Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.
Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.
Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com
#093 American vs British English - Vocabulary Differences
13 minutes Posted Jun 20, 2019 at 12:02 pm.
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Hello, everybody! I am Georgiana your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.

Today you will learn some new words in English, and compare the differences between American and British English. This episode is part 1 of a series. Because over the next few weeks, we will continue to learn new vocabulary differences between British and American English.

I'm going to make you guess each word, and then you're going to find out if you were using an American or a British word.

Let's start with the first word:

 

  1. When we stop working for a few days, we take a break.  Can you guess this word?

Yes! The correct word is vacation.

Vacation is an American word.

In British English, we usually use the word holiday.

British- Holiday

American-Vacation

2) Try guessing the next word:

Tell me what season comes after summer?

That's right! After summer comes fall.

So, what do you think?

Is the world fall an American or British English?

Time's up.

The word fall is used in American English. In British English, we use the word autumn.

 

British-Autumn

American-Fall

3) This new word is simple. Just try to think about babies. What do they wear?

Exactly! Babys wear diapers.

The word diaper is an American word.

But how do we say this in British?

In the UK, people use the word nappy.

British-Nappy

American-Diaper

4) And what do you do after drinking a lot of water?

Exactly! You go to the restroom or the bathroom.

However, in the United Kingdom, they use the word loo.

British-Loo

American-restroom (bathroom)

5) How do you watch Netflix? Of course, nowadays we have all kinds of devices. But try to think about the obvious way to watch your favorite show.

Yep. I'm talking about the word TV or television.

But did you know that in the UK they call it telly?

I think it sounds adorable!

British-Telly

American-TV (Television)

 

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