Incorporating English slang into my daily vocabulary

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Grace Zheng

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Grace Zheng

<i>Home Institution</i>: University of New Mexico <i>Expected Graduation Year</i>: 2024 <i>Academic Major / Minor</i>: Marketing <i>Destination</i>: Leeds, UK <i>"Hello" in your host country's language</i>: Hello <i>Demographics</i>: Asian/Asian American, First-Generation American, First-Generation College Student <i>Future Career Goals</i>: I want to work in Public Relations to help out the community I grew up in. I want to use my degree in marketing to make some long lasting impact around sustainability and equality. My goal is to bond the people from New Mexico together regardless of the different backgrounds everyone comes from. I believe we can unite individuals by making not only our state a better place but the world as well. Public relations will allow me to spread ideas I am passionate about while providing an opportunity for voices to be heard on a first hand level. <i>Top Three Study Abroad Goals</i>: Travel- To as many countries as possible to diversify my knowledge, seeing the world or other cultures is one of the greatest privileges to have and I want to use this as an opportunity to learn on a global scale; Grow within myself- Going abroad is such an amazing experience however it can be scary and I want to grow as a person in all aspects while being in a new country miles away from the familiarity of being back home; Inspire- To motivate other students with similar background as me to go out there and see the world for themselves by following my journey

Since studying at the University of Leeds I have had the honor of hearing the infamous Yorkshire accent. Yorkshire refers to a region of England that is up another of the country. What makes this place so special is their accents. Before coming here I thought all English people would have the typical accent that are in movies such as Harry Potter and peaky blinders. However, I have learned that accent is referred to as an “posh” accent. This accent is very typical British and sounds very clear as they enunciate their words clearly.

Now lets get on to the Yorkshire accent which is nothing like anything I’ve heard before. This accent is often very fast paced and a sentence usually sounds all jumbled up together. This accent has a very unique twang to it and almost sounds country-like. Although the language is hard to understand I have to say most Yorkshire people I’ve met are very kind and accommodating.

some phrases I have adopted since living here are:

“innit” instead of “isn’t it”

“cheers” instead of ” thanks”

“flatmates” instead of “roommates”

“reckon” instead of ” I think”

“bruv” instead of “brother”

“dodgy” instead of “untrustworthy”

“mates” instead of “friends”

Although the country of England is relatively small compared to some states in the US they are all each very cool and have their own custom slangs and language. In Birmingham, people who are from there are called “bromies” while people from Bristol are known as “bristonians”. I definitely will bring back a lot of phrases and terminology back when I return to the states and probably influence my peers to adopt some of the language as well.