Do YOU speak BRITISH or AMERICAN English? 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the differences between American and British English, focusing on vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. Hosted by a British speaker and featuring an American guest, Camille, they discuss various terms and their usage in both dialects, offer pronunciation examples, and highlight grammatical nuances. The video also promotes the 'Pronounce' app for practicing English proficiency through live conversations.
Takeaways
- 😀 The primary difference between American and British English is the vocabulary used, with different words referring to the same objects.
- 🍟 In the UK, 'chips' refer to what Americans call 'fries', while 'crisps' are similar to what Americans might call 'chips'.
- 🗑️ 'Rubbish' or 'rubbish bin' are used in British English for the container Americans call 'garbage can'.
- 🏖️ British English uses 'holiday' for vacations, while Americans use 'vacation', and 'holiday' in the US also refers to national holidays like Christmas.
- 🚚 In the UK, 'truck' is known as 'Lorry', which might be confusing for some non-native speakers.
- 🍪 British English distinguishes between 'biscuits' (like digestives) and 'cookies' (with chocolate chips), unlike American English.
- 🔦 'Flashlight' is an American term, while in the UK and other English-speaking countries, it's called a 'torch'.
- 👶 'Pacifier' in American English is referred to as a 'dummy' in British English.
- 👖 'Pants' in British English means underwear, so 'trousers' is used to refer to clothing worn on the legs, unlike the broader use in American English.
- 🛗 'Elevator' is the American term for what is called a 'lift' in British English.
- 📚 Differences in pronunciation between American and British English include the omission of the 'r' sound in certain positions in British English and the pronunciation of the letter 'T'.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video?
-The main focus of the video is to explore the differences between American English and British English in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Who is the American guest featured in the video?
-The American guest featured in the video is Camille, an online English teacher originally from Michigan, currently living in Portugal with her family.
What are some examples of vocabulary differences between American and British English discussed in the video?
-Examples of vocabulary differences discussed include 'chips' vs. 'crisps', 'garbage can' vs. 'rubbish bin', 'vacation' vs. 'holiday', 'truck' vs. 'lorry', 'cookie' vs. 'biscuit', 'flashlight' vs. 'torch', 'stroller' vs. 'push chair/pram', 'pacifier' vs. 'dummy', 'pants' vs. 'trousers', and 'elevator' vs. 'lift'.
What is the significance of the word 'chips' in British English compared to American English?
-In British English, 'chips' refer to what Americans call 'crisps', which are thin slices of potato that are fried or baked. In American English, 'chips' are thick-cut fried potatoes, also known as 'fries' in British English.
How does the pronunciation of the letter 'R' differ between American and British English?
-The pronunciation of the letter 'R' in American English is generally more pronounced, especially when it appears at the end of words or in the middle of words after a vowel. In British English, the 'R' sound is often omitted in these positions.
What is the difference in pronunciation of the letter 'T' between American and British English?
-In British English, the letter 'T' is always pronounced as a clear 'T' sound. In American English, the 'T' sound can be softened to a 'D' sound when it appears between two vowels or between a vowel and an 'R'.
How does the word 'holiday' differ in usage between American and British English?
-In British English, 'holiday' refers to a vacation or a trip, whereas in American English, 'holiday' is used to refer to national holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
What is the difference in the usage of the word 'get' between American and British English?
-In British English, 'get' is conjugated as 'get' for the base form, 'got' for the past simple, and 'got' again for the past participle. In American English, the past participle is 'gotten' instead of 'got'.
What is the service 'Pronounce' mentioned in the video, and how does it help English learners?
-Pronounce is a service that allows users to record their voice during live calls, providing AI feedback on pronunciation, fluency, and word choice. It offers post-call reports highlighting strengths and areas for improvement, helping learners practice English in genuine everyday scenarios with native speakers of various accents.
How does the video address the difference in grammar between American and British English?
