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British or American English in Europe | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Jeffers Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4901 days ago 2151 posts - 3960 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German | Message 17 of 34 23 June 2011 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
As an expatriate American, I am in favour of the mid-Atlantic accent. In America they think I sound English, but in England they often think I'm Irish for some reason. I think my accent must be shifting to the east for some reason. You'll notice that my spelling is shifting eastwards as well. (Plus in America you would never begin a sentence with "You'll notice..."). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lootrock Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5744 days ago 18 posts - 21 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Mandarin, Arabic (Egyptian), Russian | Message 18 of 34 24 June 2011 at 7:28am | IP Logged | |||||
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I find it interesting that in Europe and even China from what I've heard that British English is the norm though in fact most speak with a largely american accent with a british pronunciation of certain words. I teach the Mid-Atlantic American accent and this has been my experience across the board. It is very rare that I meet an English learner with a good or even passable English accent. Usually, in this case I'm very impressed because I honestly think a good English accent takes more effort for many people. However, I do meet a lot of people who use british expressions from time to time and it usually just sounds out of place without the accent. I tend to recommend to English learners to just learn american English as it will be easier to pickup maintain with all the heavy american influences and popular media.
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| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5242 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 19 of 34 25 June 2011 at 7:22am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have a friend in Slovakia, she learns both British and American, and because of that, sometimes has a heard time
differentiating between the two. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6574 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 20 of 34 25 June 2011 at 8:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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Honestly, the "British versus American English" divide mostly concerns native speakers. Most learners, in my experience, could care less. My accent is largely American, but since I read and listen to English in both varieties (and more), I use words and sometimes spellings from both. For example, the word "posh" is quite British, but I have no issues using it. And I spell "color" and "honor", but "dialogue" (to the chagrin of my US English spell checker). And when the spirit moves me I might even throw in a Cockney slang. I see no point in trying to keep my English "pure" in one of the varieties.
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| Lootrock Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5744 days ago 18 posts - 21 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Mandarin, Arabic (Egyptian), Russian | Message 21 of 34 25 June 2011 at 9:25am | IP Logged | |||||
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Honestly, when it comes to spelling, I mix british and american despite the fact that I'm american. I use either as I please.
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| Carlos Ignacio Diglot Newbie ChileRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4918 days ago 12 posts - 15 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English Studies: French | Message 22 of 34 25 June 2011 at 1:13pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Wow, I've learnt (learned haha) so much about the real English with this threat, and I
agree with Ari, maybe it's not so important speaking "pure UK English" or "pure US English", and to say nothing of Canadian, Australian, etc. It's all about being understood, and if you really want to pass yourself as a native English speaker, well... it's not so different either as one could think at first, according what Lootrock says:
I'd better go, I've got (haha) an exam in a couple of hours! Edited by Carlos Ignacio on 25 June 2011 at 3:04pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5326 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 23 of 34 12 September 2011 at 9:20am | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with everything you said, with the minor nuance that unfortunately not all teachers accept American English, mine didn't and my daughter's dont. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sunja Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6077 days ago 2020 posts - 2295 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Mandarin | Message 24 of 34 12 September 2011 at 11:33am | IP Logged | |||||
My situation is exactly the same as your friend, steglingo. Here (Germany), the emphasis is on BE 3-6th year then they start doing units with American Eng their 7-9th years. This is balanced out with units about other Eng-speaking countries -- so it's about as fair as it gets. I've discovered that if a student is in gymnasium/lycée they do advanced American studies -- reading authors like T.C. Boyle, which is an impressive fact in and of itself. (School curriculums vary from state to state) My daughter (German-American) is in her 5th year and she speaks American Eng with a cute little German accent^^. she's trying to affect a British accent for her teacher (it's required). She loves it! Edited by Sunja on 13 September 2011 at 9:58am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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