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US vs UK English for learners | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| mick33 Senior Member United States Joined 5928 days ago 1335 posts - 1632 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Finnish Studies: Thai, Polish, Afrikaans, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish | Message 25 of 136 04 May 2009 at 8:41am | IP Logged | ||||||||
One more thing; I think learning Received Pronunciation British is best for Europeans as it's understood almost everywhere. Edited by mick33 on 04 May 2009 at 8:50am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5842 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 26 of 136 04 May 2009 at 9:52am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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It's been very interesting to read the opionions and information that people have about this.
My personal opinions is that people in Europe should aim for British pronounciation unless there is a good reason why not to. (such as "I am addicted to 10 US TV shows..") Likewise it makes sense that South and Central Americans go for US pronounciation. US vs UK Pronounciation is probably not a top priority of Asians learning English (must be hard work!). But Japan, Korea and many others have a lot more dealings with the US and I think they prefer that pronounciation. On the other hand, I think most of the ex commonwealth countries in Asia prefers UK English. In Singapore a hybrid between the two is used. Just when you think the spelling is "right" they start talking about elevators and candy.... Perhaps there are areas in the Pacific that learn Australian English! I once heard an Indonesian talk unmistakably Oz. A friend of mine from Zimbabwe is hilarious; she switches (quite unconsciously) betwen a 1950s type of RP English, and South African! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7160 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 27 of 136 04 May 2009 at 4:14pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
One thing Rout, do you also realize that in British English, "3rd floor" refers to the "4th floor" in North America? The convention in British English differs from what is used in North American English. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Rout Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5716 days ago 326 posts - 417 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish Studies: Hindi | Message 28 of 136 05 May 2009 at 1:04am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Any decent course would explain that from the get go so as not to limit the learner to one country. =) This post is about accent; I have one more comment. I think the American 'R' is one the hardest sounds to produce for most foreigners. If that is the case you might be better off sticking with RP. I think it's hilarious that I'm the only person that's suggesting learning an accent not of my country. Bob from UK "RP is surely the best!" Tom from Montana "I cringe when I hear a British accent!" (fictional characters, BTW). Maybe you should just suck it up and go down under mate. =P Edited by Rout on 05 May 2009 at 1:05am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Dark_Sunshine Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5769 days ago 340 posts - 357 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 29 of 136 05 May 2009 at 9:31am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I meant that RP would be the best choice out of all of the British accents! Accents really don't bother me at all, although if I'm very honest, it bugs me a little when I hear foreigners using American vocabulary. But they are bigger than us- so I'll get over it :-)
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| WFU03 Groupie Norway Joined 6679 days ago 62 posts - 70 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian, French | Message 30 of 136 05 May 2009 at 6:58pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Just to add to the "broadcast" or "neutral" American English accent idea...
I think American accents are all converging toward this point fairly quickly. With the advent of television and mass media, American children get a tremendous amount of exposure to this accent. If the child's parents or friends have a different accent, the neutral accent is the "normal" one that they hear on TV, so they will attempt to adopt it and, as is often the case with kids, mock the other child because s/he is weird. From my own background, I distinctly remember moving from Tennessee to South Carolina when I was young. Both my parents have southern accents and I did too when I moved. After about six months, my accent changed to the broadcast/neutral/midwestern version. I distinctly remember being made fun of for pronouncing the word "naked" as "nekkid" (a fairly normal southern pronunciation). It didn't take long before I switched to a long 'a'. On the what should learners of English pick idea... I think American English has less variety than British English. I also think American speakers tend to pronounce the whole word more consistently and don't clip the end off as much. Additionally, there are many more TV shows and movies available in American than British, so there are more resources to practice. That being said, I don't think there's much difference in picking either one. If you want to live/work/travel in the UK, I'd advise you to pick British. If you want to live/work/travel in the US or Canada, pick American. Other that, pick whichever one seems easier to you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Olekander Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5887 days ago 122 posts - 136 votes Speaks: English*, French, Russian | Message 31 of 136 05 May 2009 at 9:07pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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My only problem with the American accent is that I can't take it seriously.
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| WFU03 Groupie Norway Joined 6679 days ago 62 posts - 70 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Norwegian, French | Message 32 of 136 05 May 2009 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
That seems like a personal issue that you'll either overcome or never have any Americans take you seriously. For your sake, I hope it's the former. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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