My experience in the United States -I thought I knew English |Americans DON'T understand these words

#howtospeakenglishfluently #americanvsbritish #improveenglishspeaking#improvespeakingskills#realifeenglish#howtoimprovespeakingskills#englishfluencyjourney

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@The Story We Write

Hey Everyone! ) I’m Anna and welcome to my channel. Here, I post some useful information for English learners. I’m from Ukraine and I’ve worked on my English and accent, for the most part, on my own, but you can find out and trace my story by watching my videos. I’ve been studying American pronunciation for a long time, and I still do, and I guess I always will – because it’s not math. Learning a language, it’s a lifetime journey. I know exactly what it takes to become fluent and acquire an accent in a non-English speaking country, and I’ve never even been to one. And I’m sharing this information here – on my channel.

[DanielRamos-ufui]

These kind of situations show us that the learning process of any subject is endless. Greetings from Brazil.

[rafahammana]

I'm Brazilian so Portuguese native speaker and here we use words more like Ukrainians do in their language, I mean if you say "box" or "box of eggs", for example, you would be perfectly understood.

[woodsy]

Hi Anna. I'm an American who's been living in Spain for the last 6 years so I can see things from both sides. I almost want to apologize on behalf of the United States, as while a few of the words you pointed out may not be the common usage, anyone should have been able to understand you and help you out. The yogurt example comes to mind. You were right, even if someone else calls it a smoothie, yogurt is perfectly acceptable. I buy them here in Spain all the time and it's called yogurt. No, porridge isn't real common, but we all know Goldilocks! The only example I noticed that I could see causing you a little trouble is the costume/uniform example. Yes, I imagine a soldier would be very upset if you called his uniform a costume, but aside from that, you're fine. A tux tends to be what the groom would wear for his wedding, while the guests would be a little less formal with a suit. Also, a tux typically has a bow tie while a suit doesn't. A suit can be worn to work or formal dinners while a tux is reserved for super formal events like dinner with a king or something. Hope this helps!

[martinbalagat]

That was a cute ending. It's always precious to hear a kid's voice.

[marciooliveira]

Hi Anna!! I'm Brasilian 🇧🇷
Thanks for this information. Literally English in real life in the US.

[atelesh]

This reminded me that when Americans say “let’s have a chat” they don’t necessarily mean a text chat. It can be a voice call or just a face-to-face conversation. This has always been confusing for me

[kristinal.]

Анечка, спасибо, что вы продолжаете с сынишкой🤭 снимать видео для нас! Ооочень рада, что настрой изменился💗...разный контент, другой взгляд...умочка, у вас всё получится! Берегите себя🙏

[jean-louismorgenthaler]

Interesting. Thank you very much, Anna. English is definitely a large planet with many different tribes on it. When learning and practicing English, you might keep in mind you are learning a whole bunch of languages. I'm reminded of this old joke: the USA and the UK are a same country divided by a same language.

[stephenlee]

Hi Folks, Brit here, most of your examples would have been fine in the UK (England) .
In UK: Porridge would normally be made from oats, but most people understand it can be other grains
Sausage works fine, we can call Hot Dog sausages Hot Dogs, but need to clarify without the bun (or roll)
Egg carton would be normal, with an egg box normally being a box of egg cartons, but would not cause major issues
A box for a meal would normally be a carton, it could be take away or carry out, but if it is for uneaten food from a meal it would normally be a doggy bag (so I can give it to my imaginary dog when I get home, yes strange), but 'can I get a box for that?' or 'would you like a box?' are both normal.
Costume, yes, those were uniforms, costume would be considered an insult. The other 2 were both suits, the more formal would be referred to as 'black tie (suit) ', or 'morning suit'.
Normally it would be 'happy birthday/anniversary', but congratulations is acceptable, especially if it is special number, 18h or 21st birthdays, 10th, 20th, 25th wedding anniversary..
TV Serial is used in UK for a set of shows with a continuing time line, where a TV Series is just a grouping of the same format shows, many people use the terms interchangeably (if incorrectly).
UK we do use Mobile, or Mobile phone, although mainly Smart phone, (sometimes 'dumb phone') UK we hardly ever user 'Cell phone', but will normally understand it..
On Texting, Messaging etc, it changes, not sure what's current in various parts of UK.

