England

As an American, England has a special meaning for me: my parent country that gave America life. Yet even though we speak the same language and come from the same background, we are so very different.

English Language

You’d think everyone that speaks English would be able to communicate, right? Wrong! Surprisingly, I find myself having a hard time understanding a lot of the British English language. “I was walking down the street wearing a jumper and trainers when I saw a lorry go past.” Translation: “I was walking down the street wearing a sweater and sneakers when I saw a truck go past.”

First, British English adds the letter “u” into a lot of its words also: colour, neighbour, behaviour, harbour. Second, British English changes “er” endings to “re” endings: centre, theatre, metre. Third, the difference between “se” and “ce” endings: defense/defence, offense/offence, pretense/pretence. Fourth, “ise” vs. “ize” (and “isation” vs. “ization” making English very confusing: organize/organise, realization/realisation. Finally, there are a few other differences between British English words and American English words: check vs. cheque, airplane vs. aeroplane, mom vs. mum, while vs. whilst. There are many more differences, but these are the most recognizable. While they don’t change the meaning or make the language impossible to understand, the different words do make you look twice.

What does make the language difficult to understand are using different words, or using the same word for different meanings:

British vs. American, flag and people American English British English