Thread: American or British English?

I just finished reading three novels by P.D. James (British mystery writer) and have to admit that I was continually bothered by unusual grammar and vocab as well as typographic conventions. I kept coming across words that I did not know and was too lazy to look up.

Native American

Once my Russian is at a standard that I can at least communicate reasonably I'll help Russian-speaking people more with English. Right now it would not be very useful for them or for me.

In the meantime I'd recommend people who want to get better at English to listen to BBC Radio 4: Perfect British English pronounciation and interesting programmes.

I think it's generally nicer for European people (including Russians etc) to use British English.

For info: At least in England people seem to find it irritating if non-Brits use strong American accents or typically American words and expressions. Elsewhere in Europe it doesn't matter much; it's more important to speak clearly and not use complicated anglicisms that non-native English speakers don't understand.

When I moved to the UK (from Sweden), I already had a more or less British accent but people could hear that I was a foreigner. However, back then I was using lots of American words. I had picked up those words from TV and travelling outside Europe; So I was constantly corrected, until I started using English words and spelling! Nowadays it is pretty nice to be able to pass myself off as English when I want to..

In business I always find it very unfair that English people can travel elsewhere on the continent and continue to speak their native language while Germans, French, Italians and others have to struggle to copy in the language of the visitors during negotiations or planning meetings.

Originally Posted by chaika

I just finished reading three novels by P.D. James (British mystery writer) and have to admit that I was continually bothered by unusual grammar and vocab as well as typographic conventions. I kept coming across words that I did not know and was too lazy to look up.

Just one point: PD James is a different generation though and an upperclass person. People don't really speak like she writes.

But the same thing happens to me with some American slang and expressions (ocassionally things that Rockzmom writes here - she writes in a very "American" style). Also sometimes with TV or films. I usually ignore it though. I had a boss earlier who was from New York. He loved telling stories from his colourful life and my word, sometimes I had NO IDEA what he was talking about!!

I worked with an American for 3 months once - developing some software. He was senior to me, very nice guy.
After a while I started getting a bit irritated that he was always saying "You're a good girl" - it felt a bit patronizing. I mentioned it to someone who explained that he was probably saying "You're good to go" (=you can go ahead now/this is finished now. This expression is not used in British English.) With his Southern American English it was pretty hard to make out what he was saying at times, that's why I misheard him.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I think of Canada as a funky mix of the best from Britain and the best of North America, with fantastic nature. I have a high view of Canada as you can tell. Plus the English spelling is accurate... Every day I am reminded of American spelling as the spell-checker at work force defaults to US and tries to "correct" my spelling. ...)

If you're interested in hearing a mix of American English and British English, then I suggest listening to someone who speaks with a Trans-Atlantic accent. A very good example is the Anglo-American food critic Lloyd Grossman. I'm not keen on his accent at all.

Originally Posted by Hannah

I am Swedish and I had a brief fling with American English in my teens after ODing on American TV... but it drives British people craaaaazie to hear a European speak mock-American English, so I had to drop it or be constantly teased. :"": Elevator, sidewalk, pantyhose lol....

I must confess I do occasionally find people speak mock-American English a little grating, but then I think: well, they've put the effort into learning my language (and, saved me the effort of learning theirs it must be said!) - so I just accept it and am used to hearing non-Brits speaking speaking AE. Besides, when someone learns English and tries to adopt any particular variant, whether British or American English, it's going to be "mock", for want of a better word ("non-native"), since it involves trying to copy the accent. But I am always pleasantly surprised to hear a good imitation of a British accent.

I always find this a funny question and when it comes up in class I tell my students it's a non-issue as we can understand each other the same (I also find it funny because there are so many British accents and a wide variety of American accents as well). That being said I teach American English as I'm American (makes sense right?), which is the typical non-dialectal accent heard in many films and other forms of media. I do however try to teach vocab for both countries as most resources are British here.

What I've found in Russia is in the past Russian's were interested more in British English and the British accent (whatever one that maybe). However in the last year I've found a stronger backlash against British English and more students have been requesting American teachers. Not sure why the change but seems to be the trend in the last year.

The nice thing about American English is there are some aspects for Russians that are much easier. Americans don't use the present perfect case as much as the British do. Arguably our vocabulary is more international and more similar to the international English that came about in the last few years (hey notice I used past simple not present perfect!). Also there is much easier accent to American English via multimedia. Also our pronunciation is much easier for students to learn. We pronounce our R's as our language has not been Cockneyized. As well as many other letters included in words, what comes to mind is "medcine" and MedIcine" As well as our use of ellipsis and near ellipsis is not as dramatic as most British speakers. These are my opinions as a teacher and from hearing feedback from friends and students.

Again that being said I clearly make a point to use a wide variety of resources and not just British ones for my students and make it clear to point out which accent(s) are being spoken. I always despise the books that include CD's with only one variant.

So my stance it's a non issue. I don't care how much students speak because both are acceptable forms of English, and half the time the students can't tell the difference between the accents anyhow

Originally Posted by ndemeis

We pronounce our R's

AH isn't pronounced heah some times. Read my name. I drive a cah.
"Consonant displacement theory" We send "R" to the Midwest states to use in words like "Warsh" (wash).

Originally Posted by ndemeis

I always find this a funny question and when it comes up in class I tell my students it's a non-issue as we can understand each other

agree, never understood this issue. It's English, the accents may differ but it's 100% understandable.

Originally Posted by capecoddah

Originally Posted by ndemeis

We pronounce our R's

AH isn't pronounced heah some times. Read my name. I drive a cah.
"Consonant displacement theory" We send "R" to the Midwest states to use in words like "Warsh" (wash).

Kind of what I was getting at. (and Boston doesn't count! j/k, lived there but didn't notice the accent much) There is no real English accent. I mean the southern draw accent is closer to original queens English or England several hundred years ago. But like we all know languages evolve and change. English I think more so as it is such an international language now.

Even in England you are starting to see many people stop using the present perfect and adopting the more american version of past simple. What we will have, in my opinion, is a new international english that you are already seeing that shares similarities in all languages. Not to say we will lose our accents and dialects but some new interesting things will come about.

I mean we have more people speaking English as a second language than a first which will change our langauge. Only time will tell whats next.