How British is your English? Questionnaire and Speaking
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Practising defining relative clauses while learning British and American vocabulary differences
Lesson Plan Content:
How British is your English? defining relative clauses practice
Listen to or read the definitions below and write one word or expression that you most often use to talk about that thing in English. If you have no idea, just leave a blank for now.
What do you call a train system that travels under the street?
What do you call the fuel which you put in your car?
What do you call small sweet things children often buy, keep in their pockets, and eat?
What do you call the covering of your car’s engine which you must open to check the water and oil?
What do you call the place where you need to go after drinking a lot of water?
What do you call a portable light that you can use to find your way in the dark?
What do you call a thing which a woman carries her possessions in, often made from leather?
What do you call the time when your tyres lose all their air?
What do you call a special time when you don’t have to work such as a week during the summer?
What do you call clothes men and women wear on the bottom half of their body such as jeans?
What do you call small, hard, sweet snacks which are usually circular and are often eaten with a cup of tea or coffee?
What do you call a person who delivers your letters?
What do you call a thing that a man puts his money in?
What do you call the document on which the train times are written?
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Read the hints below and write one word/ expression that you are most likely to use in English. All are correct, so just choose the one which you think you would say. If you wrote something before, don’t change it unless it isn’t in this list.
A train system that travels under the street
The underground The subway The tube
The fuel which you put in your car
Petrol Gasoline Gas
Small sweet things children often buy, keep in the pockets, and eat
Candy Sweets
The covering of your car’s engine which you must open to check the water and oil
The bonnet The hood
The place where you need to go after drinking a lot of water
The toilet The loo The bathroom The restroom
A portable light that you can use to find your way in the dark
A flashlight A torch
A thing which a woman carries her possessions in, often made from leather
A purse A handbag
The time when your tyres lose all their air
A flat A puncture
A special time when you don’t have to work such as a week during the summer
A holiday A vacation
Clothes men and women wear on the bottom half of their body such as jeans
Pants Trousers
Small, hard, sweet snacks which are usually circular and are often eaten with a cup of tea or coffee
Cookies Biscuits
A person who delivers your letters.
A mailman A postman
The thing that a man puts his money in
A wallet A billfold
The document on which the train times are written
The timetable The schedule
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Put one British or American point into this table depending on which word you chose, then work out the percentages. The British choices are underlined.
|
American English |
_______points |
__________% |
|
British English |
________points |
__________% |
A train system that travels under the street
The underground The subway The tube
The fuel which you put in your car
Petrol Gasoline Gas
Small sweet things children often buy, keep in the pockets, and eat
Candy Sweets
The covering of your car’s engine which you must open to check the water and oil
The bonnet The hood
The place where you need to go after drinking a lot of water
The toilet The loo The bathroom The restroom
A portable light that you can use to find your way in the dark
A flashlight A torch
A thing which a woman carries her possessions in, often made from leather
A purse A handbag
The time when your tyres lose all their air
A flat A puncture
A special time when you don’t have to work such as a week during the summer
A holiday A vacation
Clothes men and women wear on the bottom half of their body such as jeans
Pants Trousers
Small, hard, sweet snacks which are usually circular and are often eaten with a cup of tea or coffee
Cookies Biscuits
A person who delivers your letters.
A mailman A postman
The thing that a man puts his money in
A wallet A billfold
The document on which the train times are written
The timetable The schedule
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Relative pronouns presentation
Put one word into each gap below. Sometimes more than one answer is possible.
A train system _______________________________ travels under the street
The fuel ____________________________________ you put in your car
Small sweet things _____________ children often buy, keep in the pockets, and eat
The covering of your car’s engine _________ you must open to check the water and oil
The place _________________________ you need to go after drinking a lot of water
A portable light ______________________ you can use to find your way in the dark
A thing ___________ a woman carries her possessions in, often made from leather
The time _____________________________________ your tyres lose all their air
A special time _____________ you don’t have to work such as a week during the summer
Clothes _________men and women wear on the bottom half of their body such as jeans
Small, hard, sweet snacks _________________________________________________ are usually circular and are often eaten with a cup of tea or coffee
A person _____________________________________________ delivers your letters.
The thing ______________________________________ a man puts his money in
The document on ________________________________ all the train times are written
Check as a class or with the answer key, asking about any which you got different answers for, etc.
