Controversial Subjects

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Tyr — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:25:53 GMT

It depends on where the English will be applied.

I always hate it when I hear a Dutchman who has watched too many 'movies' and speaks American English. It just seems wrong and makes me want to get violent with them (like a Brit speaking American English).

However a Filipino who has learned British English would likely be found to just sound silly when he visits America.

I have a strong preference for British English though. Its just more 'correct'. Its also more international and less 'poppy'- you know someone has learned English if they speak British English. With American English there is a bit of a overcloud that they have just watched too many movies.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Yoong Liat — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:05:14 GMT

I agree with CB. We should learn both American and British English. By that I don't mean just the words and their meanings, but also the pronunciations of the words. We should know how the words are pronounced iby the British and Americans. We should also be aware of the difference in usage of the word/s. For example, 'pants' in AmE is 'trousers' in BrE.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Cool Breeze — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:49:26 GMT

When I attended school in the late Middle Ages, I never wondered whether I was taught British or American English. I suppose I was taught both: differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. I find it strange that anyone would like to confine his knowledge of the language to just one variety. Why on earth? And how could that be possible? I have seen him is both British and American! I don't know how it could be possible to learn just one variety as they are so similar, after all. The dialectal differences in Britain are far greater than the differences between British and American English, as I have said before in some other thread.

Brits understand Americans even if they have never been taught American English, and vice versa. If a Finnish teacher of English has spent a lot of time in England or the US, he may be more familiar with one variety and may thus want to emulate British or American pronunciation in his teaching. The students can't help hearing both because all the texts in the books that are used are recorded on CDs by native speakers, who include Brits, Americans, Canadians, Australians and even the occasional Indian. All these nationalities are employed in nationwide listening comprehension tests as well.

When a Finn is enrolled in a university, few of the books on the syllabus are in Finnish unless he studies Finnish Philology or Finnish History or something similar. If he studies social sciences, biology, medicine etc. the majority of the books are in English. In some cases he may be able to choose a book in another language also, usually Swedish, German or French. As a rule, it is safe to say that university studies are not possible if you are unable to understand scientific books written in English. These books may be written by Britons, Americans, Finns, Germans, Spaniards or people representing other nationalities because English is the leading language of science and no university can function properly without English. Some of the visiting lecturers and professors don't speak a word of Finnish!

It seems utterly trivial and futile to me to try to concentrate on just British or American English when one just can't manage with only one variety and the differences are so small.

Cheers

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Yoong Liat — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:16:33 GMT

BrE has been accepting words spelt the AmE way. For example, 'realize' is now accepted as BrE, whereas many years ago, 'realise' is the only version.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

chikei1984 — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:17:26 GMT

Frankly, I prefer British English rather than American English. In my point of view, the former one is formal and traditional. The latter one contains lots of proverb that has enormous local color. Besides, I donât like the conversation speed either, it is too fast.

Therefore, I would choose British English.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Yoong Liat — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:00:46 GMT

I learn BrE, but I think AmE sounds more logical when it comes to the spelling of words. For example, in spelling, 'colour' (BrE) is 'color' in AmE. The 'u' doesn't serve any purpose. It only makes the word harder to spell for those whose spelling is weak. Other words are 'honor' and 'program'.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Yankee — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:21:45 GMT

My experience tells me that the pronunciation that is easiest for an ESL student to understand is simply the one the student has had the most exposure to.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Anonymous — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 10:15:19 GMT

I've done a research on this topic and should say that the main differences are in pronunciation.It is quite easy to copy the American pronunciation, however, British one is more comprehensible for the most of the world.Thus, to me the British pronunciation is preferable.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Jon Salt — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:48:28 GMT

There is always a lot of silly talk when this topic comes up.

As teachers, we should be aware that it is hard for our students to master two varieties of English, even though for native speakers it is quite easy, and there appears to be little difference. However, you do teach a variety, probably the one you use everyday yourself, and if it isn't the variety that the student is going to be tested on or encounter in daily life, it can be a little problematic. As to which variety, that will vary according to situation, but obviously U.S is more likely to be the one the student needs.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:22:04 GMT

It may be useful to think about the next variety of English that is improving and spreading very fast. I am talking about English as an official language used in the European Union. Most of EU documents are being published in English but I feel that this English slightly differs from the British (and even more from the American) English. Lots of foreign words and phrases have been added to the classical English, mostly from Latin and French - like acquis communitaire and many others. On the other hand this form of English uses simplier construction of sentences. This form is so called "EUnglish". I think it is fine - it is becoming a wide-European official language and people can really communicate everywhere. When you try to communicate in classical British ("Royal") English people often say "Don't talk like Shakespeare".
Nevertheless I really like the British English and consider it as the only real English. The other forms are just "communication languages".

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Anonymous — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 23:06:44 GMT

I think the question for this topic was phrased wrong.

You should change it to:

English English VS. American English

It would help you understand the answer better

"american english" is such a peculiar phrase, a complete paradox in so many ways.

In any case there is not much difference between the two, Americanised English tends to have a strong basis of colloqial slurs - based on the strong accents of the first settlers. It tends to be more "rounder" "lazy" and "fluid"

I personally adore the accent found on most american male filmstars of the 1950's - So dignified.

Aside from that I find american accents quite irratating.

It doesnt sound very elegant/sophisticated and lacks clarity/definition.

We have so many strong regional accents in England, is is amazing how none of them filter down to the "standard" English.

Standard English is a very "clean" with a unnaccented sound, it is definetely the best for a learner and will help them to differentiate pronunciation of words more effectiveley.

It is also more respected by employers.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:01:53 GMT

It is a stupid way of talking and people should get shoot for talking like this they should make there own langue

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Mr_Dying — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:29:58 GMT

Daffy Duck wrote:

Mr_Dying wrote:
Most Indonesian news readers use American English. Just a few use British English. I like British English accent though.

Thanks for the inputs, Mr. _Dying.

You are welcome, Daffy Duck.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Daffy Duck — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:37:29 GMT

Mr_Dying wrote:
Most Indonesian news readers use American English. Just a few use British English. I like British English accent though.

Thanks for the inputs, Mr. _Dying.

Re: Poll: British English vs American English

Daffy Duck — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:35:30 GMT

Anonymous wrote:
Well, I have encountered this problem recently. I had been learning english for few years, then I stopped attending courses or lessons, I have been learning at home and watching American TV series and movies.. so I have picked up a lot of vocabulary. So far, so good. Then I realised, when preparing to Cambridge Exam, that I have to "forget" american words and learn british equivalents. Because now I am mixing both.. It's fine by me, as long as people can understand me. Still when passing an exam you need to be consistent, using either american or british english. It's tricky. American english surrounds us everywhere, so we're more familiar with it. On the contrary I just love british accent, even though learning british pronounciation isn't easy.

Nice to hear from you again, Anonymous It's tricky for us teachers, too. We don't even know, if it's just going to be British or American English. Few days ago, I met some students and their parents asked about teachers who can teach Canadian English. Imagine?!