Point to ponder…
…
What do you mean? :roll:
Before I start, I must sigh with a sense of the inevitable tribulation I must now endure as I am about to respond with someone whom uses the laughing emoticon to back up his position. But anyway here goes … .
Kitosdad:
Are you sure you didn’t, in fact, just get back from Narnia?
Did you say something as idiotic and absurd as ‘Most speakers around the world are unaware of American English?’ I hope to god you are not a EFL teacher because your students are going to be seriously damaged by your bizarre world view – either that or they are taking you about as seriously as they do learning the useless Geordie specific vocabulary you would undoubtedly be wasting their time teaching to them.
First of all – I am sorry to hear you had to go to Filidelfia. Despite my defense of the phonetically anglicized spellings prevalent in American English – I am not either American nor, by any stretch of imagination, pro-American. I do however, recognize cultural imperialism and arrogance when I see it and I call it out for what it is – juvenile bigotry. Secondly, I said … ‘where a choice exists,” with regards to phonetically correct spelling – not that all words should be spelled phonetically! That is all I said. How do you infer that to mean that I said all words should be spelled phonetically? Can you explain that? I think you know as well as anyone that you were just trying to score a cheap shot. I have taught 100s of EFL learners and I have always found they prefer words to be as phonetically correct as possible. English is, after all, one the most unphonetic languages in the world – not a single letter is pronounced the same in every usage. Why deliberately complicate things further when there is a choice not to?
If you feel you need to continue to use archaic French spellings while writing in English – do so. I would never be so arrogant as to correct you or force another system on you – so don’t do it to me or anyone else! When you wrote Philadelphia as Filidelfia you immediately branded yourself as illogical in rhetoric and more or less a child in debate. And please don’t use CAPS to shout your point – if you can’t argue your position rationally, please spare us the tirade.
Now, … let’s take a look at your next intellectually infantile display of what could only be narrow-minded nationalism ‘Americans have bastardized English’. The ignorant arrogance of such a statement would be laughable if it weren’t so sad. Of course, this obviously stems from the same arrogance that leads you to assume you can go around the internet correcting the way other people [have correctly] spelled a word or make unfounded generalizations about what students around the world know and want to learn.
People speak and sometimes spell the English language differently and this is true everywhere in the world. As long as the style is correct, you can leave them alone. I wonder though? Are you as angry with the rest of the English-speaking world as you are with the Americans? What about Australians with program over programme – have they also bastardized English? How about Canadians with tire over tyre? New Zealanders with math over maths? South Africans with mom over mum? Or the Irish with whiskey over whisky? I’m afraid to ask what you would think of other English speaking countries like India or the Philippines?
Fortunately, as the world comes together to communicate using English as the global lingua franca more and more everyday, irrelevant localized opinions likes yours don’t matter – and they really haven’t since the end of WW 2 anyway. You are a prime example of a dogmatic cultural imperialist and fortunately, you are a quickly vanishing breed. The modern world has no time for your petty concerns about why British is the only English in the world. We have moved on.
You should study the evolution of spellings in English and you should accept that language changes KD – it evolves. Like the way German spoken in England by the Saxons and Angles has evolved into modern English. Consider this as a more factual statement – the English have bastardized German. Or how about the British have bastardized French. Americans have certainly not ‘bastardized English’ – they simply made it more English and less French. In fact, if you are an English teacher you can thank the Americans for your livelihood because without them the influence of the English language (as Bill Bryson pointed out in his study Mother Tongue), would have an international importance slightly above that of Portuguese and far less than Spanish and even French). I guess that would make India, England’s Brazil. Imagine that KD, you wouldn’t be so arrogant then would you? Now be a good boy and say thank you to America for your initially preserving and then enhancing the status of your mother tongue around the world, and, if you are an English teacher, thank America for your food, your shelter, your transportation, your holidays, everything you own including and the computer and internet you use to insult them (both American inventions btw).
Remember, just because the same word is spelled differently does not amount to a bastardization any more than Austrian Deutsch is a bastardization of Swiss or Bavarian Deutsch – it’s a variant and it’s a language. Live and let live KD.
English is the international language and you should try to comprehend the fact if, as you say, American English was ‘bastardized’ or perhaps, simplified, then that happened because American English is the natural result of speakers of many different languages (including British, Irish, French, Spanish, Native American, African, Asian and of course many millions of Germans) coming together and using one common language in one place to communicate – like a precursor to the global world we live in today.
Today there are two standards of English (American and British) along with increasingly countless other dialects and varieties. Richard Burtchell, editor Emeritus of your own beloved Oxford English dictionary has said: American English is the dominant form of English internationally. Why did he say that KD? Is it because American English doesn’t exist and students around the world are totally unaware of its existence? Hmm, perhaps they think Americans speak French – even though French spellings are far more common in British English. Is this were I should insert the laughing emoticon KD?