Why can some of the examples above not have the relative pronoun removed?
How can you rewrite the last example above to include “where” instead of “which”?
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Suggested answers
A train system which/ that travels under the street
The fuel which/ that/ - you put in your car
Small sweet things which/. that/ - children often buy, keep in the pockets, and eat
The covering of your car’s engine which/ that/ - you must open to check the water and oil
The place where/ - you need to go after drinking a lot of water
A portable light which/ that/ - you can use to find your way in the dark
A thing which/ that/ - a woman carries her possessions in, often made from leather
The time when/ - your tyres lose all their air
A special time when/ - you don’t have to work such as a week during the summer
Clothes which/ that/ - men and women wear on the bottom half of their body such as jeans
Small, hard, sweet snacks which/ that are usually circular and are often eaten with a cup of tea or coffee
A person who/ that/ - delivers your letters.
The thing which/ that/ - a man puts his money in
The document on which all the train times are written
Why can some of the examples above not have the relative pronoun removed?
How can you rewrite the last example above to include “where” instead of “which”?
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How British is your English? pairwork speaking
Student A
Explain the words below to your partner (like in example 1 below) and circle which word they usually use. If they can’t think of a word which matches your explanation, read them the options below and ask them which one they prefer (not which one they think is British English). If you don’t understand the words or can’t explain, you can use a dictionary, but the person listening cannot.
- curtains/ drapes (“What do you call things that hang inside your window and you close every night?)
- the accelerator/ the gas pedal (“What do you call the thing in your car that…?”)
- an elevator/ a lift
- a jumper/ a sweater/ a pullover
- a store/ a shop
- a frying pan/ a fry pan
- a zipper/ a zip
- a (winter/ woollen) scarf/ a muffler
- soda/ a fizzy drink/ pop
- a lorry/ a truck
- a cellular phone/ a cell phone/ a cell/ a mobile/ a mobile phone
- a highway/ a motorway/ an expressway
- a flat/ an apartment/ a condo
- the town centre/ the city centre/ downtown
- a jam sandwich/a jelly sandwich
- the sidewalk/ the pavement
- a car park/ a parking lot
- a postcode/ a zip code
Give one “British English point” for each word they used that is written in bold above (e.g. curtains), and one “American English point” for each word they used that is not written in bold (e.g. the gas pedal). Then tell them their percentage.
Total score
|
|
Points |
Percentage |
|
American English |
|
|
|
British English |
|
|
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How British is your English? pairwork speaking
Student B
Explain the words below to your partner (like in example 1 below) and circle which word they usually use. If they can’t think of a word which matches your explanation, read them the options below and ask them which one they prefer (not which one they think is British English). If you don’t understand the words or can’t explain, you can use a dictionary, but the person listening cannot.
- a film/ a movie (“What do you call a thing that you watch at the cinema?”)
- jelly/ Jell-O (“What do you call a food that…?”)
- a station wagon/ an estate (car)
- fall/ autumn
- a chemist’s/ a drugstore/ a pharmacy
- corn/ sweet corn
- pudding/ crème caramel
- a police car/ a patrol car
- a (sticky) plaster/ a band aid
- the till/ a (cash) register
- garbage/ trash/ rubbish
- a line/ a queue
- a spanner/ a wrench
- the boot/ the trunk
- the gear shift/ the gear lever
- a jug/ a pitcher
- fries/ French fries/ chips
- the gear box/ the transmission
- a packet of chips/ a packet of crisps
Give one “British English point” for each word they used that is written in bold above (e.g. a film), and one “American English point” for each word they used that is not written in bold (e.g. Jell-O). Then tell them their percentage.
Total score
|
|
Points |
Percentage |
|
American English |
|
|
|
British English |
|
|
What your score means
100% British English- You are as British as a bowler hat and a pin-stripe suit. In other words, you are more British than most young British people!
90% British English- You might think you can pass as British, but not quite! Your English is something like Gwyneth Paltrow or Renee Zellweger playing a British character.
About 70% British- Are you Australian? If not, you must be a Kiwi.
50/50- You are very confused
About 70% American- Do you also like maple syrup? You must be Canadian
90% American- You are as American as apple pie (they also have apple pie in England, they just don’t make such a big thing about it)
100% American- You are as American as a Texan cowboy
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