Teach English in Yuantan Zhen - Anqing Shi

British english vs American EnglishThe two varieties of english most widely found in print and taught around the world are British and American - it is therefore important for teachers to be aware of the major differences between the two. And while lexical differences are the easiest ones to notice, a knowledge of grammatical and phonetic differences can be useful not only for teachers to be aware of, but also to be able to deal with should they come up in class. Most British people are aware that there are differences between British english (BrE) and American english (AmE); but if you asked what these differences are, the most common reply would refer to spelling of words such as colour/color and some different usages such as elevator/lift. This vastly understates the differences which include differences of grammar, vocabulary, lexical differences, cultural, numerical, and a variety of idiosyncratic differences as well as spellings. Why do these differences exist, why do the British and American spell things differently? The answer lies at the feet of Noah Webster. He believed it was important for America, a new and revolutionary nation, to assert its cultural independence from Britain through language. He wrote the first American spelling, grammar, and reading schoolbooks and the first American dictionary published in 1828. He was also an advocate for spelling reform and thought words should be spelt more like they sound, which is why we now see ?favor? instead of ?favour?, ?theater? instead of ?theatre? and ?sulfur? instead of ?sulphur?. Fortunately other words such as ?wimmen? for ?women? and ?tung? for ?tongue? have not survived. The written forms of both British english and American english as seen in newspapers, magazines and novels varies little in their essential features. Spoken english has been greatly influenced by the widespread availability of American television programmes, films, magazines and books and led to the awareness and even the adoption in many countries of the phrases and sayings of American english. The young are especially influenced by American popular culture. Of itself this isn?t a bad thing and simply shows how the english language is evolving. One of the more subtle differences between British english and American english is the use of tenses. Traditionally, British english uses the Present Perfect tense to talk about something in the recent past. In American english these meanings are expressed using Present Perfect for a fact or Simple Past for an expectation. ?I have just got to my desk.? / ?I just got to my desk.? Both constructs are meaningfully understood on both sides of the Atlantic but readily identify their origins. There are a number of other differences too, for example in BrE it would be ?He plays in a team?, in AmE it is ?He plays on a team?; BrE ?see you at the weekend?, AmE ?see you on the weekend?; BrE ?I think I?ll have a bath?, AmE ?I think I?ll take a bath?. This not to say that one form is right and the other is wrong, on the contrary both forms are valid and contemporary. There are some words and phrases that have totally different meanings in BrE and AmE. Words such as biscuit, a BrE biscuit is a cookie in AmE, an AmE biscuit is a scone in BrE. There are also variations in phrases, consider the response that might be given to ?Take this penknife and go kill the lion?, a user of British english might use the phrase ?No fear!? to indicate that ?there would be no possibility of compliance?, in American english the expression would be ?No way!?; indeed, an American upon hearing ?No fear!? might very well assume a ?bold and fearless acceptance? has been uttered. An important point to make is that different doesn?t mean wrong. Comments such as ?American english is inferior to British english? or ?American english is better than British english? have no solid basis other than the speaker?s opinion. The truth is that no language or regional variety of language is inherently better or worse than another. They are just different. George Bernhard Shaw probably overstated it when he said ?two countries divided by a common language?, but few of us can match his genius.