Different dialects in English

As I continue my travels in England, Scotland, and Ireland, I am struck by the very different ways that "English" is spoken. It is even more apparent to me that I speak American, not English! I've made a conscious effort to listen to the language around me looking for differences and similarities in how people talk to each other and if it is different in how they talk to me, a foreigner. Since the cities I have been in have been very multi-cultural, I am often forced to ask directions or advice (even when I don't need it!) from random police officers, bus station workers, and museum staff in order to try to hear a native speaking. I have, on more than one occasion and without shame, eavesdropped on conversations in parks and restaurants to catch some local flavor in language. On more than one occasion I was disappointed in my eavesdropping and thought, "Darn! They are not speaking English!" only to discover after a few minutes that they were, indeed, speaking English, just not American, and it took my brain a few minutes to make the transition. It was a surreal experience, as if my Star Trek universal transmitter was malfunctioning for a moment and then kicked back in.

The biggest difference that I've found in England is how LOUD Americans are vs. the English. When a group of English young people are walking along in the shopping mall, they talk in their "inside voice" whereas in the US, if you are in a group in a public place, it seems everyone is using their "outside" voice! The difference in the noise level of the mall is amazing! However, a bus ride in Ireland with a group of teenagers on their way to a professional soccer game was loud, boisterous, and very physical with little regard for personal space.

This seems to be the norm in Ireland, at least in the city. Greetings were loud with back slaps and hand pumping, at least among the men; it was much less reserved than the English. The Irish are louder, more coarse, much more likely to sing along (loudly) to a traditional Irish tune in the pub.

In Ireland, the government-sponsored signs, like for streets and museums, by law is written in English and Irish. All school children in Ireland are required to learn the Irish language throughout their school years. It is an interesting facet of post-colonialism and I am glad to see a government-sponsored resurgence of the language, but our tour guide said that not very many Irish speak the language fluently, no matter how much they may claim to do so.

So, here is my personal lexicon/pronunciation of English, Scottish, and Irish forms of the American language.

A= American E=English S= Scottish I=Irish

Pint (as in pub) E = pyeent S=whiskey I=point

excuse me (as in,
oops, I bumped you!) E=Sorry! S=(smile) I= (dead silence)

tower E=tar S=tar'r I=terror

excuse me (as in,
Please let me pass) E= hullo, there! S=Sorry I= Sorry


If you want to sound English, put the word "then" at the end of most sentences, especially questions. "Are you staying in England long, then?" "Would you like that in a bag, then?" "Here's your sandwich, then." Use whilst in place of while, use fortnight instead of two weeks, and call people "love" instead of the southern American "honey".

If you want to sound Irish, say the time is half five instead of five thirty, sing in public with perfect strangers, and constantly make jokes about how poor your country has been since gaining independence from England.

If you want to sound Scottish, you'll just have to watch Braveheart a few more times; they've got it down pat! Oh, and make lots of reference to how courageous, invincible, and thrifty you are.

So as I make all this congeal into one lump in my brain, I find myself thinking in the accent of the country I'm in, so that when a statement comes out of my mouth to a local, it sounds in my head a little garbled. I am coming to a deeper realization of the power and logic behind a colonial power subverting a local language in order to subdue the people. Language, even a different accent of the same language, is so much a part of the identity of a culture. The people of England, Ireland, and Scotland seem to be able to hold on to their unique differences of English through the centuries, and it only makes me a little prouder to have my own unique American accent!