the language barrier!!!
 

hi all, i have been in Saskachewan just over a week..and anyone that is thinking of coming to Canada beware that you will still have a problem with the language..yes we both speak English but the Canadians still have a problem understanding us..and i can have problems understanding them on the phone... the Canadians seem to speak faster down the phone (or is it just me)...just to make u aware that it can still be very frustrating.:curse:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Wait til you get a French Canadian on the phone! The last one I got told me I was talking too fast and too deep now what can I do about that! In the end we both gave up and I re-dailed! :eek:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

I find the phone line clarity absolutely appalling here which doesn't help with accent problems :blink: And it's not my phone.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

I have a bigger problem than that with my phone; :thumbdown: I gave it a wash in my jeans pocket. OOoops, must have been a blonde moment; the reception on it now is terrible; cant hear anything. :rofl::rofl:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

You just have to speak more slowly and use as many Canadian phrases and terminology as possible. This is why people who don't try and speak the language (Annie3-4!) find it difficult and frustrating. As with any new country you move to, you should try and learn the language that the country uses, not try and impose your own version onto the locals. It's ok for a short while but if you're still using 'petrol' or opening the 'bonnet' after a length of time then most will just think you're arrogant.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

I dont find it difficult and frustrating, just annoying when Brits adopt a pretendy false Canadian twang which sounds completely ridiculous

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

I know what it is like. I lived in the UK for a a couple years and went through the same thing ( I am Canadain). Everyone always giggled when I referred to my trousers as "pants" and one of the first times I was out in the evening and a girl asked meto join her to the loo I thought it was a different bar we were going to ha ha..........

Have fun with it though. It is definatley all part of the experience and always a good convo starter!!!!!:thumbsup:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Coronation Street irritates me, I cannot understand 90% of what they say.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

:rofl::rofl: the mind boggles at why she wanted you to join her there!!!

J :)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Dont watch it then Howard.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Simply adopt the well tried English principle of Speaking loudly and slowly. "Do. You. Understand me. Johnny. Canuck. I would to purchase some petrol. And. Fags. Could. You. also. Carry. the. shopping. to. the. boot. of. my car. as. I. don't. want. to. get. my.trousers.dirty.Bloody colonials"

CANADIANS DON'T SPEAK LIKE ENGLISH. Headline. Shock horror. Who'dve thunk it!;)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

My daughter:eek: Bless her! She is being Canadianised, she is trying to fit in. Yep we knew it would happen, we knew she would end up with a Canadian accent but at the moment it is in between and I can't bl@%dy understand her half the time. She has got the mumble off to a T but some of the words, well:eek: For nearly 2 weeks in the UK, I had a daughter that spoke as we speak and now she has reverted to her strange Canadianisms. She only speaks that way so her buddies can understand her, but she brings it home too and that's where it gets scary!

We have found that your vocab' just starts to change and yes you do start becomming a little Canadianised yourself, we find though that it generally happens when speaking to other Canadians, otherwise your forever explaining yourself and getting blank looks, which gets super frustrating.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Haven't we been through this before.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=502885

Give it up already.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Never have truer words been said. You can use petrol, bonnet, wireless, GIRO, P-45 etc etc when in the company of fellow Brits, but to most people it sounds pompous and arrogant.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

There are alternatives to giro and P-45 ?

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Hmmm ... let me see:

petrol = gasoline

bonnet = hood (of car, although bonnet also is a head covering secured by ribbons)

wireless = During my childhood in Swaziland, we referred to a radio as a wireless. But it occurs to me that the current British use of wireless may be different. For example, it might refer to wireless internet or something like that. I'd be grateful for clarification.

GIRO = My first thought was that it was a ballpoint pen, but then I remembered that was a BIRO. Did a Google search, and found several websites. The one that seemed most plausible to me was some sort of electronic banking transaction.

P-45 = I have no idea. A Google search brings up a British tax form, an internet site for jokes and gossip, etc. Again, clarification would be most welcome. :)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Giro, 'It's dah Pogy, 'bys! Jeez you mainlanders are some stunned!'

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Aah, who would have guessed? But thanks for explaining.

How does one pronounce GIRO, pray tell?

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

"Wid a Jay";)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

As in gyro, Judy................. um er with a JAY ;-)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Thanks. :)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Giro...traditional form of delivery of Unemployment Benefit/Dole/Income Support/Job Seekers Allowance etc.

Generally a sign of unemployment.

A few years ago there was a football cup final in England featuring Liverpool and Everton, two teams from Liverpool where unemployment was very high.

It was known as The Giro Cup Final.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Oh go away Howie...you don't understand 101% of what WE say! :p

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

:pOkay, smart guy, can you tell me what P-45 is? Hold on, wasn't P-45 a rogue Masonic Lodge in Italy? Oh no, that was the P2 Lodge. So I'm still none the wiser. :p

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

I said Home Deepot yesterday. We were sorting out the recycling and the garbage later in the evening. Earlier I had I walked on the sidewalk to the store and then refused to buy chips at $4 a bag, the others in the line behind me agreed.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

It's a Ferrari. :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ront_right.jpg

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Its a T2 or a T4 or something.You get it when you leave your current employment and need it for social security, the GIRO cheque, previously known as the dole. You get a Giro cheque as you can cash it at the post office if you dont have a bank account, or one in debit so you cant draw on the cheque.

Or so I believe.

Its a T4, a Canadian just told me so it's true

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Oh!

I'd better not show that photo to Mr. J_i_C. :p

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Hi Judy -

Giro...pronunciation already explained, but not what it is....it's short for Girocheque a measn by which payment of state benefits is made; when I worked in the Department of Employment, more years ago than I will confess to, they were a fairly new idea....a piece of paper (cheque) which the claimant clutched in his/her hand, then toddled to the local post office to exchange for real money. It was deemed a safer way to pay claimants.

P45 - a tax form issued to an employee, by an employer, when said employee has terminated his/her job. It shows the amount of money earned and the amount of tax paid up to that point, along with one of the great mysteries of English Life....the Tax Code.

:)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

But don't you get a T4 every year here, and only get a P45 when you leave? :confused::blink::)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Yeah, T4=P60, I thought - annual statement of earnings and tax deducted in previous tax year. Not sure what the equivalent of P45 is in Canada, as I've only had the one job since arriving...

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Mr_P. There is nothing to be abhored more than an Englishman putting on a fake (regional) Canadian accent. Please kindly desist.;)

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

annie, my wife is addicted so I have been forced to buy a 52 inch Big Screen, Baseball is a few weeks away, life is good.

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

Now that's a phrase understood by the Canadians.....but....erm......wasn't it you who started that other thread about this very thing? Why do we keep repeating.......I say, why do we keep repeating ourselves.............help........ the record's stuck, the record's stuck, the record's stuck, stuck, stuck......:sneaky:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

But it's not really that much of a stretch from my native Scouse. :p:rofl::rofl:

Sorry I'll get me coat. :o

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

The form that you receive when you've left a job in Canada is a Record of Employment (formal) or pink slip (informal).

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

My hubby (pre-me of course), use to talk about P45ing his ex-girlfriends (dumping them) - so he'll have to change that now to the Canadian equivalent I guess... :unsure:

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

:D :D too funny

Re: the language barrier!!!
 

:rofl: