Back with me again, covering the lockdowns all around the world starting from the Netherlands and Spain on our previous posts and Engliven’s Live Story #AcrossTheGlobe edition. Now, I’m going to cover the lockdown situation in the United Kingdom, another country whose Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, tested positive for coronavirus and yet, has just been discharged by the hospital last Monday.
This coverage will feature Fritz, a Filipino-born British who is now a PhD student at the University of Birmingham. He’s currently working on his final research about stem cells and bioprocessing, in which he’s trying to produce lots of stem cells so that in the future we can just buy them off easily. He’s not alone: he was accompanied by Jackie, his flat-mate, a Hongkong-born British who works in retail as a merchandiser. In this coverage, we’re also going to talk about British expressions and slang aside from the lockdown! So let’s check it out!
UK Lockdown Updates
Fritz and Jackie have spent four weeks in quarantine, in which the British government has imposed nationally within the last three weeks, and will extend the lockdown for an additional three weeks (until May). They felt the British government’s lockdown decision was a little bit late (compared to Germany’s), because things also escalated quickly. The cases in the United Kingdom had arisen from three weeks ago, followed by 100 cases per day, and ended up with a lockdown. However, the projection in the UK seemed to be much higher than any other country (trailing behind Italy and Spain).
As a result, everything shut down, including the university lab Fritz used to pursue his research. Fortunately, Britain’s high streets that sell essential things (e.g. pharmacies, groceries) are still open and people have to maintain their physical distancing for up to 2 meters while going out for essential work, walking their pets, or even shopping in one of those high streets (which are guarded). The British people are pretty obedient to these rules, albeit it’s pretty relaxed compared to Spain and Italy, where you have to fill a form on where you’re going. Fines are not as high as theirs too, at 30 and 60-pound sterling (around Rp 590.000-1.178.000) if they’re going out without any valid reason.
One good initiative from the British government is the grants. This is for those who are struggling to pay the rents; the government won’t evict them during the time of quarantine. Moreover, they also help any affected businesses pay 80% of the wages to their employees.
Quarantine Activities
Fritz spends his time in quarantine waking up pretty late, spending half the day cooking, preparing food, trying to do a little work, and even tried to learn Spanish! Aside from those, since he couldn’t get into the lab to pursue his research, he spent the quarantine reading the literature related to his research (well, me too!).
How Fritz spends his time in quarantine is a little bit different from Jackie, though. Jackie is learning new things (such as embroidery), catching up with his favourite TV series along with listening to motivational podcasts (Gary Vee is his favourite podcaster, go check it out here!).
Improve My English
There are several tips as well on how we improve our English shared during Instagram live. I’m going to list them below, as follows:
- Enjoy the entertainment you like (e.g. watching TV, listening to podcasts) in English. This is where Fritz actually learned the differences between American English and British English. For example, a trash can in the US equals to waste bin in the UK; or sidewalk in the US equals to the pavement in the UK.
- If you’re going to the UK, especially, don’t hesitate to interact with the locals. You can ask for time, or location or something in the shops, just to get a grasp of the language.
If I can summarize the tips, try to immerse ourselves with the language and its environment. From watching their entertainment (also to learn their culture!), to actively practise speaking (especially if you meet a native!). Mistakes are humane, that’s where we’re going to learn from as well–so don’t be afraid of making mistakes!
By the way, did you practise speaking English at home? Good news for you is, we have this Quick Speak To Spark online session so you can get your speech checked by Engliven’s professional teachers in the fields you need. Click the image below for more information.
British Expressions and Slang
Rather than wondering when all this lockdown ends, let’s have a look at several interesting expressions that we can highlight from the Instagram live, such as:
- GOBSMACKED: This means “so surprised that you cannot speak.” In Indonesian, it pertains to “terkesima“.
- SHUT THE FRONT DOOR: This is another word to tell people to shut up in English. Kalo misalnya mau nyuruh orang “diam” dalam bahasa Inggris bisa nih pakai slang ini.
- BLIMEY: You can say blimey if you’re surprised, which is more into impressed. It is equivalent to “astaga” though in Indonesian, or “oh my” in English.
- MARDY: This is a British slang for “moody,” in which in Indonesian we can also say as “sikap yang berubah-ubah“.
- ON MY LARRY: This means “on our own” in English. In Indonesian, we might say “secara mandiri“.
- BLOODY HELL: This is equivalent to “what the hell,” “what the heck,” in English, or actually “what just happened” in a more polite way. The word bloody itself can be used with any adjectives like blody good or bloody awful. Jadi kalo pengen bilang “anjir” atau “anjrit” dalam bahasa Inggris, bisa tuh pakai bloody hell. Disclaimer: don’t say this slang to your elders.
- DUDE = MATE = BRO = DUCK = PAL: There are different ways to call your friends (informally) with slight differences, however:
- You can use dude to call your friends informally, like “mate”, usually towards males. However, bro and dude can be interchangeable, and some people also use both to call someone they just met.
- Pal is a lot more unisex, maybe more into younger people.
- Bro is for a closer friend (for male, to a female you can use “girl), though), so does duck (yes, literally that duck) for some Brits in the northern side.
- I’M JUST PULLING YOUR LEG: If you accuse someone on pullin’ your leg, you mean that you believe someone is joking or teasing you by saying something isn’t true.
- LET BYGONES BE BYGONES: This is an English proverb, which means “to allow the unpleasant things that have happened in the past be forgotten”. If you’re looking for “yang sudah berlalu biarlah berlalu” in English, this is a good equivalent.
- BABE = DARLING/DARL: Just like when you say “honey” in English, this is a way to call your loved one(s) more intimately. Jadi, kalau mau memanggil orang tersayangnya “sayang” dalam bahasa Inggris bisa pakai babe atau darling/darl yaa…
Quiz!
- Although many countries have been on lockdown, Indonesia hasn’t imposed a national lockdown but has recently imposed Pembatasan Sosial Berskala Besar (PSBB) in Jakarta, the capital. How do you say PSBB in English?
- Translate this sentence into English: Banyak di antara kita yang menjadi relawan dalam menangani COVID-19 ini selain tenaga medis.
