Differences between British and American English

Hi, everyone.

My name is Jiri, and in this bite-sized

lesson we’ll find out if you speak like Americans or the British,

or people from a different English-speaking country.

We’ll learn about differences in vocabulary.

Queue. Line. Pronunciation. Tomato. Tomato.

And master some slang expressions which many

of the Brits and Americans often use.

Absolutely knackered.

And of course, this is going to be very

useful for your speaking and for your listening exams.

I’ve invited my British and American colleagues from Gymnázium Evolution,

a school in Prague, to help us with that.

But before I begin, don’t forget to hit the like

button and subscribe to the channel.

In this first activity, you’re going to see six pictures

appearing one by one on your screen.

Without much thinking, use just one word to describe what you see.

Now, let’s see if you use more American or British English,

or neither of these.

Queue. Queue. Line. Line. Petrol.

Petrol. Gasoline. Gasoline. Trousers.

Trousers. Pants. Pants. Lorry. Lorry.

Truck. Truck. Trainers. Trainers. Sneakers.

Sneakers. Trolley. Trolley. Cart. Cart.

It’s always up to you which words you choose

to learn and use, the ones which are more

relevant to your context, the ones which you like more.

It’s your choice. Just be consistent when using them.

Round two. How would you say these words?

Tomato. Tomato. Tomato. Tomato. Vitamin.

Vitamin. Vitamin. Vitamin. Leisure. Leisure. Leisure.

Leisure. Route. Route. Route. Route. Vase.

Vase. Vase. Vase.

Finally, here are some useful British and American slang expressions from

my friends.

My British English expression is to be knackered.

Right, that means to be very, very, very tired, doesn’t it?

Exactly.

For example, you can say, after such a long day,

I was absolutely knackered.

Okay, my American English expression is I hear you.

It’s used to say that you empathise with

someone’s point of you.

Okay.

For instance, you’d say some yoga poses are actually really

difficult to do, and I’d say, I hear you.

My American English expression is to bail on somebody.

This means to decide not to show up for something you had promised to

show up for.

Ah, okay, right.

An example could be, I know I said I’d be there,

but I’m afraid I have to bail.

I’ve picked the British English phrase, you alright?

And what does that mean?

It means the same as hello. You alright? You alright? Alright?

How about you?

What’s your favourite British or American English expression?

Write us in the comments below.

Thank you for watching, and I’ll see you next time.

Bye.