Understanding American vs. British English and Colloquialisms

1. 牛津高中英语 (模块一 ·高一上学期)

2. Unit 2 Word power American English VS British English & Colloquialisms Ma Jingying 2017.10.13

3. Teaching aims After learning this section, the students will be able to: 1. know and recognize differences between American and British English; 2. know differences between American and British cultures； 3. learn and remember some colloquialisms;

4. American English VS British English

5. Joe &Nancy (an American) (an Englishman) At Nancy’s home. Joe asked, “ Could I use your bathroom?” Nancy said, “ OK. It was was upstairs.” Then he gaveJoe a cleantowel. However, Joe didn’t find the bathroom.

6. What actually did Joe want to find in the bathroom? Why can’t he find it? (1) Joe wanted to find a toilet. (2) Joe is an American, he says bathroom and means a place where there is a toilet. In Nancy’s eye, it’s a place where people can only have a bath.

7. Differences between British English and American English

8. British English VS American English Grammar Spelling Vocabulary Pronunciation

14. Besides language, can you name any other differences between the cultures of the USA and the UK?

15. Brain-storm: How much do you know? 1) Thanksgiving is observed only in _______. 2) People usually walk on the ______ side in the USA while in the UK people usually walk on the ______ side. 3) __________ behave in a more casual way while in _______ people are a bit more formal or traditional. America right left Americans Britain

16. Brain-storm: How much do you know? 4) Americans select ________ as the top leader of the country, while in the UK, the ______ or ______ is always the representative of the country. 5) Football has its origin in ______, but in America, where it is called ______, it is not so popular as American football, or rugby. president King Queen Britain soccer

17. Finish the exercise on Page 26. is that centre fitted toilet programme colour She’s just gone home on Answers: 1.__________ 2.___________ 3.__________ 4.___________ 5.__________ 6.___________ 7.___________________ 8._____

18. Discussion As a matter of fact, despite such differences, nearly all English speakers, Americans or Englishmen, can understand each other. Therefore, we can use both American English and British English in our daily life.

19. Colloquialisms

20. Definition (P27) A colloquialism is an informal expression used in spoken English. Colloquialisms are often used in conversations.

21. Colloquialisms This is a colloquialism. Do you know what does it mean? You are telling me I’m lazy. Ha, look what a mess your room is! That is like the pot calling the kettle black!

22. something easy to do Don’t worry. It’s a piece of cake!

23. Don’t be a wet blanket. Have some fun! boring / afraid to have fun

24. Go on, tell me. I’m all ears. listening carefully

25. Are you serious? Don’t pull my leg. joke with someone

26. 1. a piece of cake 小菜一碟 容易的事 e.g. No sweat. This project will be a piece of cake. We needn't have worried about the math exam. It was a piece of cake.

27. 2. a wet blanket 令人扫兴的人 I’m sorry to be such a wet blanket, but I’m afraid I have to go home now.

28. 3. all ears 形容很专心地倾听,全神贯注 When someone is all ears,he or she is listening with complete attention． e.g. Whenever you tell Johnny some gossip, he’sall ears.

29. 4. to pull one’s leg 逗别人，开别人玩笑 e.g.My roommate said this girl had told him she wouldn’t mind going out with me. But when I invited her to a movie, I learned he was justpulling my leg.

30. Read the sentences and express what the colloquialisms under-lined mean. 1. Though you are busy, could you just lend me an earfor a moment? tolisten and pay attention to

31. 2. If Huston rockets can win this basketball game by twenty points, I willeat my hat. be 100 percent certain that something will happen 拓展： eat (one’s) words: to retract something that one has said

32. 3. I have never expected Lily to actas cool as a cucumberin the traffic accident. very calm in difficult situations

33. 4. All the family members come to persuade Jim to change his idea, buthe isas stubborn as a mule. refusing to change one’s opinion

34. 5. Asa green hand,Robert nearly drove into the grocery on roadside. one who is new in a certain field

35. 6. Because Tod failed in his mathsexam, he wasas quiet as a mousewhen his father scolded him. making very little noise

36. Guess what the expressions mean. 1.Mrs Black’s garden is the best in our town. She has real green fingers. _____________________________ 2. He makes every decision in our company. He is the top dog. __________________________________ be good at gardening (园艺能手） an important person in an organization

37. 3.Why did you give her the cold shoulder? You are good friends, aren’t you? _____________________ 4. I wish I had brought my umbrella. It’s raining cats and dogs. __________________________ 5. Football is just not my cup of tea —I like playing volleyball. ____________________ be not friendly to her raining heavily not really to my taste

38. Translate the following colloquialisms . 1. a piece of cake 2. a wet blanket 3. be all ears 4. pull one's leg 5. lend sb. an ear 6. eat my hat 小菜一碟；容易的事 令人扫兴的人或事 全神贯注，专心听 逗别人，开玩笑 听；注意 情愿受罚（表示很确定）

39. Translate the following colloquialisms 7. a green hand 8. green fingers 9. the top dog 10. rain cats and dogs 11. be not sb.'s cup of tea 12. give sb. the cold shoulder 新手；没经验的人 园艺能手 领头羊；最有权的人 大雨倾盆 不合某人口味 冷落某人

40. Homework 1. Keep the examples of American English and British English in your mind. 2. Review the colloquialisms learnt today. 3. Preview Grammar and Usage.

41. Thank you for your attention~