silver1978

Some of the ones I have run into already with my son and his schoola re check/cheque. airplane/aeroplane, most of the double L words (fulfill vs. fulfil), program/programme, tire/tyre. There are a lot. Pronunciations are even more confusing: A-LUM-I-NUM versus AL-U-MIN-I-UM.

As for religious holidays- I too enjoy learning about the different cultures and things, but let me tell you when your family tree reads like the UN of religions, it's difficult We have Baptist, Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Wiccan, Protestant, and a couple other religions being practiced by members of my family. I usually just end up sending out a rather generic holiday card in December. I have gone to midnight mass (in Latin) with my grandmother at the Catholic church, I have had latkes and ate kosher with my brother, participated in a winter solstice celebration with my aunt, and sang gospel in a Baptist church with my best friend. It's really interesting and eye opening to say the least

meljones_83

Lol, being a teacher the spelling debate is interesting. I had a boy who had come from the US in my class last year when I was training and I never knew whether I should correct his spellings because he was in the UK or leave it because he was spelling the way he'd been taught before. This was a debate in the staffroom as other experienced teachers had different opinions. In the end I went with my own instinct and let him spell the way he'd been taught rather than correcting it - it seemed a little unfair otherwise!

imarielle626

the pronunciation is always funny!  I spent so much time around Brits last year on my program that I kinda got used to it, but every now and again there would be a new word that is pronounced differently that comes up in conversation and we always have those stupid little fights about which is the right way to say the word the big one was TO-MAY-TO vs. TO-MAH-TO There was also the problem with the same words meaning different things in the UK and the US and just using different words to mean the same things.  For example a jumper in the UK is just a sweatshirt whereas a jumper in the US is a kind of dress and lift (UK)=elevator (US), flat (UK)=apartment (US), etc.

silver1978

One of the first words I learned that has a different meaning in the UK versus the US is fanny

meljones_83

Apartment is being used a lot in the UK too now, I think people think it sounds a bit classier than flat! It's funny, I go round telling people all about our new 'flat' but my fiance talks about our 'apartment.'
I think it's because I'm more common than he is!!

As for the word fanny, I think I first realised that had a different meaning in the US from an episode of the Simpsons!

studiojek

Hi all! I've been travelling a lot and busy working, so I'm finally having a chance now to catch up - on the forums and on all my shows!!! Yay Fall!!

Working as a translator, most of our clients ask for British English translations so, as an American, I have to be careful of my "z" versus "s", like sympathise and organise! My two favorites (or should I say "favourites!") though are colour and theatre. Definitely keeping those!

Arielle, meg, how's school going?
Barb, how's the new place?
Mel, ya all ready for the Big Day?

meljones_83

Lol, almost! Thanks for asking. We still have the cake to order, the orders of service to print and the favours to make up but they are all small things that should be straightforward! It still doesn't seem real but a lot of people have said that it won't, even on the day!

I've been quite stressed at school this week so haven't had much chance to even think about it!

2 weeks tomorrow!

waterlilybarb

WOW!  Only 2 weeks already!  That flew by.  It must be flying even faster for you, what with all the last minute things that need doing.  Too bad we're only available in the virtual world or we'd have your favours done in no time.

Reply 2426#2426 studiojek's post

Nice to hear from you Studio!  I'm with you on keeping the "u" in those words.  The children here in Canada are now being taught the US spelling, and it annoys me.  I refuse to change my spelling just because it "seems" easier.  Children aren't stupid and will learn what they are taught.  I knew that Americans spelled things differently even as a kid, because I was a reader, and it never caused me any confusion.  OK, that's my rant on spelling, linguistics and education in general done.

As for the new place, it's coming along.  There's still some unpacking to do - which I'm hoping to tackle this weekend.  We bought the paint for the living & dining rooms and are hoping to get them done tis month - before it gets too chilly to open the windows to air it out - though the weather is already very autumnal.