-The video highlights the tendency for British English to favor the present perfect tense when discussing past actions with a connection to the present, while American English often uses the past simple tense. It also discusses differences in preposition usage, such as 'at the weekend' in British English versus 'on the weekend' in American English.
What is the main takeaway from the video regarding the use of American and British English?
-The main takeaway is that while there are differences between American and British English, the most important aspect is effective communication. Understanding these differences can help avoid confusion and improve clarity in conversations.
Outlines
🌐 Exploring American and British English Differences
This paragraph introduces the video's focus on the differences between American and British English. The host is joined by an American guest, Camille, who helps illustrate these differences through vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. They discuss common terms like 'chips' and 'fries', 'rubbish' and 'garbage', and 'holiday' and 'vacation', highlighting how these words vary between the two dialects. The segment also introduces a challenge where viewers are asked to identify which English dialect they typically use based on certain words.
📚 Vocabulary and Pronunciation Challenges
In this paragraph, the video script delves deeper into the vocabulary differences between American and British English, using examples like 'cookie' and 'biscuit', 'flashlight' and 'torch', 'stroller' and 'pram', 'pacifier' and 'dummy', and 'pants' and 'trousers'. The host and Camille also discuss the pronunciation of certain words, emphasizing how the letter 'r' is often dropped in British English in certain positions, and how the letter 't' is pronounced differently in American English. Additionally, the script introduces an app called 'pronounce' that helps users practice their English proficiency through live conversations with native speakers.
🗣️ Pronunciation and Grammar Distinctions
The final paragraph of the script focuses on pronunciation and grammar differences between American and British English. It covers the pronunciation of the letter 'r' and how it is often dropped in British English, especially in the middle or at the end of words. The script also discusses the pronunciation of the letter 't', which is typically a soft 'd' in American English when between vowels. Stress patterns in words, often influenced by their French origins, are noted, with British English tending to stress the first syllable and American English the second. Grammar differences, such as the use of the present perfect tense in British English versus the past simple tense in American English, are also highlighted. The paragraph concludes with a reminder that understanding these differences can enhance communication in both dialects.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡British English
💡American English
💡Vocabulary
💡Pronunciation
💡Grammar
💡Crisps
💡Fries
💡Holiday
💡Vacation
💡Truck
💡Lorry
💡Push Chair
💡Pants
💡Trousers
💡Elevator
💡Lift
Highlights
Introduction to the differences between American and British English in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation.
Vocabulary differences highlighted with examples like 'chips' in British English and 'fries' in American English.
The challenge to identify common objects with American and British English terms.
Explanation of the term 'crisps' being used in the UK instead of 'chips'.
British use of 'rubbish' versus American 'garbage', including the influence of US media on British understanding.
Differences in the term 'holiday' versus 'vacation' and their respective uses in the US and UK.
The distinction between 'truck' and 'lorry' and pronunciation challenges for non-native speakers.
British English preference for 'biscuit' over 'cookie', with a description of the differences.
Pronunciation differences, starting with the letter 'R' and its variations.
The unique British dropping of the 'R' sound in certain positions within words.
American English pronunciation of 'T' as a soft 'D' between vowels or followed by 'R'.
British and American pronunciation differences in words ending with 'T'.
Stress patterns in words of French origin, with different stress in British and American English.
Grammar differences, such as the use of present perfect tense in British English versus past simple in American English.
Confusion with preposition usage, like 'at the weekend' in British English versus 'on the weekend' in American English.
Explanation of the unique American English verb conjugation for 'get' with 'gotten'.
Pronounce app introduction for English proficiency feedback during live calls.
Encouragement to practice English with native speakers of various accents using the Pronounce app.
Final thoughts on the importance of communication over strict adherence to one form of English.
