Practice English Speaking&Listening with: #094 American vs British -Vocabulary Differences #2

welcome to speak English now podcast

with your host Georgiana the podcast

that will help you to speak English

fluently with no grammar and no

textbooks hello everybody I am Georgiana

your English teacher and founder of

speak English podcast calm my mission is

to help you to speak English fluently we

all know that American and British

English sound different most of the time

but did you know there is also a

difference in vocabulary that's right

there are spelling vocabulary and even

specific grammar differences between the

two last week we started with the series

on vocabulary differences between

American and British English today we

will continue with this series if you

don't listen to last week's episode you

might want to do so right now just go to

speak English podcast calm and select

episode 93 and with a point of view

story you're gonna compare the different

grammar points it's the perfect way to

learn grammar and new vocabulary without

memorizing ok let's start I'm gonna tell

you a word in American English and I'll

ask you to guess what would be the

equivalent word and British English

ready let's start with the first word in

American English we use the word truck

when we refer to a large heavy Road

vehicle used for carrying goods

materials or troops can you guess the

equivalent in British yes in the United

Kingdom

people use the word lorry again in

American we call it truck and in British

lorry let's continue after washing the

we use a dish towel to dry the dishes

can you guess which word is used in

British English that's right people call

it tea towel or tea cloth in the UK so

in American we call it dish towel and in

British tea towel or tea cloth let's

continue in the States

people live in an apartment do you know

the word in British English I'm sure you

know it just think about it yes that's

right in British they use the word flat

again in American we say apartment and

in British flat let's continue with

number four and I will start with an

example I live on the first floor and my

neighbor on the second floor simple

right not really let me explain why the

equivalent in British for the first

floor would be the ground floor the

second floor in British is called the

first floor confusing right so let me

repeat the example in American I live on

the first floor and my neighbor on the

second floor now in British I live on

the ground floor and my neighbor on the

first floor let's continue with number

five in American we use the word Z to

refer to the last letter of the alphabet

what's the word in British English

that's right in British they use the

word Z so in American we say Z and in

British Z let's continue with number six

at the end of each sentence we usually

use the word period period is also used

to end

okay that a decision is irrevocable for

example I forbid you to go to that

concert period what's the word used in

British English exactly in British

English they use the word full stop

instead of period summon American period

and in British full stop number seven

did you know that your geographic area

is identified by zip code do you know

how to say this in British English

that's right in the United Kingdom they

call it postal code again in American

it's zip code and in British postal code

number eight example what's your

timetable tomorrow

when will you get some time to listen to

the podcast we use the word timetable to

ask about someone's plans or their

availability although in British English

they use the word schedule in the UK

it's more common to use the word

schedule or schedule instead of

timetable so in American its timetable

and in British schedule or schedule

number nine example I have made an error

can I borrow your eraser in American

English we use the word eraser when we

want to erase something that we have

written in British they use a different

word

can you guess yep in British English

they call it rubber so again in American

we say eraser and in British rubber

let's continue with number ten example

I'm tired I can climb the stairs let's

take

elevator what's the equivalent of the

word elevator and British English that's

right in British English it's called

lifts again in American its elevator and

in British lift let's continue with the

point of view story this kind of story

will help you to improve your English

grammar it's very simple I tell you the

same story more than once every time I

change a grammatical aspect so you can

see how grammar changes and you can

compare you just have to listen you

listen to the story in the first person

in the past tense I'm Tom and I'm an

American last year I visited my best

friend in London when I arrived at my

destination

it was raining cats and dogs so I

immediately sought refuge I entered a

store hoping to buy a raincoat or even

new clothes

I was completely soaked so I wasn't

surprised to see everyone staring at me

since I felt uncomfortable I tried to

get some sympathy so I told the salesman

that my pants were very wet surprisingly

I didn't get the answer I expected

instead of showing compassion the shop

assistant started laughing out loud I

was very disappointed and felt

humiliated I expected Londoners to be

much more polite later however when I

told my friend what had happened I felt

even more ashamed it turns out that in

British English the word pants means

underwear I should have used the word

trousers instead of pants let's listen

to the same story in the third person in

the past tense last year an American

named Tom visited his best

in London when he arrived at his

destination

it was raining cats and dogs so he

immediately sought refuge he entered the

store hoping to buy a raincoat or even

new clothes Tom was completely soaked so

he wasn't surprised to see everyone

staring at him since he felt

uncomfortable he tried to get some

sympathy surprisingly Tom didn't get the

answer he expected instead of showing

compassion the shop assistant started

laughing out loud

tom was very disappointed and felt

humiliated he expected Londoners to be

much more polite later however when he

told his friend what had happened he

felt even more ashamed it turns out that

in British English the word pants means

underwear poor Tom he should have used

the word trousers instead of pants all

right it's the end of this point of view

story I used this successful method in

my courses imagine a whole story told

this way

instead of having to memorise boring

grammar rules you can use this method to

learn grammar it's more enjoyable but

also more effective now you can improve

your speaking and grammar with my

enchanted course only by listening go to

enchanted course.com and bring your

english to an advanced level well that's

it for today please help me spread the

word about the podcast tell your friends

about the show and leave a comment on

iTunes when you have a minute that would

make me very happy I'll be back next

week take care bye bye

did you enjoy today's episode get the

transcript now at speak English

podcast.com speak English podcast calm

[Music]