This is our second week hosting a soccer coach for the Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp. It is one of the most rewarding experiences and tons of fun getting to know someone from another country and sharing a week of our American life with them. Last week we hosted an Irish lad named Cian (pronounced Kee-an). This week, a Brit named Lawrence.

I’ve been observing our guests and really listening to how they speak so I can flavor my dialogue with authentic bits of dialect and word usage. Although not set in Great Britain, my novel has a handful of characters from Scotland, Ireland and England.

Here’s a wee bit of what I’ve picked up:

• Cheers can mean thanks or good-bye.
• Something that’s really good is brilliant or class.
• If I call you on the phone, I ring you.
• Instead of putting garbage in the trash, you put rubbish in the bin.
• When you ask how someone is, you can say how are you keeping?
• If you are going somewhere right away, you are going straight away.
• Friends are mates.
• Little =’s wee, among other things.

Cheers…