Transcripts
daughter daughter
what try this one water water oh no no
no no no um bottle bottle oh God okay no
never mind um let's try something
different shall we let's try a full
sentence she bought her daughter a
bottle of water she bought her daughter
a bottle of
water hey do you speak British English
or American English not sure well don't
worry because in this video we're going
to dive into the differences between
them looking at grammar vocabulary and
pronunciation and in order to help me
with this video I've got a special
American guest please introduce yourself
hi my name is Camille I was born in
Michigan in the the United States but
I'm currently in Portugal I am married I
have three beautiful children and I'm an
online English teacher cheers camil so
firstly the main difference between
American and British English is the
vocabulary that we use as you may have
noticed we often use different words to
refer to the same thing here's a perfect
example what would you call
these oh really well in British English
we would call them chips maybe you've
heard of our national dish fish and
chips don't eat it I wouldn't recommend
that you eat it but it's our national
dish so you have to respect it okay so
fish and chips and in the USA they would
call these fries see very different
indeed now to make this interesting
we're going to turn this into a little
challenge to find out which words you
normally use American or British so each
time there will be an image on the
screen and you will have a few seconds
to shout out what you would normally
call it in English after Camille will
tell us what she would normally call it
in her form of English and of course I
will then tell you what it is in British
English anyway are you ready camil I am
ready let's
go chips so in the UK we would cool
these crisps it's a little bit hard to
pronounce crisps got a lot of crisping
crisps so I think that's why a lot of
people prefer to say chips they take the
US version because the British version
is a little bit hard to say now the
tricky thing is that if you're in the UK
and you ask someone if you use the
American version of this word you say
chips they will give you hot potato
chips like we saw in the other example
or fries in the US so for us chips are
hot potatoes and crisps are the ones
that you find in a
packet
garbage or garbage can I kind of like
rubbish for this one it would be rubbish
or rubbish bin rubbish rubbish bin now
if you were to use the word garbage or
garbage can I think 99% of people would
understand you um because there's so
many TV series and films from the US
that we watch on Netflix there's so much
influence with media from the US that
most British people understand what
garbage is so there wouldn't be any
confusion so don't worry you can use
both vacation you know that since I'm in
Europe and around so many people I
started saying holiday as well under the
influence that's how bad it's sound like
I'm drinking holiday holiday I'm going
on holiday so for us a holiday is
basically somewhere you travel to like
when you go to the beach you go on
holiday right I'm going on holiday to
Spain or I'm going on a holiday to the
mountains the Alps in France I think the
only confusion might be for people in
the US is that they use the word holiday
to refer to national holidays like
Christmas Easter Thanksgiving which we
don't have in the UK right don't forget
that we don't have Thanksgiving okay
that's a Us holiday so that would be the
only confusion for them some people
might say vacation in the UK but it's
quite rare normally we say I'm going on
holiday
truck there's a truck going by right now
yes
Lori Lori Lori is the name of a girl in
American English I don't know about
British English but we use it so this
one might be a little bit tricky for
some people from certain countries to
say I remember a lot of my students from
Japan had some difficulty with the L and
the r sound so if you're from some
countries in Asia it might be a little
bit easier to use the American version
of this this word use truck but in the
UK we say
Lori
cookie biscuit this is a biscuit yeah
when I hear biscuit I think of like dog
biscuits don't give me any of those we
do have cookies I think for us cookies
are the biscuits with chocolate chips so
they look a bit similar but they have
the chocolate chips in them whereas
biscuits for us normally are like
digestives or um they just don't have
that same look as a cookie so we have
cookies in the UK but we consider them
to be different things so biscuits and
cookies are different up if you check
out the photos here you can hopefully
see the difference between
them
flashlight torch I've never heard anyone
in the UK say flashlight so definitely
use torch if you're in Wales Scotland
England Northern Ireland maybe even in
Australia as well I think they just say
torch Canada and the US I think they use
flashlight so torch this is a
torch stroller push chair or pram yeah
pram feels like really sophisticated I
suppose pram is a little bit
oldfashioned nowadays most people say
push chair really but you could use
both
pacifier
dummy dummy is not a very nice thing to
