Opportunities Upper-Intermediate Supplementary Activity –

Differences between American and British English

Materials:
Text A
Text B
Handout 1
Handout 2

Instructions

Divide your class into two groups: A and B – tell them they are going to
read a story about a foreigner’s trip to the Czech Republic - give each
student a copy of text A or B depending on which group they are in
and ask them to read through quickly to see whether he had a good
time or not. Next put the class into pairs (one student with A text
and one student with B text). Ask them to find as many differences
between the two texts as possible (you can tell them that there are
30 differences to find). Then ask them why there are differences
between text A and text B (answer A is written in American English
and B is written in British English). Distribute Handout 1 to each
student and get them to complete it in pairs. Reinforce the
differences during the feedback stage. Finally distribute Handout 2
to each student and get them to complete the text in either American
or British English.
Text A

It happened when I was on vacation in the Czech Republic, I was

traveling down the highway when the cops stopped me and asked for
my driving license. They noticed that my windshield had a crack in it
and I needed new tires. Luckily I was only a few hundred meters from
an old medieval town, so I drove to the center and looked for a
parking lot, I didn’t find one but I managed to park my car in a small
space near a hotel, it was a skillful maneuver but I did it without
hitting the sidewalk. Then I took my luggage out of the trunk and
booked into the hotel. The room was really big, almost the size of a
small apartment but it was on the 5th floor and there wasn’t an
elevator. There was an aging Television in the corner and I turned it
on to see if there were any English programs, but there were only
Czech channels, so I sat down on the bed, got into my pajamas and
tried to relax, but the people in the next room were having an
argument and it was so loud that I couldn’t. Eventually I had to listen
to some of my favorite music on my portable mp3 player to get to
sleep. The next day I went to the gas station and asked the mechanic
to pick up my car and fix it, I gave him the keys and told him the
license plate and then went back to the hotel. It took three days to
fix the car, and although the town was beautiful there wasn’t much to
see and it rained every day, so I spent most of my time listening to
the couple quarreling next door, they had a baby but no pacifier and
the hall smelt of dirty diapers, they had no baby carriage to take the
baby out, so with the crying and the arguments you can imagine how
happy I was to pay the check and go home!
Text B

It happened when I was on holiday in the Czech Republic, I was

travelling down the motorway when the police stopped me and asked
for my driving licence. They noticed that my windscreen had a crack in
it and I needed new tyres. Luckily I was only a few hundred metres
from an old mediaeval town, so I drove to the centre and looked for a
car park, I didn’t find one but I managed to park my car in a small
space near a hotel, it was a skilful manoeuver but I did it without
hitting the pavement. Then I took my luggage out of the boot and
booked into the hotel. The room was really big, almost the size of a
small apartment but it was on the 5th floor and there wasn’t an
elevator. There was an ageing Television in the corner and I turned it
on to see if there were any English programmes, but there were only
Czech channels, so I sat down on the bed, got into my pyjamas and
tried to relax, but the people in the next room were having a row and
their quarrelling was so loud that I couldn’t. Eventually I had to listen
to some of my favourite music on my portable mp3 player to get to
sleep. The next day I went to the petrol station and asked the
mechanic to pick up my car and fix it, I gave him the keys and told him
the number plate and then went back to the hotel. It took three days
to fix the car, and although the town was beautiful there wasn’t much
to see and it rained every day, so I spent most of my time listening to
the couple quarrelling next door, they had a baby but no dummy and
the hall smelt of dirty nappies, they had no pram to take the baby out,
so with the crying and the arguements you can imagine how happy I
was to pay the cheque and go home!
 Differences between American and British English
Some key words are different – try to complete the table below
American English British English American English British English
Vacation Apartment
Motorway Lift
Windshield Gas station
Car Park Have a row
Sidewalk Pacifier
Boot Number Plate
Diaper Baby Carriage
Plaster Torch
Cookie Fries
Crisps Trousers
There are some key spelling differences between American and British
English – can you find some examples from the text?
AE - or BE - our AE - er BE - re
Honor, Color Honour, Colour Theater,_______ Theatre,______
_______ _________ ________ ________
AE - e BE – ae/oe AE - ll BE - l
Encyclopedia Encyclopaedia Fulfill Fulfil
_______ ________ Enrollment Enrolment
_______ ________ _______ _______
AE – only one L BE – adding L AE - se BE - ce
after a vowel after a vowel Defense Defence
when making +ing when making +ing ______ _________
Modeling Modelling AE - ze BE - se
Signaling Signalling Memorize Memorise
_______ _______ Criticize Criticize
________ ________ Analyze Analyse
Other Spelling Differences
AE BE AE BE AE BE
Jewelry Jewellery _______ Cheque Aging _______
_______ Pyjamas _______ Arguement Tire ______
Plow Plough _______ Programme Judgment Judgement

Handout 1
 It happened when I was on _______1 in the Czech Republic, I was
_______2 down the _______3 when the _______4 stopped me and
asked for my driving _______5. They noticed that my _______6 had
a crack in it and I needed new ______7. Luckily I was only a few
hundred ______8 from an old ________9 town, so I drove to the
______10 and looked for a _______11, I didn’t find one but I managed
to park my car in a small space near a hotel, it was a _______12
________13 but I did it without hitting the _______14. Then I took
my luggage out of the _______15 and booked into the hotel. The room
was really big, almost the size of a small ________16 but it was on the
5th floor and there wasn’t an _______17. There was an
______18Television in the corner and I turned it on to see if there
were any English ________ 19, but there were only Czech channels, so
I sat down on the bed, got into my _______20 and tried to relax, but
the people in the next room were having an _______21 and it was so
loud that I couldn’t. Eventually I had to listen to some of my
_______22 music on my portable mp3 player to get to sleep. The next
day I went to the ______23 station and asked the mechanic to pick up
my car and fix it, I gave him the keys and told him the ______24 plate
and then went back to the hotel. It took three days to fix the car,
and although the town was beautiful there wasn’t much to see and it
rained every day, so I spent most of my time listening to the couple
_______25 next door, they had a baby but no ______26 and the hall
smelt of dirty ________27 , they had no baby ______28 to take the
baby out, so with the crying and the ______29 you can imagine how
happy I was to pay the ______30 and go home!

Handout 2