Lori's London Quiz

"The complexities of the English language are such that even native speakers cannot always communicate effectively, as almost every American learns on his first day in Britain."


Well, somehow I managed to survive my stint in learning to teach English while trying to understand British English.  In order to help those of you who might someday to travel across the pond, I thought I would give you a quick quiz to see if the same things would trip you up.  Enjoy!

1. A jumper is:
    A. a dress for a young girl
    B. a grasshopper
    C. a sweater

2. A lie-in is:
    A. a protest rally
    B. lounging around in bed all day
    C. a little white lie

3. A brolly is:
   A. an umbrella
   B. a broiled steak
   C. the thing you put on the teapot to keep it warm

4. Who  can you tell off?
   A. Your children
   B. The guy who just cut you off in traffic
   C. The guy who took 10 mins at the ATM with 8 people in line behind him

5. True/False Chips:Fries::Crisps:Chips

6.  What is the correct observation when the weather is 21 degrees C (~70 F)?
   A. Lovely weather we're having, isn't it?
   B. It's quite warm today
   C. We're having a heat wave

7. The correct pronunciation of 'Southwark' is:
    A. SOUTH-wark
    B. south-WORK
    C. suth-IK

"A paradox of accents is that in England where people from a common heritage have been living together in a small area for thousands of years, there is still a huge variety of accents, whereas in America, where people from a great mix of backgrounds have been living together in a vast area for a relatively short period, people speak with just a few voices"

Extra credit goes to anyone who can explain the phrase "Bob's your uncle"



Answers:
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. A is for sure, B & C-the British are too polite to yell at strangers I think
5. True-although I still get these confused and I wasn't always sure what I was getting with my sandwich
6. A or C.  Remember that the modifier 'quite' means that it is less warm than just warm
7. C Yes, I know, I don't get where all those letters went either.

*quotes from Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue

The Changing of the Guard

I went to see the changing of the guards today, but instead of joining the masses in front of Buckingham Palace, I watched the inspection of the replacement regiment in front of Wellington Barracks  (which I highly recommend for anyone planning to see this!)  Standing here meant I could also watch the band warm up:

And, watch them march off towards the palace:

I didn't see the horse guard march, but I did visit the grounds where they stay, which also has a ceremonial guard:

I also checked out the flora & fauna in St. James' Park:

And headed back to Buckingham Palace once some of the crowd had dispersed:

The Tower of London

I passed my CELTA course!!!  Now I can relax and try to fit in some sightseeing before I head back home.  Today I went to see the Tower of London-a fantastic experience!  The only bad part was that part of it is under renovation, as seen here. 

This is the traitors gate, the main entrance way from the Thames:

The view of the Tower Bridge from the Wall Walk:



The ravens are kept here to prevent the fulfillment of the prophecy that in their absence the kingdom will fall.

Several actors interacted with the spectators throughout the day:

The White Tower, which is now a museum that showcases the armory

This suit of armor is in the Guinness World Records as the tallest suit of armor on display ( at 6' 2", I believe)

This is an exhibit in progress-the recreation of the Line of Kings.  This was historically to show the public the might of the kings.  Each horse will be matched with the armor and a depiction of each king, starting with William the Conqueror.

The British had a tradition of displaying their military strength as trophies-as with the dragon below:

The building housing the vault containing the crown jewels:

I even got to see the Koh-i-nor diamond!



Olde World London

Wednesday evening I got a chance to see Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe Theatre!  I was so excited!  The river walk along the Thames is beautiful, with a bit of old world charm...


 Southwark Cathedral:

The ruins of Winchester Palace

The windowed building is the Clink

The Thames

 The Globe Theatre-we were only allowed to take pictures before the play started.  Since it was a three hour production, I was glad we got seats and didn't have to stand-especially since it started raining by the end of the night!

The Thames at night

London

In between assignments I took some time over the weekend to see a bit of London (finally!)

Leicester Square-where all the big movie premiers happen:

Trafalgar Square:
 

 The Olympic countdown clock:

The entrance gate to Buckingham Palace

The view of Big Ben

Spitalfields Market:

Britishisms

I think I'm getting more used to British English these days, but every couple of days something will come along and trip me up.  For example, Brits often use the term 'quite keen on' something.  Now, wouldn't you think that means that they are more keen than if they are just 'keen on' something?  Well, apparently not.  Putting that modifier in front of it actually means that they are LESS keen than if they are 'keen on' something.  Then, I was preparing for a lesson on phrasal verbs and my tutor suggested I use 'tell off'.  I looked at him quizzically and asked, "does that mean the same over here as it does in the US?"  Thinking to myself, "Is this really something I want to teach beginners???"  He said that it meant to yell at and gave me the example of a mother telling off her children.  Um...so, the answer to my question is a resounding 'no'.  Good thing I asked or it would have been a very different lesson!  :)  And, finally, I should have titled my first post from England: "I should have brought more jumpers!"

Switzerland!

To celebrate last Monday's bank holiday, we took a weekend trip and went hiking in the Swiss Alps.  I was initially hesitant about this plan because I suspected that I was not, in fact, a hiker.  Let's just say that this trip pretty well confirmed those suspicions!  On the way up, I was convinced I wouldn't make it, but I was glad I did so that I could see views like this:

We stayed overnight in a cabin (hut) on the mountain.  I was treated to a full Swiss experience-a dinner of raclette (melted cheese that you mix with various sides-potatoes, gherkins, pearl onions & tomatoes).  The hut owner (an older Swiss-German guy) seemed to take a shine to me (despite the language barrier!) and made sure my portions were ample. 

I enjoyed the second day of hiking much more-on the way down. We took a different route down and I loved walking through the valley, seeing the awesomeness of the Alps towering above me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to adequately capture it, but here's my attempt:

This is part of the village of Fiesch, where we started & ended our hike:

We decided to drive to Bettmeralp, where we could take the gondolas (cable cars) to get near Aletsch Glacier, the longest glacier in Europe.

The Aletsch Glacier:

The view from Bettmeralp.  The Matterhorn is the thin, squarish peak near the middle.