call somebody means they're stupid so
that one's a pretty funny one I know I
know I suppose in the US if you say
you're a dummy it means you're an idiot
or you're stupid but we don't really use
that in the UK we don't say you're a
dummy it sounds a bit weird sounds a
very American so we would just say
you're an idiot so you can use dummy for
the object that you put in a baby's
mouth to make them stop
crying pants trousers again you have to
be really careful with this one in the
UK because in British English pants are
underwear so if you're talking about
pants like oh your pants are so nice I
like your pants it sounds weird it
sounds like you're talking about that
underwear so in the UK we say trousers
or maybe jeans but normally trousers so
be careful don't say pants unless you
want to refer to
underwear elevator lift we do say like
can you give me a lift meaning can you
bring me somewhere but yeah we say
elevator for the thing that goes up and
down yeah that's true also in the UK you
can say to someone can you give me a
lift meaning can you take me somewhere
can you give me a ride but we also use
it for the thing that goes up and helps
you to get to a floor that's very high
up I don't know like the 13th floor or
the 100 Floor whatever it could be so we
say I'm going to get the
lift of course there are many many more
examples of words that are different in
British English and American English but
we need to move on and look at
pronunciation but just before we do that
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free now let's jump into the differences
between British and American
pronunciation the letter R is quite a
good place to start when the letter R is
at the beginning or in the middle of a
word there's little to no difference
between the way that Brits and Americans
say it listen to myself and Camille say
these four words rain rain brain brain
berry berry spring spring but when do
you britz drop the r well if the r is in
the middle position in a one syllable
word and after a vowel we tend to omit
the r sound we also don't tend to
pronounce the r word if it's at the end
of a word yeah in American English we
don't do that we pronounce the r in
these cases Barn teacher let's have a
listen again Camille will say them first
and then I will say them after learn
learn father father work work germ germ
turn turn Harbor Harbor let's now have a
look at the letter T in standard British
English the letter T is always
pronounced as T this could be at the
beginning of a word like television in
the middle of a word like aain or at the
end of a word like cut however here in
the US we usually change the T to a soft
D when it's between two vowels
Saturday or between a vowel and an R
like party listen carefully to these
other examples with a soft d in American
English and a standard T in British
English better better water water matter
matter pretty pretty city city hotter
hotter and finally the letter T is
sometimes dropped by Americans when it
comes after the letter N for example in
British English we would say Center
interview inter internet in American
English Center interview internet now
let's talk about stress yes even the
stress in words can be different between
American English and British English
there is a tendency for lone words often
from French to be stressed on the first
syllable by Brits whereas Americans put
the stress on the second syllable for
example adult adult ballet ballet
brochure brochure garage garage vaccine
vaccine buffet buffet detail detail and
finally grammar time in British English
the present perfect tense is often
favored when talking about actions or
events in the past but have a connection
with the present in contrast American
English tends to use the past simple
tense more frequently for such
situations for example in the US we
would normally say I ate way too much
food and in the UK we would say I have
eaten way too much food American English
I went to the store British English I
have been to the shop now another slight
difference with grammar that confuses a
lot of students is the usage of
prepositions if we talk about the
weekend in the UK we would say I'm going
to a party at the weekend that's
interesting because in American English
we would say I'm going to a party on the
weekend for example we would say I work
Monday to Friday how would you say in
the US camil I work Monday through
Friday oh yeah one final thing the verb
get in the UK we conjugate this verb as
get for the base form got for the past
simple and got again for the past
participle and in the US we would
conjugate it as get got gotten okay so
that's everything for this video I hope
you have a better understanding about
the differences between American English
and British English and remember whether
you use British English or American
English most people will still
understand you it's all about
communicating and expressing yourself if
you want to continue practicing your
English check out this video click this
video click it go don't forget to smash
the like button and I'll see you next
time
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