migration
they usually mean ‘Jolly Foreigner’
going to dear old Blighty and
taking their jobs and housing.
Not many talk about the steady
stream of Brits heading out of the
country. But with 2000 UK citizens
leaving every week, the exodus
is beginning to raise questions.
Business
English
Magazine’s
editor, Ed Wight, takes a closer
look.
jolly – radosny
foreigner – obcokrajowiec
Blightly – slangowo: Anglia
steady – stały, ciągły
to head – kierować się
citizen – obywatel
to raise - tu: nasuwać
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In addition, those surveyed cited
the high cost of living in Britain and
expensive housing as other reasons.
According to research from the
Institute for Public Policy Research
(IPPR), the number of Brits looking
to escape Shakespeare’s ‘sceptred
isle’ is set to increase. Indeed, the
number of British citizens who
choose to leave for good has doubled
in the last 5 years to 2000 per week
or one every three minutes. And
the report predicts that another one
million Brits will move abroad over
the next five years.
And who can blame them? Real
disposable income barely rose
between 2003 and 2005, and the
quality of life is mediocre. Indeed,
out of Ireland, Australia, Spain
the USA, Canada, New Zealand
and France, Britain has the lowest
amount of disposable income, at
least according to the Economist
Intelligence Unit.
ast year, nearly 200,000
British people le� the UK
with no plans of returning,
and 5.5 million now live
abroad permanently. On top of
that, 58 million people outside
the country claim British ancestry,
making the British diaspora the
third largest in the world, behind
only India’s and China’s. Britain
has more people living abroad than
almost any other country.
to live abroad – mieszkać za granicą
permanentny – na stałe
to claim – twierdzić, utrzymywać
ancestry – pochodzenie, rodowód
to escape – uciec
sceptre’d isle – „królewska” wyspa
to leave for good – wyjeżdżać na dobre
to predict – przewidywać
conducted – przeprowadzony
majority – większość
obvious – oczywisty
to flock – gromadzić się
taxman – fiskus
surveyed – badany, ankietowany
tax cut – obniżenie podatków
disillusionment – rozczarowanie
to cite – przytaczać, powoływać się na
deep-rooted – głęboko zakorzeniony
resentment – uraza
to be fed up with – mieć czegoś dosyć
to scrimp – zaciskać pasa
chilly – chłodny
damp – wilgotny
to blame – winić
disposable income – dochód ne�o
mediocre – mierny, pośledni
to head off for pastures new – ruszyć na
podbój świata
finding – konkluzja, wniosek
to quit – porzucić, odejść
perception – postrzeganie
old wrinklies – staruchy
retirement – emerytura
misfit – odmieniec
outcast – wyrzutek
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BUSINESS ENGLISH MAGAZINE
This is supported by independent
research conducted by the BBC
which shows that an increasing
number of people are considering
moving abroad.
According to the BBC’s poll, more
than half of British people have
considered emigrating in their life
time. The majority of these were
young people.
The questions may seem obvious:
Why would the British want to leave
Britain? Good jobs, good pay and
good standards of living – isn’t that
what Britain is all about? Isn’t that
why so many other nations flock
there, making London the most
cosmopolitan city in the world?
Maybe. But Brits can find be�er jobs,
a be�er standard of living and a
nicer climate abroad.
Taxman
According to a poll conducted by
the Taxpayer’s Alliance, one in
five of those surveyed would leave
the UK because of the lack of tax
cuts from the government. This is
compounded by disillusionment
with the political parties.
The report does argue that most
émigrés leave not because of some
deep-rooted resentment against
Blighty, but because a life abroad
with higher standard of living and
a nicer climate sounds be�er. But,
this is just a polite way of saying that
Brits are fed up with scrimping and
saving in chilly, damp Britain.
Wherever I lay my umbrella…
So, with so many Brits heading off
for pastures new, where exactly is it
that they are going? Well, the report
shows that the top 10 countries,
together accounting for 75 per cent
of all Brits living abroad, are:
Australia – 1.3 million, equivalent to
2 per cent of the UK population
Spain – 760,000
USA – 680,000
Canada – 600,000
Ireland – 290,000
New Zealand – 215,000
South Africa – 212,000
France – 200,000
Germany – 115,000
Cyprus – 59,000
Another interesting finding of the
report is that while more and more
people are qui�ing the UK to live in
France, Spain, Australia or America,
fewer Britons are coming back from
abroad to live at home at any time in
a decade.
Who?
In the past, the perception of those
leaving the UK was of either old
wrinklies heading off for retirement
in sunny climes, or misfits and
outcasts. Not any longer. They still
FOT. PAULUS RUSYANTO
EUROPE
PE
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exist but increasingly those looking
to leave are young professionals or
those who have decided on a change
of career.
One such person is former journalist
and assistant chief sub-editor,
Patrick Sherriff. He, his Japanese
wife and two young children, plan
to pack their bags and head off for
Japan where Patrick hopes to cash in
on the demand for English language
tuition.
In an interview with HoldtheFrontPage, a website for journalists,
he said, “We have two children who
are five and two and we want them
to be bilingual. They are at home
but as time goes on it will be hard
to keep up their Japanese. From
a career point of view it will be
exciting to work for ourselves.”
“There is,” Patrick added, “always a
great demand from business people
for learning English. There are great
possibilities, but if we were to fall
on our faces I would just get a job
somewhere else. I would be no
worse off. The world is a small place
these days.”
Another professional who has
decided to quit the UK is the very
middle-class
Felicity
Vaughan.
Felicity decided to leave her home
town of Edinburgh and set up her
business in Rome.
Two-way traffic
But, just as there are those leaving
the UK, so there are those entering
and last year Britain saw an increase
of 565,000 foreigners, around 1,500
every day according to the Office for
National Statistics. Of these it was
found that 474,000 were intending
to live in Britain. But the figure is
probably much higher. And why
are they going there? To get the very
things Brits are going abroad for.
Yes, it is confusing.
“I wouldn’t want anybody to
think I was trying to escape from
anything. I did want Rebecca (her
daughter) to experience the joy of
travelling, but it wasn’t because
I felt any need to get away from
Edinburgh. I still love the city and
I’ve had some great times there,”
she told the Guardian’s Nick
Clayton, who himself happens to
live in Ibiza.
to cash in on (sth) – zarabiać na (czymś)
demand – popyt
language tuition – nauka języka
bilingual – dwujęzyczny
to keep up – utrzymać na tym samym
poziomie, nadążyć
to set up – założyć
two-way traffic – ruch dwukierunkowy
the very things – te same rzeczy
confusing – zagmatwany, dezorientujący
kod dostępu: TLX76528
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