British-and-American-English

BritishandAmericanEnglishWords,words,wordsBritishandAmericanEnglisharedifferentinmanyways.Thefirstandmostobviouswayisinthevocabulary.TherearehundredsofdifferentwordswhicharenotusedontheothersideoftheAtlantic,orwhichareusedwithadifferentmeaning.Someofthesewordsarewellknown---Americansdriveautomobilesdownfreewaysandfillupwithgas.Asatourist,youwillneedtousetheundergroundinLondonorthesubwayinNewYork,ormaybeyouwillprefertogetaroundthetownbytaxi(British)orcab(American).ChipsorFrenchfries?Butotherwordsandexpressionsarenotsowellknown.Americansuseaflashlight,whilefortheBritish,it'satorch.TheBritishqueueup;Americansstandinline.Sometimesthesamewordhasaslightlydifferentmeaning,whichcanbeconfusing.Chips,forexample,arepiecesofhotfriedpotatoinBritain;intheStateschipsareverythinandaresoldinpackets.TheBritishcallthesecrisps.ThechipstheBritishknowandloveareFrenchfriesontheothersideoftheAtlantic.Haveorhavegot?Thereareafewdifferencesingrammar,too.TheBritishsayHaveyougot...?whileAmericanspreferDoyouhave…?AnAmericanmightsayMyfriendjustarrived,butaBritishpersonwouldsayMyfriendhasjustarrived.Prepositions,too,canbedifferent:compareontheteam,ontheweekend(American)withintheteam,attheweekend(British).TheBritishuseprepositionswhileAmericanssometimesomitthem(I'llseeyouMonday,Writemesoon!).Colourorcolor?Theothertwoareasinwhichthetwovarietiesdifferarespellingandpronunciation.Americanspellingseemssimpler:center,colorandprograminsteadofcentre,colourandprogramme.ManyfactorshaveinfluencedAmericanpronunciationsincethefirstsettlersarrivedfourhundredyearsago.Theaccent,whichismostsimilartoBritishEnglish,canbeheardontheEastCoastoftheUS.WhentheIrishwriterGeorgeBernardShawmadethefamousremarkthattheBritishandtheAmericansaretwonationsdividedbyacommonlanguage,hewasobviouslythinkingaboutthedifferences.Butaretheyreallysoimportant?Afterall,thereisprobablyasmuchvariationofpronunciationwithinthetwocountriesasbetweenthem.ALondonerhasmoredifficultyunderstandingaScotsmanfromGlasgowthanunderstandingaNewYorker.TurnontheTV.Someexpertsbelievethatthetwovarietiesaremovingclosertogether.FormorethanacenturycommunicationsacrosstheAtlantichavedevelopedsteadily.Since1980s,withsatelliteTVandtheInternet,ithasbeenpossibletolistentoBritishandAmericanEnglishattheHickofaswitch.Thisnon-stopcommunication,theexpertsthink,hasmadeiteasierforBritishpeopleandAmericanstounderstandeachother.ButithasalsoledtolotsofAmericanwordsandstructurespassingintoBritishEnglish,sothatsomepeoplenowbelievethatBritishEnglishwilldisappear.However,ifyouturnonCNN,theAmericanTVnetwork,youfindnewsreadersandweatherforecastersallspeakingwithdifferentaccents-American,British,Australian,andevenSpanish.Oneofthebest-knownfaces,MonitaRajpal,wasborninHongKong.China,andgrewup,speakingChineseandPunjabi,aswellasEnglish.Thisinternationaldimensionsuggeststhatinthefuture,therearegoingtobemanyEnglishes,notjusttwomainvarieties.ButthemessageisDon'tworry.UsersofEnglishwillallbeabletounderstandeachother---wherevertheyare.1.What’sthemostobviousdifferencebetweenBritishandAmericanEnglish?2.InwhichaspectsaretheAmericanEnglishandBritishEnglishdifferent?3.AmericanEnglishBritishEnglishautomobilefreewaygasundergroundtaxicolorprogramcenterFrenchfries