The British.
Hola`
As most of you know Gary and I are currently enrolled in the CELTA program for Cambridge University. The CELTA stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. This course is a 4 week graduate level course and if you pass you then will receive a certificate to teach English to non native speakers. The course is made up of about 95% British, 2% Australian and 3% Americans (I don't really know how I came up with this figure, I just know that there are only 3 Americans in the course, 2 Australians and the rest are from England). Good thing I'm not teaching math. LOL
British English is a lot different compared to American English and it really frustrates me, because I feel like everything I have learned about English is "not the right way," and since the program is taught by the standards of Cambridge University in England you can guess that the entire course is going to teach British English.
I remember my first day teaching in the program (which was last Tuesday by the way) I was asking my students to "check the box" and while the other students in the course with me are observing the lesson, I was asked after my class why I didn't say "tick"? Now, I am sitting there wondering what the heck this guy is talking about to begin with, so I ask him...."tick?" He replied...."yes, you tick your answers not check". Right then and there I knew this was British vs. American English was going to bother me.
Every single day there is a discussion about the differences between the British English and the American English in regards to the different way we talk and the different words we use. For example, eggplant is aubergine (i think this word is used throughout Europe)...has anyone heard of this? This is new to me. They say "boot of the car" instead of "trunk," "areoplane" instead of "airplane" The Brits actually do say "toemato and poetatoe"...and according to the teachers in the program it is ok to say "have you got...." They spell "realised, practised, adrenlin (no e), favourite, colour and moustache (among many others). They also say "whilst" instead of "while and everything is "brilliant"
Oh, and today....(this is good)... We were going over sentences in class and one of the sentences was "My brother lost fifty pounds" and I'm sitting there trying to figure out how to make up a sentence that would be positive but in the opposite context...I didn't want to say that "my brother gained 50 pounds" that would be rude... and about halfway through the session I realized they were talking about the British pound......yea..
I'm looking forward to the course being over. That is all I want to say about that.
On the other hand, Spain is absolutely amazing! It is a beautiful city and the culture is just fantastic, but Gary and I are getting screwed over by the exchange rate. Right now I believe it is $1.41 to $1, so that sucks...but other than that we are having a great time. We are going wine tasting Sunday! I'm excited =)
Hola`
As most of you know Gary and I are currently enrolled in the CELTA program for Cambridge University. The CELTA stands for Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults. This course is a 4 week graduate level course and if you pass you then will receive a certificate to teach English to non native speakers. The course is made up of about 95% British, 2% Australian and 3% Americans (I don't really know how I came up with this figure, I just know that there are only 3 Americans in the course, 2 Australians and the rest are from England). Good thing I'm not teaching math. LOL
British English is a lot different compared to American English and it really frustrates me, because I feel like everything I have learned about English is "not the right way," and since the program is taught by the standards of Cambridge University in England you can guess that the entire course is going to teach British English.
I remember my first day teaching in the program (which was last Tuesday by the way) I was asking my students to "check the box" and while the other students in the course with me are observing the lesson, I was asked after my class why I didn't say "tick"? Now, I am sitting there wondering what the heck this guy is talking about to begin with, so I ask him...."tick?" He replied...."yes, you tick your answers not check". Right then and there I knew this was British vs. American English was going to bother me.
Every single day there is a discussion about the differences between the British English and the American English in regards to the different way we talk and the different words we use. For example, eggplant is aubergine (i think this word is used throughout Europe)...has anyone heard of this? This is new to me. They say "boot of the car" instead of "trunk," "areoplane" instead of "airplane" The Brits actually do say "toemato and poetatoe"...and according to the teachers in the program it is ok to say "have you got...." They spell "realised, practised, adrenlin (no e), favourite, colour and moustache (among many others). They also say "whilst" instead of "while and everything is "brilliant"
Oh, and today....(this is good)... We were going over sentences in class and one of the sentences was "My brother lost fifty pounds" and I'm sitting there trying to figure out how to make up a sentence that would be positive but in the opposite context...I didn't want to say that "my brother gained 50 pounds" that would be rude... and about halfway through the session I realized they were talking about the British pound......yea..
I'm looking forward to the course being over. That is all I want to say about that.
On the other hand, Spain is absolutely amazing! It is a beautiful city and the culture is just fantastic, but Gary and I are getting screwed over by the exchange rate. Right now I believe it is $1.41 to $1, so that sucks...but other than that we are having a great time. We are going wine tasting Sunday! I'm excited =)
Talk to you soon.
xoxoxo
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