Introducing Rob: Work Trip From London To Poland
A1 English listening practice · British English · Curated for beginners
Why do British speakers say “on holiday” instead of “on vacation”?
British and American English split on a small but very common phrase: time off from work. Britons say “I’m on holiday” (or “I’m on my holidays”). Americans say “I’m on vacation.” The two phrases mean exactly the same thing, but each side often finds the other’s version surprising. The word holiday in British English covers any trip away or paid time off, including a single day. In American English, holiday usually means a public holiday like Christmas or Thanksgiving, not a personal trip.
In this clip, a British journalist named Rob says, “I’m in Poland. I’m not on holiday. I’m here for work.” The phrase on holiday places him squarely in British English from the first sentence.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this A1 English listening practice listening practice?
General English frequency
Spoken English frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s A1 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In British TV and films about travel (The Inbetweeners Movie, Mamma Mia!)
- ▸In British newspapers about summer breaks (The Guardian, The Times)
- ▸In British workplace email out-of-office messages
- ▸In British school terms and family schedules
- ▸In British travel YouTube and BBC travel programs