[LootOfferOfficial]

Hello Mam,
I am from India and I want to learn english A-Z and I am trying to learn english also. 😊 Thank you for making knowledgeable video for everyone!

[tricotilla]

I'm going to save this video because it's so usefull for me and, you know, I'd really like more videos like this!!! And... Alex at the end of it?? Just amazing!!!!❤️

[James-oimz]

This was really interesting. It seems like most Americans should know the story of "Goldilocks and the three bears". Whose been eating my porridge? Maybe the story isn't read as much as it was in the past. I'll have to admit though I would wonder what to look for in the grocery store if you asked me to look for it. I always thought of it as a mushy type of cereal. Now I know it is a blanket term. I agree with the word "hot dog". It seems that if it is slightly different looking or it has spices added it is labeled sausage. I think that "serial" used to be used more often in the States. I remember it being used in the seventies. I think that word may have been turned into "series". I tend to say 'series." I think back in the day we used to get a doggy bag for the restaurant food, now that they are actually bringing boxes I tend to say "box". I actually like how the Germans call a cell phone a "Handy" Thats cool! Congratulations on a great video!

[TheEnglishCup]

Thanks Anna
I have learned a lot from you so far.
Your videos encouraged me to work hard on my pronunciation, so I reached a high level, and I’m so proud of myself.

[jsgolden]

Hello Anna! First off I want to say your content is amazing. I’m a native English speaker from Michigan and have been learning Spanish for almost two years. One of your videos popped up on my feed and I watched to use your tips to my Spanish and they have all been amazing. Very inspiring. If you told me you were from California I would believe you!

I paused this video to break down your words so I wouldn’t forget any of them hahah
porridge - literally never use it. I heard that word like once watching a super old movie as a kid. I leaned on autocorrect to even know how to spell it lol always oatmeal or oats
sausage - yep lol that is true different between sausage and hotdog
yogurt - uhhh idk about this one. I feel I’ve heard people call the liquid one yogurt especially if it’s on the label
Box - lol never would we say box of eggs but I do and most of everyone will say can I have a box for a to go. A doggy bag is old school lol but I would know what they mean (I believe that comes from the leftovers will be given to the dog)
Costume - this one is personal because I’m military lol never say costume. You nailed it, it sound disrespect. And makes it sound like it’s only temporary and for play
Congratulations- yep lol that’s awkward
Serial - yeah but we do say “I just started a new series”
Mobile phone - correct lol don’t say
Text v message - yeah not the end of the world eventually it’ll be understood but yeah you’re right lol


This was fun hahah by the way it’s POP 😉

[bielbiel]

Uniform sounds more natural for be, because in Portuguese (my native language) we call this UNIFORME. It's very similar to English

[valeriemcdonald]

Canadian here, I grew up saying porridge. I moved into a nearby city as a teen and my friends made fun of me for saying it. But none of them were raised in families that cooked porridge. So this word varies by the individual and how they were raised here. We say kasha to mean toasted buckwheat groats though.

We have those yoghurt drinks in Canada. I would consider that a type of yoghurt.

The box/carton thing is probably because the word 'box' refers to the container's shape, while carton doesn't describe the container's shape.

The other points you made also apply to Canadian English.

[yuradoctor]

I was shocked when I found out that she is Ukrainian like me. Her pronunciation is so natural!

Українки найгарніші у світі)

[annasamek]

Hi Anna, I feel you! I'm from Poland and have lived in the US for 27 years now, and yes, you can't really learn a language until you travel and immerse yourself in the culture. Yours were less language and more culture mistakes, and I'm sure if you moved to Australia, UK or Canada, you would find out that they have their own ways of naming things, especially food and dishes.
And no, you can't find "Kasha" in the US, porridge is chiefly British (and no offence, but you pronounced it a bit like porch. its pronounced more like paa_ ridge..) and they call it cereal or hot cereal...

[charmersify]

There is a difference between a ‘true’ smoothie and yogurt:
Smoothie:) This is my putting fruit in
a blender and then ‘puréeing’ the fruits. As a vegan, I drink many
smoothies.
Yogurt: This is usually from cows
milk. Though one can buy non-dairy
yogurts.

[dotalikeapro]

As a Ukrainian, I'm proud of you :) I enjoy watching your videos and improving my English as a result!💛💙