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British English or American English?



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Muke

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It's just a simple question: Which one do you prefer? Be it because of its spelling, pronounciation or whatever. Really wanna discuss about this!

Personally, I like AE more. I'm used to it. The spelling is better imo (theater vs theatre. color vs colour.) and I like the pronounciation more. Don't really know what else to say, heh.
 

Noir

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Well, I mean, I prefer British English, but that's because it's the one I was raised on, and use in every day life.
 

Magnus

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British English. Australian English gets an honourable mention!
 

Spem

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American English. It's easier to understand what they're saying (Because of the pronunciation, I think).
 

kirabook

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I have no idea. I'm american but mix the two up a lot.
And of course, I'm a typical lady that finds different accents from mine attractive, so an... English? accent is quite nice.
 

BufferAqua

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Both are easy to comprehend.

(Of course, I grew up with Jamaican broken English and American English but w/e.)
 

VoidGear.

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Hard to say. Some things are better in british but I guess overall I prefer AE.
 

hemmoheikkinen

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The good old fashioned ralli englanti, rally English of course: [video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oy1AS41ecHk[/video]

In a more serious note I am not too sure. I probably mix these two a lot without knowing it.
 

Chuman

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American English. Stop adding u's to words where they don't belong.
 

Absent

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I can barely understand Americans so British English is out of the question. I mean if life had subtitles then I might consider it.
 

Sephiroth0812

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American English. Stop adding u's to words where they don't belong.

Yea, lol, except that all the words with the "extra" u's were there first and the "lazy" Americans just scratched them away, possibly also in a deliberate attempt to distance and differentiate themselves from their former colonial masters after the war of independence.

I've been raised on the British English (which was a standard in Germany back when I went to school, I don't know if this is still the case) but in everyday writing and use I've noticed that I often mix the two variants up although I'm aware someone should probably not do that.

Besides the extra-u issue in some words there are also some distinct different words though as i.e. a strict user of British English would never call his/her abode an apartment, it is a flat.
The automated cabin with which you can move between different heights in a house is not an elevator, it is a lift.
The glass in front of a car through which one looks while driving is not a windshield, it is a windscreen.

There are many more of such examples and at least I personally tend to use some of these interchangeably without even consciously noticing it.

So I haven't really a preference when it comes to written correspondence, although in actual spoken interaction I tend to believe that the American pronunciation is simply more widespread and better known worldwide nowadays.

I remember one of my English Teachers used to say (in an ironic tone of course) that British English tends to be spoken by people with a higher education, nobility, intellectuals and snobs while American English is more for the mob, common people, thugs and crooked or immoral business sharks.

Of course these are totally cliché in every way...maybe these "observations" are leftovers from old times where the British, especially the British nobility, were still freshly sour about Washington successfully liberating the colonies?
 

Kounelli

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When I was younger I liked using British English just cause that's the kind we studied in English class in Greece, but now that I have had primarily American education, it's just more natural for me to use that. So I prefer American.
 

Muke

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I've been raised on the British English (which was a standard in Germany back when I went to school, I don't know if this is still the case) but in everyday writing and use I've noticed that I often mix the two variants up although I'm aware someone should probably not do that.
I know you're talking about Germany, but that's not the case in Austria anymore. Just wanted to say, heh
 

Magnus

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Yea, lol, except that all the words with the "extra" u's were there first and the "lazy" Americans just scratched them away, possibly also in a deliberate attempt to distance and differentiate themselves from their former colonial masters after the war of independence.

I've been raised on the British English (which was a standard in Germany back when I went to school, I don't know if this is still the case) but in everyday writing and use I've noticed that I often mix the two variants up although I'm aware someone should probably not do that.

Besides the extra-u issue in some words there are also some distinct different words though as i.e. a strict user of British English would never call his/her abode an apartment, it is a flat.
The automated cabin with which you can move between different heights in a house is not an elevator, it is a lift.
The glass in front of a car through which one looks while driving is not a windshield, it is a windscreen.

There are many more of such examples and at least I personally tend to use some of these interchangeably without even consciously noticing it.

So I haven't really a preference when it comes to written correspondence, although in actual spoken interaction I tend to believe that the American pronunciation is simply more widespread and better known worldwide nowadays.

I remember one of my English Teachers used to say (in an ironic tone of course) that British English tends to be spoken by people with a higher education, nobility, intellectuals and snobs while American English is more for the mob, common people, thugs and crooked or immoral business sharks.

Of course these are totally cliché in every way...maybe these "observations" are leftovers from old times where the British, especially the British nobility, were still freshly sour about Washington successfully liberating the colonies?

Another big difference is -ise/-ize (eg capitalise vs. capitalize). The former being BE and the latter being AE.

Canadian English tends to follow BE spelling, but obviously has pronunciation closer to AE.
 

Grizzly

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Being that I'm an American writer, I tend to prefer American English. I have studied and read up on British English though, and I have to say one of the most fascinating things in other languages is the slang they use. In my opinion British English's slang is one of the most characteristic features of the way they speak and write English.
 

VoidGear.

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Yea, lol, except that all the words with the "extra" u's were there first and the "lazy" Americans just scratched them away, possibly also in a deliberate attempt to distance and differentiate themselves from their former colonial masters after the war of independence.

I've been raised on the British English (which was a standard in Germany back when I went to school, I don't know if this is still the case) but in everyday writing and use I've noticed that I often mix the two variants up although I'm aware someone should probably not do that.

Besides the extra-u issue in some words there are also some distinct different words though as i.e. a strict user of British English would never call his/her abode an apartment, it is a flat.
The automated cabin with which you can move between different heights in a house is not an elevator, it is a lift.
The glass in front of a car through which one looks while driving is not a windshield, it is a windscreen.

There are many more of such examples and at least I personally tend to use some of these interchangeably without even consciously noticing it.

So I haven't really a preference when it comes to written correspondence, although in actual spoken interaction I tend to believe that the American pronunciation is simply more widespread and better known worldwide nowadays.

I remember one of my English Teachers used to say (in an ironic tone of course) that British English tends to be spoken by people with a higher education, nobility, intellectuals and snobs while American English is more for the mob, common people, thugs and crooked or immoral business sharks.

Of course these are totally cliché in every way...maybe these "observations" are leftovers from old times where the British, especially the British nobility, were still freshly sour about Washington successfully liberating the colonies?

(Sorry for quoting the whole post , I'm on my phone.)

I think it depends on the school form. I was raised on British English from classes 4-9 and American English from class 10-12 so I kinda learned both I guess. I'm also a mixer, though. I often find myself throwing in British words although I had been using American English before that.

I also just prefer some words over others. I prefer lift over elevator because COME ON ELEVATOR AND ESCALATOR? THAT'S LAME but sometimes you have to watch out, too. There can be such a gigantic difference to words like "cheese", so you should always consider whom you're talking to.

Edit: Cheese omg lmfao I love this forum. I meant f ag. Sorry but this once I need it spilled out. xD
 
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