ESL Blogs

My move in Malaysia was caused by a better opportunity in my teaching profession.

I will share with you one experience I've had here.

It is not a surprise that British English is more recognised ( notice the s there) here than American English (recognize). I am sure you all know it.

Having said that, terminologies are also much much different from where I am from, the Philippines. Our first teachers are the Americans. Although it was a short stint for them in my country, the American teachers had greatly influenced our education and language. 

The very first conversation I had at McDonald's is a classic example of this difference. We say take out in the Philippines, which means to me to order and pack it. So I said: 'For take out, one double cheeseburger, please.' The cashier frowned a bit and asked, 'Is it take away?' Not realising that I used the American term, I replied, 'For take out'. With a little confusion in her face, she pointed to the paper bag where she would place the food, and said, 'To take away with this, right?' I smiled and said, 'yes!' We were both relieved of this understanding. From then on, I started using 'take away' for a faster order :)

A different word-only one word, which means the same thing to me, created a confusion. It also caused a little queue ( I say please fall in line, they say please queue). 

There are more differences in British English and American English. I hope you can share them here and maybe share your experiences with them, too.