With regards to the statement Richard Burtchell made about American English being the dominant form around the world. I am more concerned about making more English accessible to EFL learners so that English remains the world’s leading language. But there is a danger as there are already more non-native speakers of English in the world than native speakers now and what is really needed (instead of petty squabbling over how to spell ‘color’) is a union of the best parts of both standards in an effort to hold it together as the world takes the language away from both America and Britain. After all, if you think Americans bastardized the way you like to see English written – imagine what could happen to it with billions more using it and changing it as they see fit – and they would have every right to make changes as they observe that native speakers can’t agree on unified spellings.
Wow, you could talk underwater.
Anyway, having got that off your chest, you might be pleased to know that I totally agree with you. I just love winding Americans up and watching them gooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!.
Let a little humour into your life my friend. I find it helps greatly.
At 70, as you so rightly say, I am a dying breed.
As a Brit who has been around for a mighty long time, I’ve seen many changes in my language, none of which has gladdened my heart.
If I HAD been a teacher then I probably would have been intelligent enough to accept that change is inevitable, and that language is a living entity and it is ever-evolving. But I am not, so I’ve never given it enough thought beyond resentment.
OK, maybe I am wrong to see it that way, but I’m an individual, and fortunately for the majority, I will probably fall into the category of; " There’s always one bastard who will argue."
As my Teacher said to my Grandmother many moons ago;
" Your Grandson marches to the beat of a different drum. " That’s me I suppose.
Sorry if I get up your nose, but I’m sticking around for a while yet. ( I hope. )
Take it easy, and do " Have a nice day."
Kitos. 
Hi I just wonder why you call the language in America for English? Well they have many words in common- It’s called American language. read more here www.amaricanlanguage.org
You can learn and listen to English there too as they have language labs.
If you want to practise your speaking skills you have to go to Great Britain, New Zeeland some countries in Africa for exemple.
/Maria
I don’t care about American spellings and American words it’s the pronounciation I don’t like and the Boston accent is the worst.
/Maria
Hi Maria,
Some people say American language - others say American English, which I think is far more correct as America has speakers of many different languages living there. The official term for written English is SEAE (Standard Edited American English).
Regarding accents, your last post was nothing more than stating a personal preference; the same as saying something like ‘Swedish food is the worst’. I would never write a post like that because, while I may personally feel that Swedish food is boring and flavorless, that is only my preference, many others must like it a lot or it wouldn’t exist. It’s just a personal opinion and while it may be the worst to you - that does make it the worst to others. You need to qualify that statement with something like, ‘in my opinion’ or ‘to my ears’.
But really, the Boston accent is very like the British in that it is R-less as well. You should try not to judge people by their accents. I know it’s hard, sometimes I still I instinctively cringe when I hear certain southern American or an east London accent. I guess it’s not the accent so much as the bad grammar that bothers me. However, I have known lovely nice people with those accents and their speech had very little to do with their personality.
Perhaps your opinion of Boston accents is because of someone you have known, in which case I would also caution you against judging entire communities of people based on a bad experience with one or two of them.
Maybe you could tell us what it is about the Boston accent which you find so unappealing?
Richard
Americans in the northern Midwest (generally) pronounce vowels in the Scandinavian/German mode:
A = A (take)
I = I (why)
E = E (me)
O = O (no)
U = U (you)
… it is somewhat nasal but at least they (we…) don’t add other vowels to those we’re pronouncing. The northern Midwesterners pronounce vowels like Germans, Scandies and Spaniards do: hard, straight and true.
If you watch American TV you’re likely to hear the Californian bastardization of vowels – they are all rounded/blunted:
A = eh
E = ih
I = aw’ee
O = eh’oo
U = yeew
It disgusts me!
So please pronounce vowels the hard/straight way so you don’t sound like a damn Valley Girl or an anchor on CNN.
I grew up in the midwest, Chicago area, but without the typical Chicago accent. I have been living in Germany for over a year.
I do not understand Prezbucky’s term “Scandinavian/German MODE”, but In German language the vowels are NOT pronounced the way he/she posted with the exception of “O” and “U” although in German pronunciation the mouth does not close (like a kiss) at the end of those vowels producing a dipthong as it does in English. Instead
German A= a like in sofa
short E= e like in met
long E= ay like in day
short I= i like in fit
long I= ee like in tree
short U= like u in out
“A” is only pronounced like Prezbucky posted when it has an umlaut:
Ä= a like in take
I can’t really make heads or tails out of that description of what one might hear on American TV, especially without distinguishing between long and short vowels. But in my opinion the most obvious mispronounciation in the midwestern accent is the use of the shwa, the “uh” sound for the vowel of choice.
Hi,
UK and American Enligsh are different in the ponunciation of words, expressions and in many words too, should i make a choice and focus in learning just one, but i want badly to master both of them, would you please help me.
THANKS
Helo… I am Dedi from Indonesia I would like to ask about.What the diffrent Brtish and American English
There are lots of differences - too many to list… but they are not so different that speakers of one do not usually understand the other.
Yeah correct Beeesneees I think I should prefer 1 , I have been learning English for 8 years but I need to talk more and more to Improve my pronounciation
KITOS ROCKS!!!
British English has always been more sophisticated!
Nice battle! If I lived in the English speaking world I would participate.
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Where is that guy called jamie now… Does he still think that way or he got out from cowshid…
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