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At the beginning of each chapter, you’ll be exposed to a short conversation, which you should be able to mostly understand by the time you reach the end of the chapter. When the dialogue first appears, it’s printed in English. As the speakers move through it, the words switch to the language that you’re learning, in my case, German.
Last week I was having an interesting conversion with a good friend of mine about languages and how people express themselves. We got to the topic of Britain, and how even though they speak English many times it seems like they speak a foreign language. They have so many alternative words for every day things that it’s really hard to understand what is being said. Eventually our discussion led to to Cockney Rhyming Slang, which I knew nothing about. I was fascinated with what I learned.
Cockney Rhyming Slang phrases are created from taking an expression that rhymes with a singular word and using that expression instead of the word. In many cases the rhyming word word isn’t said.
Here’s an example, the word “keys” rhymes with “macaroni cheese.” Using Cockney Rhyming Slang, instead of saying, “Have you seen me keys?” One would say, “Have you seen me Macaronis?” So cool.
Cockney Rhyming Slang is a collection of phrases used by Cockneys and other Londoners.. Someone who is a true Cockney is one who is born close to St. Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, London. Nowadays, the term Cockney is used to describe people born outside this area as long as they have a “Cockney” accent or a Cockney heritage.
I came across this awesome website that is all about Cockney Rhyming Slang and has many examples.
Here are examples of Cockney Rhyming Slang for parts of the body:
“Feet” rhymes with “Plates of meat” -> “I have size 7 plates.”
“Head” rhymes with “Loaf of bread” -> “Use your loaf!”
Today Cockney Rhyming Slang is used more than ever. Modern Cockney Rhyming Slang is now being developed using the names of celebrities and famous people.
“Cup of Tea” rhymes with “Jay-Z” -> “Make me a Jay-Z.”
I found it amazing how much creativity goes into what seems like a different language.
Using Cockney Rhyming Slang, can you think of alternative ways to say common phrases?
When I was a student I thought that, like every decent future teacher of English, I should spend some time in the country where the language I was to teach was spoken. I chose Oxford University in England because I wanted to visit one of the oldest universities. I found a good school and I arranged an accommodation at a house that would allow me to practice my English on a 24-hour basis, seeing as I am Greek. Everything was planned; I would land in Heathrow, then I would take the train to Paddington, from Paddington to Oxford, and thence by taxi to my landlady’s house. My knowledge of the language was very good, or so I thought at the moment. We had done most of the works by Shakespeare, so my vocab was rich, right?
So there I was on the platform at Paddington, with Shakespeare’s books in my suitcase, very confident and happy that I was at a place where I could hear only English and my favorite rock songs around me all the time. Fearless, I saw a sign that the train to Oxford would depart in 5 min., I approached the guard thinking it was the perfect time to start practicing. I asked him if the train went directly to Oxford or if I had to change trains, and to my surprise, I didn’t understand a word of his response. Not even a little word that would give me some sort of clue. Oops! But I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I tried again. “Excuse me, could you repeat please?” In response I got the same rumble of words that still made no sense. Oh my.
I gave up the third time; I had to get on the train anyway. Not a very good start. I arrived at Oxford, exhausted, worried, and slightly disappointed. I went to the taxi stand and fortunately the taxi driver’s English was more comprehensible. Feeling relieved, I went to sit in the passenger’s seat only to realize that for some reason the wheel was on that side too. I gave a Hugh Grant, “Right!” and moved to the other side.
My landlady was an older lady who welcomed me with a “nice, hot cup o’ tea, dear.” She told me that her husband had passed away but…”look here” she said, proudly holding a pic she had on the mantle. “Look who he is with!” Her husband was with another older lady with a lovely little hat – but who on earth was she? “Oh,” I said “He is with the…?” “Yes, right! With the Queen!” Phew! Well, at least I knew Queen Elizabeth, the one from Shakespeare’s time.
She showed me to my room, a lovely little space. She said that she would be hosting another student who had arrived before me and so he took the bigger room and the bigger bathroom. Besides, he was an Earl. Poor me, I would never get a big room. Conclusion: before you go to England, learn a few things about the royal family. Also, look into your family tree. If you are distantly related to royalty, you will get big rooms.
And before we said goodnight, she asked, “How would you like your breakfast, love?” How would I like my breakfast? It dawned on me that in England they have English breakfast which keeps you going till the evening. But what does it consist of? “I’ll have what Jan (the Earl) will have.” That proved to be a good idea since we had orange juice, eggs with sausages, milk with cereal, toasted bread with marmalade (not jam), and coffee. I was now ready for everything.
I had no more adventures, unfortunately. Once, I went with my friend to a pub for lunch and would still be sitting there to this day unless a guy with many tattoos told us that in pubs you need to order at the counter. You live and you learn.
I have only fond memories of this trip. I didn’t mind the blunders, at least in retrospect. My teacher taught us all the dialects, so after that I was prepared to talk to any train station guard. My landlady took me to the oldest pub in the area, something like the Jamaica Inn. I went to all the colleges, walked in the corridors where so many famous people walked too. I visited the libraries. I made friends with people from other countries. Also, I saw a Shakespearean play in a courtyard of one of the colleges. Of course it rained in the middle of the play, but blankets, umbrellas, and hot cider were provided (for free!) so we were able to continue watching it. I had a great experience in Oxford.
Will you be partaking in the English culture by watching the Royal Wedding this weekend?
Like to ski? Based in Switzerland, the Federation Interationale de Ski (International Ski Federation for all of you English speakers) is the organization that puts on the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo, Norway. This organization is the main international organization for ski sports, and consists of 111 national ski associations.
The competition is being held from February 23rd to March 6th this year. 50 nations are participating in 21 events, and if you are a ski enthusiast, then this is the place to be!
Do you ski?
On vacation, I thought I was leaving behind my Mango friends and going to have a break from language learning. I love languages. I always want to know what folks are saying if I hear a foreign tongue. Lucky for me…I learned about a whole new language while on vacation. One of the crew members on my cruise last week was Jamaican. He was in charge of many of the activities on board. I heard him speak all week and he was easily understood, then I witnessed him speaking to a co-worker and didn’t understand but a few words. I was excited because I thought it sounded like creole and he confirmed it. But what I didn’t know was that there is such a language called Jamaican. Yep, I know…crazy!
Per wikipedia: “Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois (Patwa) or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of English. The language developed in the 17th century, when slaves from West and Central Africa were exposed to, learned and nativized the vernacular and dialectal forms of English spoken by their masters: British English, Scots and Hiberno English.”
Just goes to show that even a language loving gal like myself can learn a few things everyday! So cool.
What languages have you encountered that you didn’t even know existed?
Check out this review from Wandering Educators:
“Language learning is the key to successful travel overseas. We’ve found a great way to Learn Languages Online (French, for us) with Language Learning Software from Mango Passport.
We’ve all been there – living overseas, trying to make ourselves understood in English, when we could’ve been more prepared and speaking that language. Although I pick up languages fast in context, I find that it is far easier to be prepared before you go. It opens up a new culture that you won’t find by just speaking English. We’ve studied languages before – and it’s difficult to find one that will work with our entire family, including our 8 year-old daughter. That’s changed – let me tell you about Mango Passport.” Read More…
