British vs American English. Which one do you prefer?

1. You say aubergine...I say eggplant
Aim:
 To raise awareness of differences between British and American English.
Resources:
 White boards or Word cards if you choose.
 List of common words in American and British English.
 Dictionaries for further reference.
Activity 1
 Ask the class:
o What are sneakers? (sports shoes)
o Is this American English or British English? (American English)
o What is the word in British English? (trainers)
 Put the students in groups.
 Read out a selection from the list below of common words in American and British English
(or use words that you have recently covered in class or that are coming in your lesson
perhaps in a reading or listening text).
 Students must write the correct British English word/s for American English words. To make
it more fun set it up as a competition and give points to the group that says the correct word
first.
 Alternatively you can read out a selection of British English words and students write the
correct US equivalent.
Activity 2
 Cut out the dominoes and distribute them to the students.
 Ask one student to start by reading out the second word on his/her domino (this will be an
American English word).
 Ask the student who has the British English equivalent to read it out and then read the other
word on his/her domino.
 Continue this pattern around the classroom until the cycle is complete.
 Alternatively, you could spread the dominoes out on a table and get the students to make a
‘paper trail’ by joining the equivalent terms to one another.
Discussion
How / why are we familiar with these words and terms? (TV/films/ American books/music)
In the future will there be more or fewer words that are different?
What rules should you follow when checking that you have used British English rather than
American English?
Warning: Problem with computer spelling check if on American English.
Extension
Have students look up key words that are Americanized in their spelling, e.g. colour/color;
programme/program; theatre/theater; metre/meter; humour/humor; favourite/favourite; skilful/skilful;
centre/center etc. and see if they can come up with ‘rules’ for the spelling changes.
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9298 Page 1 of 5

2. You say aubergine...I say eggplant
American British American British
cell phone mobile phone truck lorry
trash can bin corn maize
cookie biscuit ground beef mince
faucet tap highway motorway
hood (car) bonnet (car) diaper nappy
trunk (car) boot (car) suspenders braces
parking lot car park license plate number plate
motor home caravan gas petrol
pharmacist chemist sidewalk pavement
fries chips garbage rubbish
movie theater cinema band-aid plaster
potato chips crisps mail post
pacifier dummy zip code postal code
apartment flat stroller pram
overpass flyover line queue
soccer football stove cooker
vacation holiday eraser rubber
jelly jam napkin serviette
candy sweets eggplant aubergine
sweater jumper can tin
elevator lift flashlight torch
bathroom loo or WC pants trousers
windshield (car) windscreen vest waistcoat
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9298 Page 2 of 5

3. You say aubergine...I say eggplant
waistcoat cell phone caravan pharmacist
mobile phone trash can chemist fries
movie
bin cookie chips
theater
biscuit faucet cinema potato chips
tap hood (car) crisps pacifier
bonnet (car) trunk (car) dummy apartment
boot (car) parking lot flat overpass
car park motor home flyover soccer
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9298 Page 3 of 5

4. You say aubergine...I say eggplant
football vacation lorry corn
holiday jelly maize ground beef
jam candy mince highway
sweets sweater motorway diaper
jumper elevator nappy suspenders
lift bathroom braces license plate
windshield
loo number plate gas
(car)
windscreen truck petrol sidewalk
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9298 Page 4 of 5

5. You say aubergine...I say eggplant
pavement garbage cooker eraser
rubbish band-aid rubber napkin
plaster mail serviette eggplant
post zip code aubergine can
post code stroller tin flashlight
pram line torch pants
queue stove trousers vest
© 2008 www.teachitworld.com 9298 Page 5 of 5