British English American English
minister secretary
car automobile
secondary school high school
biscuits cookies
flat apartment
form (school) grade
lift elevator
post mail
pavement sidewalk
lorry truck
tram street-car
petrol gasoline (gas)
wash up do the dishes
wash your hands wash up
There are many lists of equivalent British and American words, but they must not be taken too seriously. On the American side of the page will be many words and phrases perfectly well understood, many of them in use, in Britain. Thus, most of them would not cause any serious confusion on either side.
Americans do not usually say “first floor” for “second floor”, they do not call a “trillion” a “billion”. But most educated Americans are quite aware of the British equivalents. Valid differences in the use of words are not really very numerous or very significant.
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13. Look through the day descriptions by an American and a British girl, spot all the differences in the language used.
Judith (USA)
I got up at seven-thirty. I put on my bath robe, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath-tub faucets. After my bath I ate breakfast with my parents on the deck. Our apartment’s on the fifteenth floor, so the view’s terrific. At eight o’clock my mom and I took the elevator to the parking lot underneath our apartment block. First we stopped for gas, then she drove me to school. The freeway was really busy – automobiles everywhere. When I got to school it was raining. Luckily I’d brought my galoshes and an umbrella, so I didn’t get wet.
School was OK except that we had a math test before recess. I think I flunked it. Anyway, after school I took a bus downtown to meet my sister, Susan. She became a grade school teacher after she left college last year. We ate out at a Chinese restaurant. Personally I don’t like rice, so I ordered French-fries instead. Susan disapproved. After dessert and coffee we paid the check and left. It had stopped raining, but the sidewalks were still wet. Susan gave me a ride home, then I did a history assignment for the next day, watched a movie on TV and went to bed around 11:30. I was pooped!
Kathy (Great Britain)
I got up at half past seven. I put on my dressing gown, went into the bathroom and turned on the bath taps. After my bath I had breakfast with my parents on the terrace. Our flat’s on the fifteenth floor, so the view’s terrific. At eight o’clock my mum and I took the lift to the car park under our block of flats. First we stopped for petrol, then she drove me to school. The motorway was really busy – cars everywhere. When I got to school it was raining. Luckily, I’d brought my Wellington boots and an umbrella, so I didn’t get wet.
School was OK, except that we had a maths exam before break. I think I failed it. Anyway, after school I took a bus to the city centre to meet my sister, Susan. She became a primary school teacher after she left university last year. We went out for dinner to a Chinese restaurant. Personally I don’t like rice, so I ordered chips instead. Susan disapproved. After sweet and coffee we paid the bill and left. It had stopped raining but the pavements were still wet. Susan gave me a lift home, then I did some history homework for the next day, watched a film on TV and went to bed at about half past eleven. I was really tired.
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14. Choose any point of the following and speak on it.
1) English as a worldwide language.
2) The origin and history of the English language.
3) Basic characteristics of English.
4) Varieties of English.
5) The necessity for studying English and problems of learning it.
15. Read the text and translate it into Russian. Choose one passage to translate it in writing.
Dialects of English
A nasty shock awaits many visitors to Britain. Imagine that you have learnt English for years, you can read newspapers and you have no problem following the television, but when you go into a fish and chip shop in Newcastle, you can not understand a word they are saying. The language has been standardized for a very long time, and regional dialects in Britain have largely died out – far more so than in Italy or Germany, for example. That is to say, the vocabulary of the dialects has died out, but the accents and a few bits of distinctive grammar remain. It is the accent which gives the visitor a problem in the fish and chip shop. Some accents are so strong that they present problems for British people, too. Variations within Britain are so great that accents from New York or Texas are often easier to follow than ones from Liverpool or Glasgow.
It is mostly the vowels which differ from one dialect to another. In Manchester, shut rhymes with put, and in the south it rhymes with but. Intonation patterns also differ between regions.
There is a kind of standard British English pronunciation, based in a confusing way on class and geography. It is the accent of the south-east, but not that of London itself. It could be said that the upper classes have the dialect of their own, with a pronunciation known as RP (Received Pronunciation). The majority of middle-class people speak a sort of classless, democratic version of RP, with a slight admixture of the local regional accents.
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People’s attitudes to the various regional accents depend on a whole range of historical and social factors. The Birmingham accent is considered ugly, cockney is associated with criminals, Scottish is thought of as serious and sensible, Irish as poetic. An interesting case is that of the so-called Westcountry accent. This comes from the south and west, which is the least industrial region; consequently the accent is identified with farm-workers, sometimes considered stupid by city folk. While all other varieties of English have been increasingly accepted on mainstream television and radio, Westcountry remains the Cinderella among accents, confined to comedy and gardening programmes.
To see the likely direction of change for the future, we need to look at the speech of young people. Here we find several interesting developments. One is a spread of a light London accent over much of the country – especially in areas like the West Country where it replaces the low-prestige local accent. Another is an openness, through the media, to American and Australian influences. The Australian effect is quite recent, and results from the huge popularity of Australian TV soap operas Neighbours and Home and Away. Strangely enough, this does not usually mean the adoption of vocabulary: nobody says sidewalk instead of pavement, or gas instead of petrol, however many American films they watch. It is rather the phrases, idioms and grammatical forms which are contagious. No way has caught on, as in the form: “No way am I going to go out with him”. The use of the word like as a sentence-filler has become very common: “She was like really upset, and she just like walked out”.
Americans and Australians sometimes use a rising, question-type intonation on statements, often in the middle or at the end of sentences: “I spoke with my teacher (rising intonation), and he said I had to redo the test”. This is used to engage the attention of the listener; it means “Do you remember my teacher?” or “Are you listening?” To the great dismay of the older generation, this intonation is becoming very popular in Britain.
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Conversational formulas
Opinion
I believe (think) that … – Я полагаю (думаю), что …
In my opinion … – По моему мнению …
I am convinced that … – Я убежден, что …
It seems to me that … – Мне кажется, что …
There’s no doubt that … – Нет сомнения, что …
I’d like to point out that … – Хотелось бы отметить, что …
16. Interview your partner and find out:
a) about his/ her way of learning languages;
b) about his/ her suggestions for effective learning;
c) about the most important things in his/ her learning English.
17. Discuss the similarities and differences in grammar of the Russian and English languages.
18. Give a talk on the topic “The English We Learn”.
Word Formation
The most common word suffixes to form nouns are the following:
Verb Noun
- er (or) – someone or something that does (is doing)something;
- ation (ion) – the act, result or state of doing something;
- ment – the act, cause, means, or result of doing something;
Adjective Noun
- ity (ty) – the quality or an example of being…;
- ness – the condition, quality, or degree of being …;
19. Make the derivatives from the following words. Translate them into Russian.
Agree, require, argue, improve, enlarge, teach, edit, educate, familiar, rich, possible, popular, regular, individual, pure, clean, bright, open, happy, flexible, polite, write, report, observe, speak, indicate, collect, admire, associate, examine, organize, discuss, impress, narrate, graduate, compose.
Grammar
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