Shadowing Practice: England VS America: Ten Items That Have Different Names - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com and today I'm with my friend Victoria.

Hi!

She's from England and I'm from America.

So our topic today is 10 items that have different names in England and in America.

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Alright, our first item is...

Well, in the UK we call those pants.

Pants!

Well, in America, these specifically are boxers.

We could call them boxers too, actually.

But in general they're called underwear because you wear them under your clothes.

Actually, we would also call them underwear, but I guess it's useful to talk about this because we call those pants, but in America pants are...

Number two.. this!

which is what we call trousers or jeans I guess because it's a kind of jeans.

Yes, so I would say, oh I'm wearing pants today.

I'm wearing this today.

And she would think I'm wearing this today.

And I'd be like, that's great Vanessa.

Good job.

Glad you're wearing underwear today.

So these two items are very common to mix up when, especially when Americans come to England.

They often make the mistake of saying, Ah, I like your pants!

Those are really cute!

Really?

You can see my pants?

All good!

Alright, so number three is...

This item...

Let's open the sleeves out.

What would you say is this item?

I would call this a jumper.

A jumper.

I would say this is a sweater.

and a jumper to me is a long dress that you would wear something underneath.

Maybe old women wear this or sometimes like it's stereotypically clothing for elementary school teachers.

But you would say this is a jumper.

This is a jumper.

Like we understand what sweaters are because we watch lots of American movies But that's pretty much it.

Otherwise, this is just a jumper.

So what if you said, this is a sweater?

Or if you said, oh, I'm wearing a sweater today.

What would people in England think?

They'd understand jumper.

And that would be fine.

Like, it's not like...

I mean, even in England we understand that, or most people understand that when Americans say pants, they mean trousers.

But, like, it's just like that split-second moment when you're like, what?

So it would seem awkward, but you would understand.

Eventually.

Maybe old people wouldn't.

But it's mostly because we watch a lot of American movies.

Okay.

Alright, this is item number four.

Item number four.

And it's raining today, so this is already wet.

Here we go!

Can you tell what it is?

What would you call this?

For me, this is an anorak.

This is my anorak.

This in America is a rain jacket.

Because it's a jacket that you wear in the rain, but...

Very descriptive.

Yeah, I think an anorak means nothing to me.

If you said, I need to get my anorak, I would have no idea what you were talking about.

Maybe like it's a brand name of something, but I would have no idea.

You can call it other names too.

I mean, if you said...

Well, we probably wouldn't say rain jacket, but obviously we understand what a rain jacket is, and it's kind of obvious, but...

You could also call it a Mac, which is like Macintosh.

In the Beatles song, they sing in Penny Lane.

Ah yeah, see there you go.

You could call it a Rain Mac.

Learning English through music.

Alright, the next item is this.

What do you think this is?

Something we use to wash our faces with.

Yes.

So I would call that a flannel.

Flannel, okay.

And I would call it a washcloth.

Which is, again, like very descriptive.

Very descriptive!

They just have descriptive words in America, but we just make up random new words.

That's a flannel.

So a flannel to me, I would never say a flannel, but I would say a type of cloth could be flannel.

So sometimes plaid shirts that are kind of thick that you would wear in the winter, I would say that is a flannel shirt as an adjective, but I would never say something is a flannel.

So it's like more an adjective for me, but it definitely doesn't mean that.

So, alright, the next item is...

This.

Ah, don't hit me!

If you want to fry up some eggs, where would you put your eggs?

I would put my eggs in a frying pan.

A frying pan.

I mean, this is a frying pan.

I would put them in a skillet.

Now, I could say frying pan.

100

I'm going to put them in the frying pan.

101

But, at least for me, it depends probably where you're from in the US.

102

Maybe some people might say frying pan, so I'm not gonna say all Americans say skillet.

103

But for me, in my family, in my area, I guess, skillet is pretty common.

104

I've heard lots of Americans say skillet.

105

But that's a funny one because that's like the opposite way around.

106

That's where the British people are calling it something very descriptive and the Americans have made up a whole new word.

107

That's true!

108

What the hell is skillet?

109

Huh.

110

Next is this.

111

A mobile phone.

112

A cell phone.

113

Yeah.

114

Could you ever say cell phone?

115

No, we would never ever ever say cell phone.

116

But we do just call it a mobile.

117

And sometimes even just a phone.

118

I would say a phone too, but I would never say mobile.

119

You're mobile.

120

You can move it around.

121

Yes, I would say I, yeah, in that sense, but never with a phone.

122

Okay, alright, next item.

123

The next item...

124

Trainers or dirty trainers.

125

I would say, okay in America we can say several things for these.

126

Personally I would say

127

that they're tennis shoes as in the game tennis even though you probably aren't going to play tennis in them.

128

I would say it's tennis shoes.

129

But a lot of people say sneakers.

130

But to me sneakers is kind of a word that like your grandma might say.

131

But I think in some places it's common to say sneakers.

132

And some people might say running shoes, but I think these aren't necessarily considered running shoes.

133

I used to run in these a long time ago.

134

But no, the word trainer is pretty standardized in British English.

135

But yeah, I mean, if your shoes are specialist running shoes, then maybe you could call them running shoes.

136

But other than that, they're pretty much trainers.

137

And for me, when I say, when I think of the word trainer, I think of a person who helps you learn how to do something.

138

They're training you.

139

Like a personal trainer.

140

A personal trainer, yeah.

141

So it's a job, it's not a shoe.

142

I remember one time in France, you said, I need to get my trainers.

143

And I didn't know what that was.

144

Like, what's trainers?

145

Like, is it tennis shoes?

146

And you're like, what's tennis shoes?

147

And then you said in French, basket.

148

And I'm like, oh yeah, that's it!

