Dreaming in English

[susandennis]

Last night I watched the first 2 hour episode of Silk (Masterpiece Theater).  It's a legal show but British.  It took my ears about 30 minutes to get to where I could understand more of the dialogue than not.  And the British legal system is different enough that that took some translation as well.  But the show is excellent and since it was PBS, no commercials so I was thoroughly sucked in.

Every night before I got to sleep, I spend an hour or so listening to an audio book. So I left legal London for British crime.  My current book is Jane Casey's The Burning. The book takes place in contemporary England and the reader is one of the best I've listened to.  The various characters all sound very different from each other and very British.  And the story is very compelling so I get sucked in instantly as soon as I turn it on.

So I should not be surprised that my dreams were all with a British accent!!  ha. Cracked me up - even while I was dreaming!!

I am getting better at American to English translation.

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It got very hot here yesterday.  I took the trash down to the dumpsters in the garage and it was really hot in the lobby and the halls.  Today it is a bit rainy out and cooler. I'm ready for The Fall Cool Down!

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Today the pool does not open until 11. I have the bears all bagged up and ready to be dropped off on the way to the pool.

Tomorrow is Chef Anita day and the day I take my car in for its annual checkup.

Big week here!  ha!

Comments

[venta.livejournal.com]

I often struggle dreadfully with US accents at the start of a show or a film, too - it's a relief to know that other people have the reverse problem!

[susandennis]

I wondered about the reverse.

What about accents - do all Americans sound about the same to you? I can hear differences between Hugh Grant British and Ricky Gervais British but I don't really understand the cultural or geographic origins.

I have friends in New Zealand who declare that they have no problem with the accent - which I've never believed :) - but they do need help with the word usage and cultural references. (They are unable to tell the difference between Canadian and American accents but that is difficult for some Americans as well.)

I read about your strep throat thing this morning and felt a true kinship!!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Americans certainly don't all sound the same to me - the first time I ever visited the US I went to New Orleans and New York, and could definitely hear the difference! Like you, though, I couldn't necessarily determine anything about a person, or their origins, from the voice. I certainly wouldn't be confident I could tell Canadian from American.

I don't think I've ever had a problem with a US accent when talking to someone in person, only when hearing film dialogue. Sadly, that's not true in Britain - I have all kinds of trouble with accents from Western Scotland, especially Glasgow.

Word usage is something I find really interesting. Some things I expect - you took your trash to the dumpster, not your rubbish to the bins. Other things catch me out - I was confused for a while why you were swimming laps of a pool, instead of lengths. To me, laps suggest you're going right round the perimeter. Backwards and forwards between the short edges is a length (and when you're little, and just learning, you swim widths :) When you wrote about doing circles or splits a while back, I realised that you were swimming exactly how I expected, but just called it something different. I know the whole "divided by a common language" thing is a cliché, but I do find it endlessly fascinating.

When it comes to American cultural references I stand no chance :)

[susandennis]

ha! Your lengths and widths of the pool make total sense!! And, actually, when I think about it, a lap should actually be around the edge.

When we (well, not me) run around a track on a field, it's called a lap.

Wonder why the heck we call back and forth down the length of a pool a lap???? Makes no sense.

It's the little things that stop me on your end... trainers and jumpers.

But, unlike you, when I have been in England, it's actually worse. I understand even less. Cab drivers could be speaking Turkish!

[venta.livejournal.com]

Actually, especially in London, it's entirely possible that the cab drivers are speaking Turkish!

Anyway, I have just located the LJ post I did after returning from New Orleans, and it claims I had a lot of difficulty with the accents, so it seems my memory is now going as well...

I'd call running round a track a lap, too. And frankly I'm sure there's plenty of things I say that don't make an awful lot of sense if closely examined!

trainers and jumpers

Um... sneakers and sweaters?

[susandennis]

Yes on the sneakers and sweaters. You win.

And, I was raised with a southern accent and even so have trouble in New Orleans.

[howeird]

Lately my hearing has had trouble with pulling words out from the background noise, and understanding unfamiliar accents and phrasings. Closed Captioning is my friend. (on Tivo, settings & messages --> settings --> Display --> Closed captioning)
:-)

[susandennis]

OMG! I never knew that! I knew my TV has CC but turning it on is a PIA. I'm going to have to try the TiVo way. Thank you!!

[rsc.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure there's no way I could read all the dialogue at the pace they're talking.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

My roommate, Tim, is hearing impaired. I've lived with captions on at all times for over three years. I've gotten so used to it, reading the dialog, that everything feels like a foreign art house film:)

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Yes, we also watched that, and it took a while to be able to get the dialogue, partly (and US shows do this too) because there's so much "realistic" background noise and fast, sloppy talking that we, um, mature types have trouble picking up the crucial words.

Also, I had trouble sorting out who the characters were -- I'm still not sure about all of them.

But I liked it anyway, and we'll keep watching it, because, well, Masterpiece Mystery.

[mrdreamjeans.livejournal.com]

Now, I'll imagine you speaking with a British accent! LOL!

[susandennis]

But, of course!!

[(Anonymous)]

They show Silk on the BBC in the UK so there are also no commercials during the programme. Glad you like the British accent - it can be very "British" so to speak in court room dramas.

Silk is very true to life in how they conduct themselves in court -I work with barristers (albeit in the office).

I wrote a comment to you a long time ago about Doc Martin - you may be very pleased to hear a new series started here in the UK last night - so something else for you to look forward to!

As for the American accents - to an extent I am quite used to them as we have a few American programmes on here. I am currently watching Lost on DVD - love that show and its very well written and acted - did you know the actor who plays Sayeed is British also? Regards.

[susandennis]

MORE Doc Martin??!!!! YEAH!!!!!! I heard a long time ago that there would be more but I never heard another peep so I figured it wasn't happening. I'm so glad to hear I was wrong! I've missed those people and wondered how they were getting on!

That's so interesting about Silk being real. And so good to know. I'm going to rewatch the first episode to make sure I got it all before I go to the second one.

I am not a Lost fan (they lost me after the first 10 minutes) but I am fascinated by British actors who work with American accents - Hugh Laurie and Alan Cumming particularly. It's freaky to hear them interviewed with their British accents.

[(Anonymous)]

oops I should have said Lawyers, not Barristers (slight difference..lol).

[howeird]

Lawyers may be slippery, but Barristers are for sliding down.

Oh wait, that's bannisters. Never mind.

[susandennis]

hahaha BUT I am LOVING closed caption! Thank you! How in the hell I never knew that before just blows me away. But I'm totally captioned now - celebrated with Law & Order U.K.!

[kittymistress.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying 'Silk' as well. I will admit that I'm having some trouble with the dialogue but that may be because my hearing is as good as it used to be. I can't wait for more Doc Martin and Call the Midwife.

[(Anonymous)]

Doc Martin is now into its 6th series. Cornwall is such a lovely part of the UK and I have been there many times as I have family who live down there.

They are currently filming the third series of Call the Midwife and there is going to be a Christmas special also.

Hugh Laurie, to me (being very British lol) sounds weird with an American accent, but I think he does it quite well and House is a good programme!