|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Ask for help > can I go to the toilet
can I go to the toilet
|
jarek2011
|
can I go to the toilet
|
|
I need to pick up your brains again. My friend from America said that it was inappropraite to ask "Can/ may I go to the toilet" as it sound very gross to an American ear. Instead, he suggested asking: "Can/ may I go to the bathroom/ restroom?".
I have always taught my studets that the question "Can/ may I go to the toilet?" sounds fine - was I wrong? Or maybe it is one of the many differences between American and British English? |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
|
|
|
xikillax
|
|
I have been always taught to say �Can/may I go to the toilet? � so, that �s what I teach! But if you are and American English Speaker they do not say the same since they don �t use the word toilet (usually). They usually say bathroom, restroom or john. So, for them it is better to say, can I go to the restroom? So, it �s up to you depending on the version you use and the variety of English you teach with! |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
foose1
|
|
I wouldn �t wash my hands in a toilet. It sounds gross. Here in Thailand everyone is taught, "may I go to the toilet." I just say, "please no swimming." It is just an American and British thing that irked me when I first started teaching English here in Thailand. No problem, I can live with it. Just remind who you are teaching that Americans use, restroom/bathroom. It is funny that I never heard the word toilet used when I visited the UK so many times before. John |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
IbuLulu
|
|
I believe there is also a difference in that in American homes, the toilet is located in the bathroom (not so here in Australia, which surprised an American visitor to my home) - so bathroom and toilet are different places for us but possibly not for Americans. And yes, my American colleagues have also said that there is some taboo around the word toilet, it �s not considered very polite apparently, but very normal here in Australia to refer to the toilet without embarassment. |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
ueslteacher
|
|
I teach my ss "May I go out?" and the going to the restroom is just asumed. Sophia |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
GIOVANNI
|
|
I teach my students to ask � �May I please go to the washroom or restroom? � � It �s ok to use � �toilet � � informally among friends, but I wouldn �t use it in a classroom.
|
14 May 2012
|
|
|
cunliffe
|
|
�Can I go to the toilet? � is pretty standard in England. |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
Suenios
|
|
I am very curious Ibululu. Where do you have your toilet?
|
14 May 2012
|
|
|
diddy2703
|
|
it �s funny, because this week I showed an american movie to my ss and they said "bathroom" in it, referring to the toilet, and i had to explain it to them. In france, we can have WC in the bathroom, but it �s usually a separate room in the house, so the bathroom for my ss referred more to the shower and bath tub... And I spent some time in england, it �s standard to say "can i go to the toilet?" i think the only time i heard somebody ask me to go to the bathroom was because they really needed a shower after drinking too much ^^ |
14 May 2012
|
|
|
almaz
|
|
This is from Wikipedia:
By the way, did you know that the first person to patent a design for a flush toilet was Alexander Cummings?
|
14 May 2012
|
|
1
2
Next >
|
