In the sidebar of this blog I state that the Englishman and I speak the same language, but that's not entirely true. British English and American English have some very distinct differences. So many in fact, that there is a book called "British English A to Zed", by Norman W. Schur, which I purchased several years ago as a sort of "textbook" to supplement my new course of study.
When we met, it took me a little time to first adjust to the Englishman's accent. Tackling the deciphering of the unique phrases he used was secondary. Once I got the swing of it, we got on famously, as they say. It was, however, quite a different story with his parents.
His father was born and raised in London, and his mother was brought up in Northern Ireland. The first time we met, I was situated between them on a couch in the Englishman's apartment. There was an animated conversation between parents and son during which I mostly listened. Not because I was being polite. I didn't understand half of what was being said! I would smile at each of my future-in-laws whenever they spoke to me, but then quickly look at the Englishman with inquiring eyes and whisper, "what?". I suspect he found it all rather amusing at the time. Naturally, I didn't have the same view, as I was trying to make a good impression and being somewhat "mute" was not working toward that aim.
I did eventually catch on to my in-laws accents and over the years I was able to carry on long conversations without the Englishman acting as an interpreter. They passed away some time ago, but I can still hear them. Phrases like Mum saying, "hello, luv" and Dad grinning, calling out "cheeky little devil". I miss them....
Predictably, when our daughters were little they encountered the same problems with the British English as their mother. But that's a story for another blog.
**Very happy to report that Baby L is out of surgery and doing ok. Prayers continue! Will keep you updated.
I can certainly empathize with your experiences. I also knew The Englishman when he was a young man and needed to make a quick adjustment to my hearing sensors. The Englishman, however, most assuredly, had some difficulty in understanding me and my contemporaries as well. Fortunately everything worked out just fine. All the best to Baby L.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Steve. You're right - I forget that the Englishman in turn had great difficulty understanding American accents, especially those in New York, when he first arrived. I'm glad we were all able to understand each other quickly considering our adjustments to one another.
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