School teachers focus on making us learn to speak English... But it is only with a bit more experience and immersion in the local culture that you actually manage to hear English.
Bear with me here, as I am not talking about what is verbally articulated, I in fact mean of what is actually said. There is a significant nuance for a nation that masters the art of understatement and self-deprecation.
The following table for instance has been recently circulated around in my company, probably to help our dearest colleagues in the US translate what really happens in meetings. After all, America and England are two nations divided by a common language...
To read further:
- Language on a life line, David Mitchell's rant about endangered local languages
- The Italian job, a classical on accents and misunderstandings
- A, B, C, Ki , Wi or how to understand the folks from New Zealand