Here’s a conversation that goes wrong because of three British and American English differences. Can you spot them? (See below for the answers.)

I made this video with my friend Jennifer ESL. Check out her awesome YouTube channel here.

A confusing phone call script

Hey Jennifer!
Hi Vicki! I’ve got something for you.
That’s terrific!
Can you send me your address?
You want my dress?
Yeah, I’ll post it to you.
Why don’t I send you my address and then you can mail it?
OK, I’ll do that.
All right. You’re awesome.
Well, I don’t know about that.
OK, bye.
Bye.

Click here to watch this with a clickable transcript.

British and American English differences

The pronunciation of address – the stress fall on the first syllable in AmE and the second syllable in BrE.
We say post in BrE and mail in AmE.
British praise tends to be more understated than AmE praise. ‘You’re awesome’ is commonly used to say a ritual ‘thank you’ in America, but it’s less frequent in the UK.

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