[WWI] Speaking of Language...

[Helen and Chris]

My grandfather, whose Swedish parents had taught him the "home language," was given a gift by the kids of a trip to the Old Country when he got up there in years.

While in a restaurant in Karlstad he saw two American kids who were backpacking across Europe.  They were totally frustrated as they tried to order a meal.  My grandfather stepped up to help.

Said one kid, "Finally!  Someone who speaks English!"  To which my grandfather spat out, "I don't speak English!  I speak American!"

Hi,

back from England where we spent a little time with our kids and grand-kids and a lot of time in the large car park known as the M5 motorway.  If it wasn't for the kids..........  

Coupla anecdotes on this thread:-

A fairly local language school offers courses in English or American.

There is a problem at a local school where the English teacher, who is French, marks down the Brit kids on their English spelling (colour/color for example) and phraseology (standard/regular).  She learned her English in the US and will not believe there is a difference!

I went down to the Perpignan area in south west France a little while ago and had terrible trouble being understood.  Apparently, I speak French with my local Breton accent!

When I was a youngster, I had an ear for accents and could tell which village a person came from.  The villages may have only been a couple of miles apart, but there were slight differences.

Chris.

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