Saturday, November 12, 2011

British and American English

Learning and using the English language can sometimes be frustrating for learners because of the variations between British and American English.  As an American native speaker, I found it quite fascinating to learn about the differences when I came to Europe.  How do you feel about the differences between British and American English as an English learner?  Below you will find a link to an article about which American words and pronunciations British people living in the United States have adopted.  Please read the article and send us your responses to the questions following the link.  Send your answers to tutor@virtualingua.de.  If you're already a student with us, you can do this as a tutored exercise.  If you're new to Virtualingua, test our tutoring for free!

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2011/11/british-and-american-english-0?fsrc=scn%2Ftw%2Fte%2Fbl%2Famericanisationsurvey%3Athe 

1.  Definitely not all differences between British and American English were mentioned in the article.  Do you know some more in vocabulary, pronunciation or grammar?

2.  Do you strictly use one form of English in your speaking and writing?  Do you use British or American English (or a mix) and why?

3.  Are there variations lik this in your native language, either in regions of one country or in different countries where your native language is spoken?


Now here's a little treat for your hard work...a song about "tomaytoes" and "tomahtoes", "potaytoes" and potahtoes".  Enjoy!

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong - Let's Call The Whole Thing Off

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