Blog Post 25 - Summer Experience 'in the Valleys' - The Dialect

What's a summer experience without a camping trip in the country known for it's hills and valleys and people who love sheep. That's right, I am talking about Wales !! Funny story, I actually never knew... FUN FACT: there's more sheep than people in Wales.

Camping is probably my favourite thing to do during holidays as I have a thing for nature. I love to be outside exploring and taking risks. Our family friends and family come together every year to have a blast in mother nature. We were about 2 hours by foot from the nearest town, where we crossed into the English boarder. We have different activities planned on different days; Thursday-Olympic Games; Friday-Annual trek through the forest and Saturday- Canoeing down the River Wye.
The trek was a little bit more exciting, we all dresses up in costumes. Not only this, we were walking through the forest, down into the nearest town in our costumes to the pub to have lunch.
It was definitely an experience to remember !

It triggered my sense of thought of how some things are the same but have a different way of saying it. For example, when we entered the pub, we sat and had food and drinks, I ordered a 'sprite' but in the UK, sprite is considered 'Lemonade'. This make me think a lot about the language and the dialect in which they speak.
Even though I travel to the UK almost every holiday we have, I still have trouble understanding the dialect, including the slang as there is new additions and alterations. However words like "know your onions" (knowledgeable: so it works in this sense: "you really know your onions") and most common "peng" (gorgeous) were definitely some of the slang that I picked up. Not only slang but also the accent. I did find it challenging to understand the new terms however, once you hear it often, you start to understand its meaning and the way it is used in certain situations. I feel that I have already enhanced my accent in the way I pronounciate words as well as adding additional words to my vocabulary.  It's common to pick up your accent once's being surrounded by your culture and the community, however I have learned new ways to speak to people to the point where it is almost a natural feeling.