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Lessons · Lesson 9 of 11

British & American English

Understand everyone · Intermediate · 8 min

Mission: An American customer uses words you learned differently. You understand, check politely, and keep the order moving.

You don't need to choose an accent. You need to recognise both and be easy to understand. Zayaan's rule: being clear matters more than sounding “native”.

  1. Hear
  2. Speak first
  3. Notice
  4. Fix one thing
  5. Speak again
  6. Recall
1

Hear a little

Read or listen. Don't study it. Just follow the conversation.

Zayaan

(as an American customer) Hi! Could you send me a quote for 2,000 brochures?

Muddassir

Of course. Could you tell me the size and the paper you'd like?

Zayaan

Letter size, glossy. And please ship them to my apartment, not the office.

Muddassir

Your apartment — the flat address. Got it. When do you need them?

Zayaan

We're on a pretty tight schedule. By next Friday?

Muddassir

Let me check that with my team. I'd rather be honest about the timeline than promise something we can't deliver.

Zayaan

(as the teacher) Great! You understood “apartment” and “schedule”, and you checked instead of guessing.

2

Speak first

A customer from another country asks for a price and a delivery date. Answer for 45 seconds.

Speak the way you normally would. Say it out loud, or type it if you can't speak right now.

3

Notice the gap

What did you want to say but couldn't? These are the phrases and patterns that fill that gap.

  • flat / apartment · lift / elevator · queue / lineBritish / American, everyday words.
  • mobile / cell phone · holiday / vacation · petrol / gasMore pairs you'll hear.
  • quotation / quote · timetable / scheduleBoth are fine in business. Americans often use the short form.
  • colour / color · organise / organizeSpelling: pick one style and keep it the same in one email.
  • Just to check, do you mean…?The polite way to confirm a word you're not sure about.
4

Fix one thing

Try each one. If you miss, you'll get a hint first, so you can fix it yourself.

1. An American customer says, “Please send it to my apartment.” They mean…

2. In one email to a customer, which spelling is best?

3. You're not sure what “we're on a tight schedule” means. The best reply is…

5

Speak again, faster

Answer the international customer again. Use one “Just to check…” question and one honest promise. Faster.

Coach yourself, the way Zayaan does after you finish:

6

Recall tomorrow

Save these phrases. They'll come back in Recall practice tomorrow, in 3 days and in a week.

  • Just to check, do you mean…?
  • Let me check that with my team.
  • I'd rather be honest about the timeline.

Muddassir and Zayaan are real; this dialogue is a practice scenario inspired by their lessons. Read their story.