https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 10 Apr 2026 08:58:00 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635959 Thu, 15 May 2014 10:53:06 +0000 swedishfish 1635959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@imbali: it's in the Dictionary and Thesaurus video! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635488 Thu, 15 May 2014 08:53:37 +0000 LuLu Mom 1635488@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would try to change, although I've only been to 2 different Caribbean countries and they were American resorts, so pretty much everything was the same. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635057 Thu, 15 May 2014 06:14:02 +0000 imbali 1635057@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swedishfish: that's a random thing for brainPOP to be teaching? cool and yay though :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635046 Thu, 15 May 2014 05:44:00 +0000 swedishfish 1635046@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@imbali: @Anagram: I JUST learned that a robot is a traffic light in South Africa from BrainPOP on Monday! I :heart: BrainPOP. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635044 Thu, 15 May 2014 05:40:27 +0000 imbali 1635044@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@illumina: I struggle with the chips thing here cos where I'm from, chips means crisps and hot chips (slap chips we call them). So here I say chips when I mean crisps and I just *cant* say crisps, I cant! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635036 Thu, 15 May 2014 05:30:50 +0000 Anagram 1635036@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@illumina: I think everyone here uses both trousers and pants and we all know what the toilet is, so you are safe not switching those.</p> <p>Bit the fries/chips thing would cause confusion for sure. =) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1635001 Thu, 15 May 2014 01:02:33 +0000 loveisstrange 1635001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Nope. Don't change it. I lived in the UK for 3 years and still only picked up a few things from just using them all the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1634970 Wed, 14 May 2014 23:46:47 +0000 Mrs.Panda 1634970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: what do your friends expect? "I'll have the chicken fah-j-eye-tuhs". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633838 Wed, 14 May 2014 13:04:48 +0000 illumina 1633838@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Sometimes when I visit the US, I'll say gas instead of petrol, fries instead of chips etc. but I can't my head around saying bathroom/washroom, so I stick to toilet. Same with pants for trousers, just seems too weird! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633769 Wed, 14 May 2014 12:45:15 +0000 meganmp 1633769@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sunny: See, that's the thing- people were SO nice to me when I tried! The ladies at a bakery figured out I knew a bit of French, so they made me order in French (in the nicest possible way, encouraging me the whole time). I just felt dumb, I guess, because I knew that I wasn't speaking perfectly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633662 Wed, 14 May 2014 12:14:32 +0000 Mommy Finger 1633662@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not intentionally at first but I pick up accents and stuff like that really easily so I think it would happen naturally for me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633639 Wed, 14 May 2014 12:07:26 +0000 sunny 1633639@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meganmp: I know why.... It's bc the French are pretentious and pretend not to understand you ;-) (just kidding!!!!) DH speaks passable French but obviously as a non native speaker his accent isn't great. He tried to order tea in a restaurant and they totally pretended not to understand him when he was saying it correctly! :-P</p> <p>I usually just stick with my normal vocab unless they don't understand me. Then I'll try to think of what it is called locally. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633620 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:58:10 +0000 alohaorchid 1633620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I only change if it's something that I know they won't understand... if it's something like bathroom/washroom (FYI - I live in Canada and I always say bathroom, I've never referred to it as a washroom) then I say it how I would normally say it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633604 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:51:17 +0000 lamariniere 1633604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: I agree on both points, I'll use specific vocab if I know it, but I still say toe-may-toe and not toe-mah-toe. I also do the same thing when I pronounce French words, I pronounce them in French. :happy: </p> <p>I have a funny situation where I live since many people speak English, but I'm never sure if they will understand bathroom, restroom, loo, toilet or wc. So I usually just ask for the toilet. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633498 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:09:49 +0000 Anagram 1633498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@imbali: omg---robots are traffic lights?? Never knew that---interesting! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633492 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:08:13 +0000 imbali 1633492@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I try to say things the way they're said in that country - like here in the UK I'll say traffic lights and roundabouts, even though we call them robots and circles.. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633488 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:06:45 +0000 Anagram 1633488@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: bathroom, restroom, ladies room or men's room. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633478 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:04:11 +0000 Grace 1633478@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Americans say "bathroom" for public washrooms? I've never noticed that! I don't think I'd change my language unless the terms I would use don't really make sense to the people there. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633471 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:02:23 +0000 heartonastring 1633471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm Canadian and when I'm in the US I always ask for the restroom instead of the washroom. But that's about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633469 Wed, 14 May 2014 11:02:01 +0000 Anagram 1633469@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: honestly, I've thought about it a lot and I don't think you are. When someone who doesn't speak English well tries to pronounce words correctly, don't we appreciate it?</p> <p>Doesn't it make you a bigger D bag if you refuse to even TRY to speak another language with the correct pronunciation? Like if you KNOW it's pronounced "queso blanco", but you insist on calling it "Kway-so Blan(rhymes with ran)-co", isn't that worse? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633463 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:59:51 +0000 MrsKoala 1633463@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I try to change it since sometimes people don't know what you are talking about. Like it's easy to say where's the WC or the loo in England than where's the bathroom. Or say queuing instead of lining up. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633461 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:59:40 +0000 mrsjazz 1633461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: Not stupid...other people sometimes feel like it's pretentious. My friends make fun of me because I pronounce Spanish words with the accent when I'm ordering instead of the English way. They think I'm being pretentious, maybe I am? :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633459 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:58:59 +0000 meganmp 1633459@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: ditto this. I change it to try and fit in, but then feel like a d-bag. </p> <p>Along those lines, when we went to France, I tried to speak in French (I'm not very good, but I can get my point across). I felt like an idiot and didn't want to try anymore, and I have no idea why. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633455 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:56:32 +0000 CupQuakeWalk 1633455@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't change it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633453 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:55:41 +0000 Anagram 1633453@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mrsjazz: I try to change it, so that I'm better understood but then I feel "pretentious" for changing it--isn't that stupid?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633359 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:19:45 +0000 mrsjazz 1633359@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I speak the same unless I'm ordering something specific, like "chips" instead of "French fries." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/when-you-visit-another-english-speaking-country#post-1633346 Wed, 14 May 2014 10:15:54 +0000 Anagram 1633346@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you use the local vernacular? Like, if you are American in Canada, do you automatically ask for the washroom, or do you keep using "bathroom"?</p> <p>Or when you go to UK, do you switch to using 'the toilet?"</p> <p>Etc. </p>