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Dipso
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Posts: 194
Location: England
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 Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:47 am Post subject: |
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One thing I have noticed myself doing is instantly defining British English words with their US English equivalents. "Put it in the boot, er, the back of the car." " Let's take the lift, er, elevator." Most of the native English speakers I know in Japan are from North America and this is making my speech somewhat schizophrenic. I am driving myself bonkers, er, crazy!
This self-correction is usually unnecessary for the most part too, as my American friends are forever telling me that they know perfectly well what trousers, flats, petrol etc are.  |
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codedals
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 37
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| Posted: Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Dipso wrote: |
One thing I have noticed myself doing is instantly defining British English words with their US English equivalents. "Put it in the boot, er, the back of the car." " Let's take the lift, er, elevator." Most of the native English speakers I know in Japan are from North America and this is making my speech somewhat schizophrenic. I am driving myself bonkers, er, crazy!
This self-correction is usually unnecessary for the most part too, as my American friends are forever telling me that they know perfectly well what trousers, flats, petrol etc are. |
This little exchange from Snatch always pops in my head when I hear British English:
Bullet Tooth Tony: A bookie's got blagged last night.
Avi: Blagged? Speak English to me, Tony. I thought this country spawned the fucking language, and so far nobody seems to speak it.
Haha, gotta love it.
By the way, Dipso, boot = trunk.  |
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japanman
Joined: 24 Nov 2005
Posts: 281
Location: England
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:49 am Post subject: |
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| Has anyoboby found a big drop in your writing ability? I find that I am always writing for other people to understand, so I write clear and accurate handwriting on the board etc. However, when I try to write normal joined up letters it doesn't flow like it did before. |
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Apsara
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 2142
Location: Tokyo, Japan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 2:53 am Post subject: |
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I find myself translating into "American" as well. There are some words used in New Zealand that North Americans just don't understand (jandals, bach etc) but using words like "elevator" instead of "lift" has become a habit and I want to go back to my roots a bit more so I'm going to make a point of de-Americanising my English from now on- diversity is a good thing!
I have even caught myself saying "gotten" a few times in the last couple of years- now that really has to go!  |
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