Pen pals in United States

The first thing that may trip you up is the date at the top of the letter. Americans write the month before the day, so 4/7 is the seventh of April, not the fourth of July. Temperatures come in Fahrenheit, distances in miles and heights in feet and inches. None of this needs translating in a letter, but it is worth knowing before you panic about a pen pal enjoying a "nice 70-degree day".

One country, many time zones

The United States is big enough that your pen pal's afternoon depends entirely on where they live. The mainland alone spans four time zones, with Alaska and Hawaii further behind. Someone in Maine and someone in Arizona live in different climates, eat different regional food and may have very little in common day to day beyond the currency. Winter can mean snowdrifts in Minnesota and shorts weather in southern Florida. Most of the country is in the northern hemisphere's usual pattern of hot summers and colder winters, so if you live south of the equator your seasons will be flipped.

Distances shape daily life too. Outside the larger cities, many people drive almost everywhere, and teenagers in some areas learn to drive earlier than in much of Europe. In places like New York, Chicago or San Francisco, public transport is part of normal life.

Films and television give many people a picture of the US as either huge cities or identical suburbs. In reality there are small farming towns, tribal nations, mountain communities and coastal fishing villages, and your pen pal's life may look nothing like what you have seen on screen. Let them describe it in their own words.

How the year runs

School usually starts in late August or early September and finishes in late May or June, though each district sets its own calendar. The long summer break is when many students work part-time jobs, go to camp or travel to see relatives.

A few moments come up again and again in American letters:

• Thanksgiving, on the fourth Thursday of November, is a family meal and one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
• Independence Day on 4 July means fireworks, barbecues and parades.
• Halloween on 31 October is not a public holiday, but costumes and trick-or-treating are a big deal in many neighbourhoods.

Many families also mark Christmas, Hanukkah, Lunar New Year, Eid, Diwali and other occasions, depending on their background. It is a good thing to ask about rather than assume.

Language

English is the language of everyday life almost everywhere, and Spanish is widely spoken, especially in the South-west, Florida, Texas and large cities. Plenty of Americans grow up speaking another language at home as well. If you are learning English, an American pen pal can help with casual phrasing and slang that textbooks miss; if you are learning Spanish, do not assume they speak it, but some will happily swap. Our language exchange guide covers how to set that up fairly.

Good first questions

• What does your state or region have that people elsewhere in the country do not know about?
• How do you get to school or work, and how long does it take?
• Which holiday is the biggest one in your household?
• What is a dish your family makes that you would call typical of where you live?