Friday, 19 September 2014

You Speak English, I Speak English ...with a different accent..

I have come to the conclusion that Americans, when listening to me speak, do not listen for context. If they did, then surely they would understand what I was trying to say, as we all speak the English language, correct ?

Apparently though, that is not the case, as I have this pesky thing called an accent. It makes my vowels sound a little different. I causes frustrating conversations like this, which took place in a local store around Christmas time...

Me ..... 'Hi, do you have any cake tins?'
Them ..'Sorry, what is it you are looking for?'
Me ..... ' A cake tin for keeping a cake in.'

(At this point, if they were listening for context one would think they would have understood that I wanted a tin to keep a cake in. But no..)

Them ..'I'm sorry, I don't know what a cake ten is!'
Me ......'I don't want a cake ten ... I want a cake tin, one that has a lid and I can keep my Christmas cake in.'
Them ..'Could you spell it please'
Me ......'T_I_N !'
Them ..'Oh, you mean tins..yes, they are over there.'

ARGHHHHHHH !!!

Then there was the time I went looking for a tin to cook my cake in. I did remember that here in the US, they are called 'cake pans'. Simple, right? Noooooooo ...because when I inquired where the cake pans were in, I was directed to the aisle that had the gel pens that you could use to decorate cakes with. Apparently they heard 'Cake Pen'...

I need to do another post on having my English corrected and being told that since I am in America I need to speak American...LOL

2 comments:

Chris H said...

Weird eh? Ten? Pen? Do we really sound like that? It's THEM that has the accent really, WE know this! lol

Stewart M said...

I have the same problem - I have lived in Australia for 20 years, but my English accent still foxes people - as you say it would help if people actually listened!

Hope you have a great Christmas.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne