US vs UK

Americans speak English but it’s not quite the same as in England! Some of the words are different, some of the spelling is different and the accent is different too. Let’s have a look at some examples.

       

Call me a cab!

In America they use the word "cab" instead of "taxi", or the word "check" instead of "bill" when you want to pay in a restaurant. Well, these are just some of the different words they have in America. When they talk about “going up in the elevator”, it’s the same as the lift. Americans put gasoline in their cars, not petrol, and they drive on highways or freeways, not motorways. They stand in line at a drugstore while the British queue (hacen cola) at a chemist’s and they wear pants, not trousers. They use zip codes (códigos postales), not postcodes. How many more differences can you find while you’re in America?

How do you spell it?

In America, they spell harbour without a “u” – harbor. This is very common with words like colour, neighbour and labour –or color, neighbor and labor. Britain has a Ministry of Defence, the Americans a Department of Defense. Something else to notice in America!

Howdy!

Real New Yorkers have a very strong accent. In fact, the voice of the cartoon character Bugs Bunny is based on (basados en) a Brooklyn accent. They speak very quickly and sometimes British people can’t understand them! If you go South, to New Orleans, the accent there is softer (más suave) and more open, and in the west they speak with a John Wayne drawl!(manera de hablar lenta) But don’t worry – Americans are very polite (educado) and will always repeat what they have said. Oh, and if you’re wondering, “Howdy!” is American for “How do you do?”!