What's the cost?

Someone sent me a lovely message about my blog over the weekend; a nice man from California. I hope he reads this and knows who I am talking about. I don’t want to publish his name without consent.

I’ve not replied to his email, though, as I wanted to answer his questions in this blog as many other readers may also be interested in the answers. Again, I hope he doesn’t mind.

In reference to whether British English is superior to American English, I would beg to differ. Historically, American English is closest to the original dialects that existed in the UK way back when King Alfred was on the throne. A long time ago.

English is also a bastardised language. We borrow words from other languages and make them our own. We’ve done this for thousands of years and there is no sign of stopping as far as I can see. There are a number of books you might like to read about this, such as The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg or for those looking for something much more in-depth, try Steven Pinker’s, Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language.

I can attest that both of these books are a good read, even though you may feel the subject matter quite dry.

The second question I want to answer today is the cost of living in London.

In short, it’s expensive. If you’re an American wanting to move over here, the first thing to consider is the exchange rate. Good old George has not done well with the American economy; consequently, the dollar sucks on the world markets and is worth next to nothing in the UK. Sorry, but that’s the truth of it.

I’d say that, if you weren’t working and needed to live at a fairly good standard of living, you’d probably need at least £25,000 per year, which equates to about $45,000. Per year. If you don’t want to work, that’s a tidy sum to have saved for your retirement years. Certainly more than I’ll have at that stage of my life.

I’d recommend living outside of London, but within striking distance. That way it’s cheaper, but you get the nightlife of London on your doorstep. Sort of. Even so, the cost of living in the UK is high, generally. So, unless you have a big pot of cash to bring over with you, that you don’t mind seeing dwindle as soon as you change it to our currency, come on over. Even if you don’t have that amount of cash, why not visit, do some research while you’re here and take it from there.

I hope that this advice helps. The man from CA, get in touch if you want more info. The rest of you, well, you can ask, too.

purplesimon out...