Adjusting to life in the UK: A South African’s Tale of Language, Culture and Work Adventures

As a South African (or a “Saffa”, as you British folk might say) freshly immigrated to the UK, it’s been a wild ride over the past year and a bit. Back home, I worked as a motion graphics designer for Ogilvy. Leaving behind friends, family and familiarity was tough, but this move has already brought me some amazing adventures – with plenty more to come!

I thought moving out here wouldn’t be that different, because we all speak English, right? Well… it turns out we don’t all speak quite the same English.

?Communication Challenges

As a South African, we do have quite a few words in common (both agreeing that the American version is wrong). For instance, we both know the boot of a car is where the spare tyre belongs (not the “trunk”), and we agree that a shopping trolley is for groceries (not a “cart”).

Some words, however, have wildly different meanings. Here in the UK, the red/orange/green lights on the road are called “traffic lights”, but in South Africa, we call them robots (a far superior term, if you ask me!). A lollipop back home is called a sucker, and Blu Tack is what we call Presstick (because you press it onto a surface, and then stick things to it – that makes way more sense, don’t you think?).

My favourite word is the word “pants”. Early on, my colleagues and I were talking about the weather (how very British) and I smugly said that choosing not to wear pants that day was a great decision given the unusual heat. My colleague Joe quietly turned around and informed me that pants over here means “underwear” rather than trousers. Cue my embarrassment.

Diversity and Belonging

Coming from the Rainbow Nation, I was worried about working in an environment that might lack the diversity I’m used to. I’m bilingual, which is fairly typical in SA, where many people speak three or more languages, thanks to our eleven official languages and rich cultural mix.

I was very pleasantly surprised that, in my first few months at Sassy+, I’ve met colleagues from across the globe- Brazil, Canada, Italy, Portugal, Bulgaria, and so many more. It’s really inspiring to work alongside people with such a wide array of cultures, experiences and perspectives, all contributing to the awesome work we do.

Work culture

Honestly, there aren’t many differences when it comes to work ethic between our two countries. It’s always motivating to work with such driven, passionate, and creative people -or, as we say in SA, “dis lekker”.

In our edit suite, we embody the values of Ubuntu – a South African philosophy meaning “I am what I am, because of who we all are”. ?We all work together against tight deadlines and mounting projects, but we rely on and respect each other. And, of course, we always find time for a good laugh, which is just as important.

Final Thoughts

All in all, moving to a new country for work is always a challenge. The quirks of British lingo, navigating public transport and getting used to those baffling self-service terminals can feel overwhelming at first. But everything becomes easier with a welcoming, diverse and all-round awesome group of work colleagues who are always there to support me – and laugh about my lack of “pants”.

?