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British English | ||
Tags: Dialect | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5508 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 1 of 29 29 May 2013 at 4:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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Can anyone suggest books (hardcover or paperback) on learning British English?
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| Ogrim Heptaglot Senior Member France Joined 4451 days ago 991 posts - 1896 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, French, Romansh, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Catalan, Latin, Greek, Romanian | Message 2 of 29 29 May 2013 at 5:12pm | IP Logged | ||
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I was intrigued by your question seeing that you are a native (American) English speaker, so I was wondering if you ask for yourself or someone else. I once came across this book but not sure if this is what you are looking for?
Another book that I found useful is The Queen's English. And as for writing British English, well I would simply go for the Cambridge or Oxford dictionaries, or look at the style guide of British media like the BBC, the Guardian or the Times. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5508 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 3 of 29 29 May 2013 at 5:34pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I am a native speaker of American English and I am actually asking for myself. I am
going to school to become a translator and I am thinking of breaking into the European market. Being familiar with British English would make me more valuable as I would be familiar with two major types of English: American and British. I am also considering joining the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) in the UK. So, I am looking to strengthen my knowledge of British English. A friend had recommended some books but I am finding that they are out of print, which is why I am seeking out additional resources. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vogue Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 4066 days ago 109 posts - 181 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish Studies: Ukrainian | Message 4 of 29 29 May 2013 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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I feel like a book might be overkill. I'm an American working with a British organization, and I often have to
write things in British English. It's not really very different at all, and you could get the biggest benefit just by making friends with an English person. Read a UK edition of a book, and set your spell check to British English (which will catch a majority of the spelling mistakes between the two languages). It's really not that different! Basically make sure you add u's. Flavor > Flavour. Z's are almost always S's in ize words (also fun note they say 'zed' for 'zee') realize > realise (I actually believe this only applies to words of Greek origin, it doesn't apply to words like capsize). There are many 'er' to 're' shifts Theater > Theatre There are some L - LL words in both languages. There are more, more obscure rules, but you can find them all online. There's some minor differences in vocabulary. To name a few: stroller > pram trunk > boot eggplant > aubergine Zucchini > courgette ....etc. I'm not a translator so maybe it matters more, but this seems doable without any additional resources. I'm 100% functional in British English with just making sure I have my spell check to British English (which is usually not needed anyways). Also.. English people think it's hilarious that we call "rocket" arugula. Edited by vogue on 29 May 2013 at 6:27pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Belle700 Senior Member United States Joined 5508 days ago 128 posts - 143 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 5 of 29 29 May 2013 at 6:36pm | IP Logged | ||
Very good advice. Thank you! I did end up buying a book "The Queen's English and how to use it" but I really do think you have some excellent guidance here. I also found an online "converter" that changes British English to American and back, so that is great for catching spelling mistakes. All this along with spell-check and some British friends, I should be all set. Thanks again. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4640 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 6 of 29 29 May 2013 at 7:25pm | IP Logged | ||
We also find it hilarious that you don't pronounce the "h" in "herb". :-) If reading articles on the Guardian website be careful. I was reading it the other day, and even though I had selected the "UK" option, I found myself reading an article with distinctly US spellings, e.g. "labor" for "labour". Edited by montmorency on 29 May 2013 at 11:28pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4942 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 7 of 29 29 May 2013 at 8:46pm | IP Logged | ||
Depending on what type of translation, it could indeed matter (and greatly). Try translating a legal document (from another EU state, for example) destined for use in the British court system. You won't get very far with just setting your spell check to BE. Our legal systems and terminology are quite different. I'm sure there are other translation specializations that also differ quite a bit, but I'm familiar enough with our legal differences to know that it takes a fair amount of extra training. R. == 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6251 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 8 of 29 29 May 2013 at 9:22pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are more vocabulary differences than you might expect. See List of words having different meanings in American and British English.
Aside from that, social conventions, cultural references, legal systems, etc are more different than you might assume. Depending on the type of translation you're doing, this could be almost irrelevant, or critically important. You'd be fine translating most technical material (assuming you understand it), probably ok with literature, in trouble with translating ads, and in need of years of study for legal material. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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