British English, American English: how similar? (vs., deals, learners)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think from communicating with people around the world people have a lot of resentment towards American English. or Americanized words.. you wouldn't believe how many crybabies (mostly British) you'd attract just by saying the word "Soccer" or use Imperial measuring units.
There is no such thing as 'American English', its just 'English', just because you can't spell 'some' words properly doesn't make it a different language! . There is also no such thing as Australian English - if you think there is then perhaps you could repeat your post but this time using 'English English' and then again using 'Australian English'? It looks to me like EVERY word you used is just 'English' (including the term soccer which is actually an 'English English' word).
It's like with Swiss German vs. German German, or European Portuguese vs Brazilian Portuguese...
There may be the odd slang word, there may be a different accent but it is exactly the same language, If American English is a different language then I ask you to 'translate' your sentence from English to 'American English', I would like to see the difference.
There may be the odd slang word, there may be a different accent but it is exactly the same language, If American English is a different language then I ask you to 'translate' your sentence from English to 'American English', I would like to see the difference.
I guess it refers mostly to pronunciation and spelling, but also to vocabulary and syntax, although differences do not necessarily show in every sentence.
Being a technical translator myself, I can usually tell whether or not a text has been written by an American, and I am not talking about spelling. The American mind works differently then the British mind. And it shows in subtle ways. British minds are tidier and more logical, more German in a way, American minds are sloppier And it shows in the language.
For instance, Americans tend to have a different way of putting sentences, clustering nouns, etc.
The frequency of words of the same meaning being used is also different, which however does not mean of course that the less or more frequently used synonym does not exist in either language.
It's like with abacaxi and ananás for pineapple in Portuguese. Both are known in both Portugal and Brazil, but over here they usually say ananás whereas in Brazil they usually say abacaxi.
Brits often use the longer synonym, whereas Americans prefer shorter words.
Brits usually don't make a comma before and in enumerations.
I guess it refers mostly to pronunciation and spelling, but also to vocabulary and syntax, although differences do not necessarily show in every sentence.
Being a technical translator myself, I can usually tell whether or not a text has been written by an American, and I am not talking about spelling. The American mind works differently then the British mind. And it shows in subtle ways. British minds are tidier and more logical, more German in a way, American minds are sloppier And it shows in the language.
For instance, Americans tend to have a different way of putting sentences, clustering nouns, etc.
The frequency of words of the same meaning being used is also different, which however does not mean of course that the less or more frequently used synonym does not exist in either language.
It's like with abacaxi and ananás for pineapple in Portuguese. Both are known in both Portugal and Brazil, but over here they usually say ananás whereas in Brazil they usually say abacaxi.
Brits often use the longer synonym, whereas Americans prefer shorter words.
Brits usually don't make a comma before and in enumerations.
As a native English speaker who has American friends and who deals with American suppliers every day through my work I can honestly say that although the accents vary the words used 99% of the time are identical - Ive never noticed Americans having a different way of putting sentances but would be interested in some examples if you have some, I think there is just as much difference between a Southern Englishman's English and a northern Englishman's English as there is between my English and an Americans English. I would guess the English spoken by somebody in Texas has subtle differences to the English spoken by somebody in Seattle but whether you are English, American, Australian or Irish - when a non native English speaker learns / speaks English they don't learn American English or English English or Australian English - just English.
Well you wouldn't you aren't part of the English community.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.