英语博客(A cup of English):062 Sunnies, tramping

　　Beginners.

It's very interesting going to another country and experiencing the culture, even if the people from that country speak the same language. Among English speaking nations, there are well known differences. Our accents are different, of course, and even expressions that we use are quite different from one country to the next. I picked up a few expressions when I was in New Zealand. 'Sunnies' is the name they give to sunglasses, which I think is very cute and cheery. Also, if you like to go hiking or walking, they call it 'tramping'. The word gives the action a different feeling. If you think about it, a tramp 1 is a homeless person who wanders around, so 'tramping around' gives a feeling of being free and unattached. Well, I am interpreting 2 the expression from the point of view of an English person. A person from the U.S, Ireland, or Scotland, might have a different interpretation 3. Another thing that I found out which is not an expression, but a physical fact, is that the water in the bath or shower goes down the plughole the opposite way compared to countries in the Northern hemisphere 4. How curious! Up here in the U.S it goes down the plughole in an anticockwise direction. In New Zealand, I noticed that in the shower, it goes down in a clockwise 5 direction. It's one of the little differences that makes us all interesting.

Grammar notes.

Useful expressions: even if.., among, from one....to the next, to pick up, a tramp, point of view.

Exs: Even if we go to the city, we won't have enough time to see everything.

Among my neighbors, Mary is the most friendly.

They passed the evidence from one member of the jury 6 to the next.

From what he had said, I picked up that he didn't like me.

There is a tramp living under the bridge next to the park.

Well, I understand your point of view, Sir, but I do not agree.

Advanced.

My time in New Zealand was very short, but, in that time, I picked up on the tremendous friendliness 7 of the Kiwis, as the New Zealanders are known. They are a very laid back nation, not rushed and stressed. They are also very polite, and have endearing expressions. "No worries," is a common expression that is used in many circumstances, such as when you ask for something, or as a way of saying "You're welcome". While I was there, I listened carefully to try to see what it is about the Kiwi accent that makes it different from the English one. One main difference in pronunciation is in short words that have the letter 'E' as the main vowel 8, such as 'yes', 'bet', 'egg', 'pest', 'leg', and 'rest'. The vowel is pronounced like an 'I', so the words sound like 'yis', 'bit', 'igg', 'pist', 'lig', and 'rist'. Also, words with the long 'I' sound like 'I', 'I'll', 'sky', 'fly' etc sound like they have an 'O' next to the 'I'. So, a sentence like, "Yes, I'll eat the rest of the egg," is pronounced, "Yis, oil eat the rist of the igg."  I was quite proud of myself for making that observation; I had never before been able to speak like a Kiwi or an Australian. Now, I can goof 9 around at home and speak in a Kiwi accent to my family. It makes you wonder why different accents develop in the first place, doesn't it?

Grammar notes.

Useful expressions: in that time, to goof around, to make an observation.

Exs: I lived in Spain for a year, and in that time I ate lots of delicious food.

My children insist on goofing 10 around in the supermarket.

That student is very good at making observations, even about the teacher making mistakes!

*Verbs in pluperfect:

I had never eaten caviar before. I tried it at her birthday, and hated it.

He had never been polite, so when he said "Please", I was surprised.

We had driven on the left all our lives in New Zealand, but then we moved to France and had to drive on the right.