First cruise after Covid and really struggled with the language barrier.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, Kezzie62 said:

Oh boy!! As a U.K./USA Citizen there are oddities in both languages! Parkway that you drive on, Driveway that you park on, you send a parcel by truck it’s a shipment if you send it by ship it’s cargo! There are 1000s

The "park" in parkway refers to landscaping, not "what to do with your car when you aren't driving"

The "drive" in driveway refers to how to get from your house to the road.

Even the "car" in cargo has nothing to do with automobiles. Just a coincidence. Much like it's an ironic coincidence that the word "men" is in "women." The two words have different origins.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by smokeybandit

[Maria63]

3 hours ago, ChC said:

 

American English for its fault, at least it is modern, and it injects more logic and tries to take away confusions, so it is more clear and easier to learn. 

 

It's true that British English can be daunting at times for foreigners. I'm not sure I would dare ask for "Worcestersauce" in a British establishment, or directions to Worcestershire for that matter. I also hope I'll never have to address a "Viscount" by his title in public.

[DirtyDawg]

The only proper English is Canadian English, Eh!

 

 

[livingonthebeach]

24 minutes ago, DirtyDawg said:

The only proper English is Canadian English, Eh!

 

[flamingos]

4 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

 

When we were on Wonder earlier in the Summer our son became friends with a lovely lad from Liverpool. We're from Ireland and would hear the accent quite a bit so it wasn't an issue. I got to enjoy the broad "awwwww right" greeting around the ship. However, the crew could not understand him or his family. My son would end up translating for him in the teens club 🙂 

 

 

We met some people from a singing group from Ireland who would tour the US for a month or so around St. Patrick's Day. Most were from Kerry, and the woman from Dublin said her family mocked her every year when she came home because she picked up the Kerry accent.  🙂

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

I deal with this issue a lot in my line of work.  A couple of tips that might help:

 

1. If you are speaking your native language but the other person is not, understand that you have the advantage. You are better equipped to manipulate your delivery, phrasing etc. because your brain isn't using "bandwidth" to come up with the words themselves. SLOW DOWN, simplify when possible, don't hesitate to repeat or rephrase if needed.

 

2. Facial expressions and simple gestures convey more meaning than you might think.

 

3. When both parties are equally fluent (native or near-native) but the issue is regional accents or vocabulary, you can usually laugh it off without causing offense: "I'm sorry, my Midwestern brain didn't process that. What do you mean by XYZ?"

 

4. BE PATIENT, remember how you feel when you're at the linguistic disadvantage, or just try to imagine what it would be like to do your job in your second or third language! 🙂 

 

[smokeybandit]

46 minutes ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

2. Facial expressions and simple gestures convey more meaning than you might think.

 

 

Of course no one has seen a crew member facial expression since the restart.

[kwokpot]

50 minutes ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

I deal with this issue a lot in my line of work.  A couple of tips that might help:

 

1. If you are speaking your native language but the other person is not, understand that you have the advantage. You are better equipped to manipulate your delivery, phrasing etc. because your brain isn't using "bandwidth" to come up with the words themselves. SLOW DOWN, simplify when possible, don't hesitate to repeat or rephrase if needed.

 

2. Facial expressions and simple gestures convey more meaning than you might think.

 

3. When both parties are equally fluent (native or near-native) but the issue is regional accents or vocabulary, you can usually laugh it off without causing offense: "I'm sorry, my Midwestern brain didn't process that. What do you mean by XYZ?"

 

4. BE PATIENT, remember how you feel when you're at the linguistic disadvantage, or just try to imagine what it would be like to do your job in your second or third language! 🙂 

 

Love this!

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Of course no one has seen a crew member facial expression since the restart.

Quite so! I was mostly thinking of the passengers, who aren't necessarily masked.

 

I find it interesting, though, how much you actually can read from just the upper face--before 2020 I had no idea that you can actually tell when somebody is smiling behind a mask! 🙂 

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Quite so! I was mostly thinking of the passengers, who aren't necessarily masked.

 

I find it interesting, though, how much you actually can read from just the upper face--before 2020 I had no idea that you can actually tell when somebody is smiling behind a mask! 🙂 

Yes you can see the cheek bones rise. But that also could be pain (well hopefully unlikely for a crew member) or frustration too.

[poocher]

7 hours ago, the penguins said:

I love the confusion caused and have had many amusing incidents. It also causes  great hilarity at dinner with our many American friends.

However your assertion that American English is always more logical seems a little optimistic 

Restrooms? The last place I would rest.

Comfort Stations? Even more confusing.

or an our last excursion our guide offered as a "technical stop".

Jelly ? We have Jelly with ice-cream not on bread.

And when we damaged our hire (sorry rental) car and asked for it to be changed the guy from AVIS insisted what we wanted was a "swop out".

 

 

Not a “swop out” it’s a swAp out.  You are swapping one car for another.

[shipgeeks]

1 hour ago, la_croisiere_s'amuse said:

Quite so! I was mostly thinking of the passengers, who aren't necessarily masked.

 

I find it interesting, though, how much you actually can read from just the upper face--before 2020 I had no idea that you can actually tell when somebody is smiling behind a mask! 🙂 

I always admired people who could smile with their eyes as well as their mouth. Then during the pandemic people started teaching it.  I learned a bit, and hope I can keep it.  Makes for an even better smile!

[the penguins]

53 minutes ago, poocher said:

Not a “swop out” it’s a swAp out.  You are swapping one car for another.

Still not a phrase I had ever heard of. Mind you it came in useful a year later when the door panels in our rental were loose and I confidentially asked for a "swop out" ( my English accent it's an "o" not an "s")  😂 and got exactly what I wanted. The guy at the Rental Office was amused that I had used the phrase.

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, Maria63 said:

 

It's true that British English can be daunting at times for foreigners. I'm not sure I would dare ask for "Worcestersauce" in a British establishment, or directions to Worcestershire for that matter. I also hope I'll never have to address a "Viscount" by his title in public.

Don't worry about Viscount it's a chocolate biscuit with a mint centre (center) - absolutely delicious.

[batoryfirst]

And the there is slang & colloquisms. I am a habitual user of both. 

[Maria63]

30 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Don't worry about Viscount it's a chocolate biscuit with a mint centre (center) - absolutely delicious.

But the issue is, do the bisquit-viscounts rhyme with "discount" - which i've heard the titled Viscounts absolutely do not?

[Another_Critic]

24 minutes ago, Maria63 said:

But the issue is, do the bisquit-viscounts rhyme with "discount" - which i've heard the titled Viscounts absolutely do not?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscount_(biscuit)

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viscount

 

Wikipedia says both are "VY-kownt"

[smokeybandit]

44 minutes ago, batoryfirst said:

And the there is slang & colloquisms. I am a habitual user of both. 

A lot of English slang goes back to Shakespeare, which of course predates modern versions of any English dialect.

[kwokpot]

Quid is to UK as Buck is to USA.

[cruise1957]

On 8/14/2022 at 10:08 AM, DirtyDawg said:

Where in the UK are you from? It might have been your accent. 

I have long time friends from Scotland and Wales and I don't understand them half the time!

I am from Scotland, it always cracks me up when they put subtitles when on tv they are  interviewing someone from Scotland. 🤣