149

So we had to go through French to understand each other's English, but that's really rare.

150

Usually I understand the sense.

151

Alright, next to last item are these!

152

Wellies!

153

Brain boots!

154

Although the proper word is technically Wellington boots.

155

Named after the Duke of Wellington, I could give you the whole history.

156

Did he wear those?

157

Actually, rumor has it is that he invented them because he didn't want to wear these short riding boots.

158

He wanted to, because it was always when he was riding his horse, so he asked for somebody to make him some knee-high ones, which like keep the rain off,

159

and so then it became a national pride thing, so we called them Wellington boots, and now just wellies.

160

Wellies!

161

That's a cute word.

162

It is a cute word.

163

Alright, the next thing we have is this,

164

or what you can see Victoria wearing right now.

165

And they're not the same thing.

166

Well, they're not the same word in England.

167

In the States it's the same word.

168

Yes.

169

So what would you say in England for this?

170

It has a collar, it's pretty professional.

171

There are buttons going all the way down, pockets, pockets not necessarily necessary,

172

but the buttons are necessary and therefore this is a shirt.

173

A shirt, okay.

174

So usually like a man, if a man is wearing a business suit underneath his jacket he's wearing a shirt

175

and the same with a woman like it doesn't necessarily have to be a formal one

176

but most of the time it is so this is definitely a shirt.

177

There's a collar and there and there are buttons going all the way down.

178

But this I know in the States you would call this a shirt.

179

This This is a shirt, this is a shirt.

180

I'd be like, this is not a shirt, this is a top.

181

There are no buttons, this is not formal, there is no collar, there's no way this is a shirt, this is a top.

182

So anything that's like cottony or fitted or basically has no buttons and no collar.

183

Hmm.

184

If I would say I'm wearing a top, I think it would sound kind of snobby maybe in America?

185

Like, oh this is a nice top.

186

It would sound just a little bit weird.

187

I know what it means, but I would say I'm wearing this on top because you wear shirts on top and pants or trousers on the bottom.

188

But I understand the meaning.

189

It's comprehensible.

190

I guess we just have more words for our clothing.

191

Yeah, maybe that's possible.

192

Wellies, trainers, shirts, tops.

193

Well blouses as well.

194

is just meaning a shirt for a very feminine kind of shirt.

195

And what would a feminine shirt look like?

196

Frilly, lacy?

197

I mean this one is quite masculine because it's quite baggy and it's got long sleeves, whereas a feminine one might have some lace

198

or it might have some embroidery or it might be sort of curved like in sort of straight angles or something.

199

Something, some kind of touch to make it more of a feminine shirt.

200

You would say that's a blouse.

201

Yeah.

202

But you could still call it a shirt.

203

If I said it's a blouse, I think I would sound like a grandmother.

204

I suppose it is a kind of grandma word.

205

That's probably why I don't use it.

206

Oh.

207

Even in English?

208

Well, yeah.

209

Hmm.

210

Well, wow.

211

I learned a lot today.

212

Me too.

213

Well, I hope that everyone out there learned a lot too about England and America, and if you mix up these words, don't worry.

214

People will still understand.

215

It's just fun to know the difference.

216

Yeah.

217

watching and if you know any other words that are different in America and in England, leave a comment and we'll learn more new words.

218

Thanks so much!

219

Bye!

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This video has 219 sentences and 1836 words to shadow. The speech runs for 11:13. The speaker talks at a natural 164 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 81% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
pants noun	/pænts/	An outer garment that covers the body from the waist downwards, covering each leg separately, usually as far as the ankles; trousers.
shoe noun	/ˈʃu/	A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of…
trainer noun	/ˈtɹeɪnɚ/	A person who trains another; a coach.
jumper noun	/ˈd͡ʒʌmpɚ/	A woollen sweater or pullover.
tennis noun	/ˈtɛnɪs/	A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.
fry verb	/fɹaɪ/	To cook (something) in hot fat.
jacket noun	/ˈd͡ʒæk.ɪt/	A piece of clothing worn on the upper body outside a shirt or blouse, often waist length to thigh length.
descriptive adjective	/dəˈskɹɪptɪv/	Of, relating to, or providing a description.
boot noun	/but/	A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg.
collar noun	/ˈkɑlɚ/	The part of an upper garment (shirt, jacket, etc.) that fits around the neck and throat, especially if sewn from a separate piece of fabric.
feminine adjective	/ˈfɛmɪnɪn/	Of or pertaining to the female gender.
sweater noun	/ˈswɛtɚ/	A knitted jacket or jersey, usually of thick wool, worn by athletes before or after exercise.
necessarily adverb	/ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/	Inevitably; of necessity.
egg noun	/ɛɡ/	An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell…
underwear noun	/ˈʌndɚˌwɛɹ/	Clothes worn next to the skin, underneath outer clothing.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
make up verb	/ˌmeɪk ˈʌp/	To constitute, to compose.
mix up verb		To mix or blend thoroughly and completely.
go through verb		To travel from one end of something to the other.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 41 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, they're, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, cloth /klɒθ/, thick /θɪk/, grandmother /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shoe /ˈʃu/, specialist /ˈspɛʃəlɪst/, washcloth /ˈwɔʃ.klɔθ/
Long words — get the stress right: necessarily /ˌnɛs.əˈsɛɹ.ə.li/, elementary /ˌɛləˈmɛntəɹi/, technically /ˈtɛk.nɪˌkəl.i/, comprehensible /kɒmpɹəˈhɛnsɪbəl/, embroidery /ɪmˈbɹɔɪdəɹi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pants, shoe, trainer.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	I've heard · have made
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Mac, which is · person who helps
Possibility with “might / may” might/may + verb — something that is possible but not certain	might say · might have
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	were talking · was riding

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

Grammar in this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?