TEFL Saint George Maine

British english vs. American english (19) There are a wide number of differences between standard British english and standard American english. I had known this was the case, but found out about it firsthand when I was the student in england. I studied abroad for a semester whilst pursing my undergraduate degree, and I found that my tone and diction changed dramatically in order to follow the patterns set by my lecturers and fellow students. For instance, Americans tend to use the word “pants” to mean what British people call “trousers”; I was unaware of this difference until I made the rather embarrassing mistake of asking my roommate where my pants were. She informed me, quite bluntly, that she had nothing to do with my “underthings” (her word) and that she would rather not discuss them. I started laughing and pointed to the trousers I was wearing: “No, Sasha, pants! Have you seen the other pair of pants that look kind of like these?” At this point, she began laughing as well, and I was then told that what I should say was “trousers.” I also realized another difference between British and American english when I went out for the evening meal with some friends of mine from class. I was the last one to order food. I told the waiter, “I want the chicken curry, please.” He looked offended, but wrote down my order and then left. It was then explained to me that I had been rude in saying “I want”; instead, I should have said, “I would like” or “Could I please have.” In the united states, saying “I want [insert food here] is not considered rude if the word “please” is at the end of the sentence. These examples took place in the autumn of 2005. I had forgotten most of them—and others—before last autumn. However, I was quickly reminded of many differences between British and American grammatical structure and syntax when a student who is of mixed parentage (his father is American; his mother is British) enrolled in my class. He had been raised in Cambridge, england. While he did not have a posh, upperclass accent, his phrasing did not always make sense to his classmates. I had to translate. This was fun, most of the time, during class discussions. Trying to describe some British sweets, for instance, left class members alternately asking him to share the next time his mom sent him some and telling him to keep his weird candy away. However, when it came time for him to write essays, I had to continually mark the written differences between American and British spellings, punctuation, and grammar. He could not remember, for instance, that “color” does not have a “u” here or that “sympathize” had to be spelled with a “z”; it was entirely foreign to him. By the end of the second term of english composition, he had learned to write “American style” (his phrase) for the most part. I have heard it said that “America and the United Kingdom are two countries separated by one language,” and I can say I wholeheartedly agree with this comment. Sometimes, I do feel as if I am translating between languages when I move from British to American english. It is fun, but it can be frustrating.