I Speak English

Loo. Posh. I don’t vacuum. I HOOVER, even though I’m using a Dyson. I knew that this trip would include picking up a new language, most likely basic French. I never imagined that I’d learn ENGLISH English! I’ve been hanging out with the kind neighbors to the house where I’m sitting, so I’ve picked up some of their lingo. Julie is from Devon and has explained the history of this area to me. John, locally grown here in Somerset, does a hilarious impression of King Charles. The funniest phrase I’ve learned so far is “she’s as mad as a box of frogs”, meaning that someone doesn’t think straight.

In the evenings, I knit and watch documentaries on the BBC, another source of linguistic edification. The accents of historians, sociologists and archeologists mix with facts about prehistoric sites, African slavery in England and the “cult” of circular temples in my dreams. Through my WorkAway posts, I’ll be near London and Edinburg. I wonder what I’ll sound like when I leave the UK in late March. I’ll be in so many countries this year that by the time I go home, I’ll be fluent in Esperanto.