Teach English in Xiaying Zhen - Tianjin

British english vs AmericanI find the similarities and differences between British and American english particularly interesting because of my personal situation; I was born and raised in california and my boyfriend grew up on a small island known as the Isle of Man located in the irish Sea. We both speak english, but at times it feels as if we are communicating with someone who speaks another language entirely. The spelling differences are the least difficult to figure out and the sentence tenses are also fairly simple to interpret; it is the vocabulary that I find most troubling, even on the most basic level of crisps vs. chips vs. fries. While visiting the United Kingdom, we spent a sufficient amount of time in England with his friends and there were conversations amongst the group that I barely understood. I began thinking about how difficult it must be as a foreigner to learn english not only because of its spelling tricks and exceptions, but because there are so many variations between all the english speaking countries in the world. Those of us who have been raised in one are prepared with a background that makes deciphering it much easier, but he or she who learned english as a second language in one country and has traveled to another is in for a mighty challenge. While english spelling can be difficult to grasp, the differences between British english and American english is not detrimental to understanding the word or its meaning. The pronunciation of so many sounds and letters vary throughout America and all of the UK that the only standardized way to learn english is the phonetic alphabet. In addition to pronunciation, the most obvious spelling differences are the substitution of ?z? for ?s? and the elimination of the letter ?u? in words that end in ?-our-. In British english, organise and recognise both contain the letter ?s? and favourite and colour both contain a letter ?u?. In American english, the correct spellings would be organize, recognize, favorite and color. While these are noticeable differences, an ESL student should be able to acknowledge that the words are virtually the same. It is also important to know that some letters are referred to by different names. As an American, I say ?zee? and ?aitch? for ?z? and ?h?. In British english it is ?zed? and ?haitch?, which is pronounced with excessive breath. This is only important when one is getting the spelling or pronunciation of a word, but it occurs more frequently than one would think. In addition to spelling variations, another light difference between the two ?Englishes? is the tense usage. The British use the present perfect tense and the Americans keep things in the simple past tense when referring to an event in the past that has affected the current situation. In British english, they would say ?I?ve just eaten lunch?. In American english one would say ?I just ate lunch?. Both are acceptable in American english, but the latter would be frowned upon in British society. The adverb usages of just, yet and already is also common for each language in only those particular tenses. These are all things I have frequently noticed during conversations with my boyfriend, but nothing more so than his use of the word ?got?. In American english, ?got? becomes ?gotten? when converted into the past participle, but British english doesn?t have that word. In America, we could say that ?I?ve gotten them all in the mail? where in British english they would say ?I have got them all in the mail?. ?Got? is utilized when discussing possession in British english where American english typically uses ?have?. ?Have you got any..? or ?I haven?t got any..? are common phrases in British english, but in American one is more likely to hear ?Do you have any..? or ?I don?t have any..?. While these are all challenging, the most difficult to decode is the vocabulary between British and American english. Not only are there different words for the same thing, but there are different things for the same word. It would be impossible to list them all but I found a website (listed below) with an American/english dictionary that could help a new learner decipher between the two. Unfortunately studying up, befriending a local and submersing oneself into the culture is the only way to truly become a master of the all english Languages. Sites used: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/british-american.htm http://www.teflonline.net/tefl-articles/british-english-vs-american-english-57/ http://esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/a/dif_ambrit.htm