Differences between British and American English

 Although it seems that people in the U.S and the U.K. speak the same language, differences in pronunciation and vocabulary may surprise you. What's more, you probably already know that there are plenty of varieties of English, including dialects and differences in accentuation, but did you know that there are almost 1500 millions of English speakers and only 335 millions of them are the native speakers? That simply means that English language became a lingua franca and that you can communicate in it almost all around the world. Among the most popular varieties of English, there are for instance British English (including Irish English), American English and Canadian English, Australian/New Zealand English, India-Pakistan English, and African English (especially as spoken in Republic of South Africa).

Sorry for this too long, boring theoretical introduction... Let's move on to the topic of today's post: differences between English spoken in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. I'm not going to include all of them of course, just want to give you a hint what the main contrast is about.

1. Pronunciation

In British and American English some words are pronounced in a noticeably different way. Most of people will immidiately hear the difference. The most obvious characteristic is the way the letter r is pronounced. In British English, when it comes after a vowel in the same syllable (e.g. car, hard, or market), the r is not pronounced. In American English the r is pronounced. Try to read these words in both of ways: Martha, barely, card, iron, park, turn, March.

There are also some words like Ax (Axe in British) and Defense (Defence in British) which have the same pronunciation but different spelling in both languages.

Short English Pronunciation Lesson.

2. Vocabulary

There are many differences in American and British English vocabulary. Here are 10 examples of words in American English followed by their British English equivalents:

American / British

1.       elevator / lift
2.       garbage / rubbish
3.       vacation / holiday
4.       truck / lorry
5.       sweater / jumper
6.       cookie / biscuit
7.       french fries / chips
8.       line / queue
9.       parking lot / car park
10.       silverware / cutlery

3. Spelling

A majority of the spelling differences between American and British English fall into the following categories:

• Latin-derived spelling
  • -our (British) and -or (American). e.g. colour vs color
  • -re (British) and -er (American). e.g. centre vs center
  • -ce (British) and -se (American). e.g. defence vs defense
• Greek-derived spelling
  • -ise (British) and -ize (American). e.g. centralise vs centralize
  • -yse (British) and -yze (American). e.g. analyse vs analyze
  • -ogue (British) and -og (American). e.g. dialogue vs dialog
  • Simplification of ae and oe in American English. e.g. gynaecology vs gynecology

To conclude and revise the information above, please watch and enjoy this video: 

SOURCES:

Crystal, David (2006). "9 - English worldwide pp. 420-439",

Encyclopædia Britannica

http://learningenglish.voanews.com/

http://learnersdictionary.com/

TASKS: 

1. Find some information about English-based creoles and pidgins. Elaborate on the aspects that have cought your attention.
2. Write your own definition of lingua franca.
3. Discuss in groups of 3-4 people what other differences you know, present it to the rest of your class.
4. Do you prefer American or British English? Why?