Nice to see everyone is doing alright.  Hopefully things will settle into a routine here soon, and I get a better internet connection, so I can check in more often.

studiojek

You're still on dial-up eh?

I don't get why they would change the spelling to be more Americanized (sorry, Americanised!! I crack me up!) - you're right, kids will learn what you teach them. It can't hurt a kid's brain to learn two ways of spelling, either - teaches them from the start that there is more than one way to do something lol!

MEL: GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR 2 WEEKS!! You're right, it won't seem real, even on the day - which is why I am going to give you 2 pieces of important advice, from my own personal experience.

Firstly, if you have any out-of-town friends/family who you're very close with coming to the wedding, make sure you find some time before the wedding, even if just for a quick cup of coffee, to spend some one-on-one time with them. The Day Of, you will NOT have a minute to dedicate to them. I had a friend come ALL THE WAY FROM ICELAND and we
only got to speak for about 2 minutes =(

Secondly, make sure on the day of the wedding you just take one moment, pull yourself "in" and look out over all the people who are there to celebrate you, quietly take it all in for a second. It's the clearest, best memory you'll carry with you forever!

Ok, done preaching =)

waterlilybarb

Very good advice.  I have a friend who was surprised with friends who came from Japan to her wedding (they were visiting California - still VERY FAR from southern Ontario) and she didn't get to spend hardly any time with them.  Had she known they were in town she would have spent some time the previous day with them.

Yes, I'm still stuck with dial-up.    Still hoping that November brings highspeed.

studiojek

Good luck with the high speed then! How's it going living with your Mom by the way?

Yikes, all the way from Japan and they had no time together, that's rough! Of course, the people understand how busy the bride is and there are usually no hard feelings, but it's sad for everyone.

Weddings are such funny things...they can be so happy and so truly stressful at the same time!! My husband and I had to organize TWO of them - we did one in Italy and one back in the U.S.!!  The Italian one was MUCH more stressful though - they are not nearly as organized as we are back in NY!

meljones_83

Thanks for the advice!

waterlilybarb

Living with my Mum is going well, thanks for asking.   We're getting used to living together again - it's been a LONG time, but thankfully we not only love each other, we like each other too.

studiojek

A rare but precious gift!!

waterlilybarb

Most definitely!

waterlilybarb

BTW Mel, what song are you & your sweetie dancing to at the wedding?  Something classic or do you two have a special song?   I'm thinking it's a 2-parter: Brick House & Play That Funky Music White Boy.

angel-87

hey guys, haven't posted in a while lol. thats what happens when you dnt have an internet connection and have to go the pub for free wifi access lol.  and mel good luck with everything for the wedding.

meljones_83

It's not a classic for several reasons, mainly because I have a real aversion to cheesy songs, which most classic wedding songs are! I have also been to a lot of weddings and didn't want anything that anybody else had danced to! In the end we went with a Goo Goo Dolls song called Without You Here. We both like the group and the sentiment seems right. There is also a lovely version of it on you tube where someone has put lots of film clips to the song and it always brings a tear to my eye!

The DJ actually asked us for two songs to dance to so our second song is Snow Patrol with Signal Fire, for similar reasons!

I feel very calm at the moment and everybody keeps asking me when I'm going to start panicking and asking me what if X? what if Y?! I don't think I will panic though, as everything is sorted, I'm happy to be getting married and que serra serra! We'll just deal with any issues if they arise, I'm not going to plan for things going wrong!!

P.S. Thanks Angel-87! Only 8 days 21 hours and 8 minutes to go!

[ Last edited by meljones_83 at 10-16-2008 16:52 ]

studiojek

Hopefully you can go straight through without any Freak Out moments! After all, you're marrying your soul mate, what is there really to freak out about??

waterlilybarb

Sounds good!  I'm glad you're enjoying the experience.  As Studio says, no need to panic when you choose the right mate.