TEFL Boardman North Carolina

British english vs American english (19) Apart from some of the obvious differences e.g. toilet – restroom, I felt British and American english were not hugely different. That was until I started teaching in japan where the majority of students are taught American english. It soon became apparent that it's more than just vocabulary, but also spelling, grammar, pronunciation, tenses, slang and idioms that are different. In this article we will explore the differences in more detail. Let's start with vocabulary. In written form the variations between British and American english is not that vast, however, in spoken form the differences are much greater. For example, a sentence in British english would read, “A British motorist ran out of petrol on the motorway during a holiday in spain. He managed to get the car to a local petrol station and the car was refilled. A mechanic also checked under the bonnet to see if there were any engine problems before the motorist went on his way.” In American english the same sentence would read, “A British motorist ran out of gas on the highway during a vacation in spain. He managed to get the car to a local gas station and the car was refilled. A mechanic also checked under the hood to see if there were any engine problems before the motorist went on his way.” When it comes to the origins of words and phrases, a British english speaker will generally understand more of the common terms used in American english, such as “elevator (lift)”, “shrimp (prawns)”, potato chips (crisps)” without any problem. This is largely due to the influences from and exposure to American popular culture. However, Native American speakers sometimes have difficulty in understanding common words and phrases associated with British english due to less exposure to British culture. Spelling also has its differences. In British english, words ending in ‘our' that are unstressed usually end in ‘or' in American english but are pronounced the same, such as colour (color), flavour (flavor), honour (honor), neighbour (neighbor). Some other words which are spelt differently but have the same pronunciation include theatre (theater), centre (center), cheque (check), travelling (travelling). Other words have some very minor differences in spelling and the pronunciation is almost the same, such as “airplane (aeroplane)”, ‘aluminum (aluminium)” etc. As mentioned previously in this article, the spoken form has a lot more differences than the written form. The main differences are in the pronunciation and stress of particular words. For example in British english words ending in ‘ary', ‘ery' or ‘ory' the vowel is usually unpronounced whereas in American english the pronunciation sounds like ‘eri'. Vocabulary such as obligatory or military would be pronounced obligatree and militree in British english. In American english the same words would be pronounced obligateri and militeri. Speakers of American english generally use the present perfect tense far less than speakers of British english. In spoken American english its much more common to use the past simple tense as an alternative in situations where the present perfect would usually be used in British english. Some examples of grammar differences: American english - “Can I borrow your CD?” “No, I didn't listen to it yet.” British english – “Can I borrow your CD?” “No, I haven't listened to it yet.” There is also a difference of use with modals and auxiliaries. For example, in British english needn't is often used instead of don't need, e.g. “He needn't come to work today if he's sick.” In American english needn't is very unusual and would use “He doesn't/don't need to come to work today if he's sick.” In British english ‘shall I/we' is often used to ask for advice or opinion, e.g. “Shall we ask her if she wants to sit with us.” In American english ‘shall I/we' is usually replaced with ‘should I/we', e.g. “Should we ask if she wants to sit with us.” Prepositions can also be confusing when teaching the difference between American and British english. In British english ‘at' is used before many time expressions, e.g. at the weekend, at 7 o'clock. In American english the preposition ‘on' is used when talking about the weekend, e.g. “What do you like to do on weekends?” Another example is the word ‘write'. In British english the preposition ‘to' comes before the word ‘write'; however in American english the preposition is not required: British english - “I will write to him everyday.” American english – “I will write him everyday.” When it comes to idioms and slang, there are many differences. In British english people say “All talk and no trousers” to describe someone who talks big but are unable to back it up with actions. In America the same expression is used by the idiom “All hat, no cattle.” Another idiom frequently used in British english is “Money for old rope” which means an easy way to make money. In America the idiom “Dollars for doughnuts” has a similar meaning and describes a sure bet or certainty. Overall, every language whether it be British english or American english have their own regional dialects and use different grammar, expressions, idioms etc, depending on where they are from in that country. For example in Scotland or North england pronunciation is very different from South england and each will have there own slang. In America, it's much the same. For example, a Texan will use different expressions to a New Yorker.