Spending a good chunk of time with Australians, an Irishman, a Scotsman, two New Zealanders, a Canadian and two British girls certainly had an impact on my vocabulary. It amazes me how many different terms make their way into variations of English around the world. Here is a sample of how my dialogue has changed after my time with volunteers from other English-speaking countries:
Around half three this arvo, I awoke from a wee nap to discover it was chilly out. I wanted to go for a walk so I threw on a jumper, my gumboots and a tuk. I did not realize there were heaps of bugs outside until I found mossy bites all over my hands and feet. The sun came out the next day so I had to buy some new sunnies. After shopping, I walked about 5 kilometers to the school to teach maths and English. The kids are good at writing, but they have trouble remembering to put full stops at the ends of their sentences. Some proper notebooks and supplies would be helpful, too. Since the kids have been behaving well for over a fortnight consistently, I asked if they would be keen to have me bring in biscuits or sweets tomorrow. They went mental! I reckon it is a good idea to reward them.
Ok, my American readers are probably a bit confused by those, so here is a little American English to Other Types of English Dictionary:
Half three: three thirty (Irish, Scottish, British)
Arvo: afternoon (Australians and New Zealanders)
Wee: little (mainly heard it from the New Zealanders)
Jumper: sweater (basically every English-speaking country aside from the US)
Gumboots: rain boots or Wellies (Australians and New Zealanders)
Tuk: beanie (Canadians)
Heaps: lots of, used commonly by Australians
Mossy bites: mosquito bites (Australians)
Sunnies: sun glasses (Australians and New Zealanders)
Kilometer: a measure of distance used by everyone but the USA
Maths: math, every other English-speaking country likes to add the S on the end
Full stops: periods (every other English-speaking country) As Maree from New Zealand pointed out, a period is a menstrual cycle. Lovely.
Proper: legit
Fortnight: two weeks
Keen: interested
Biscuits: cookies
Sweets: candy
Mental: crazy
Reckon: suppose
Okay, now we can translate my narration back to American English as I would have before adapting to my surroundings and picking up the various terms:
Around 3:30 this afternoon, I awoke from a little nap to discover it was chilly out. I wanted to go for a walk so I threw on a sweater, rain boots and a beanie. I did not realize there were lots of bugs outside until I found mosquito bites all over my hands and feet. The sun came out the next day so I had to buy some new sunglasses. After shopping, I walked about 3 miles to the school to teach math and English. The kids are good at writing, but they have trouble remembering to put periods at the ends of their sentences. Some legitimate notebooks and supplies would be helpful, too. Since the kids have been behaving for two weeks consistently, I asked if they would be interested in me bringing in cookies and candy tomorrow. They went crazy! I suppose it is a good idea to reward them.
Around half three this arvo, I awoke from a wee nap to discover it was chilly out. I wanted to go for a walk so I threw on a jumper, my gumboots and a tuk. I did not realize there were heaps of bugs outside until I found mossy bites all over my hands and feet. The sun came out the next day so I had to buy some new sunnies. After shopping, I walked about 5 kilometers to the school to teach maths and English. The kids are good at writing, but they have trouble remembering to put full stops at the ends of their sentences. Some proper notebooks and supplies would be helpful, too. Since the kids have been behaving well for over a fortnight consistently, I asked if they would be keen to have me bring in biscuits or sweets tomorrow. They went mental! I reckon it is a good idea to reward them.
Ok, my American readers are probably a bit confused by those, so here is a little American English to Other Types of English Dictionary:
Half three: three thirty (Irish, Scottish, British)
Arvo: afternoon (Australians and New Zealanders)
Wee: little (mainly heard it from the New Zealanders)
Jumper: sweater (basically every English-speaking country aside from the US)
Gumboots: rain boots or Wellies (Australians and New Zealanders)
Tuk: beanie (Canadians)
Heaps: lots of, used commonly by Australians
Mossy bites: mosquito bites (Australians)
Sunnies: sun glasses (Australians and New Zealanders)
Kilometer: a measure of distance used by everyone but the USA
Maths: math, every other English-speaking country likes to add the S on the end
Full stops: periods (every other English-speaking country) As Maree from New Zealand pointed out, a period is a menstrual cycle. Lovely.
Proper: legit
Fortnight: two weeks
Keen: interested
Biscuits: cookies
Sweets: candy
Mental: crazy
Reckon: suppose
Okay, now we can translate my narration back to American English as I would have before adapting to my surroundings and picking up the various terms:
Around 3:30 this afternoon, I awoke from a little nap to discover it was chilly out. I wanted to go for a walk so I threw on a sweater, rain boots and a beanie. I did not realize there were lots of bugs outside until I found mosquito bites all over my hands and feet. The sun came out the next day so I had to buy some new sunglasses. After shopping, I walked about 3 miles to the school to teach math and English. The kids are good at writing, but they have trouble remembering to put periods at the ends of their sentences. Some legitimate notebooks and supplies would be helpful, too. Since the kids have been behaving for two weeks consistently, I asked if they would be interested in me bringing in cookies and candy tomorrow. They went crazy! I suppose it is a good idea to reward them.
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