Differences between American and British English podcast Hello and welcome to this podcast brought to you by That's English!, the Spanish Ministry of Education's official distance learning English course. To find out more about That's English! go to www.thatsenglish.com or contact your local Official School of Languages. Kate: Hi Drew! How are you? Drew: I'm fine thanks, Kate. How about you? Kate: Oh, I'm really busy. I'm proofreading a book about playing the piano. Drew: Really? Well, that shouldn't be too difficult for you. You play the piano, don't you? Kate: Yes, well, just a little. The problem is that the book has been written by a British author and now the publisher's going to distribute it on the American market, so I'm having to change all the names of the notes, which is really tedious. Drew: Really? I don't play any instrument so I didn't know you used different names for the musical notes. Can you give me an example? Kate: Yes, in the States you refer to the notes as if they were fractions. For example, what is for you a half note, we call a minim; your quarter note is called a crotchet in British English, your eighth note, a quaver etc. Drew: Wow! I see. I must bear that in mind the next time I look at the differences between American and British English with my students. Kate: Hmmm ... I imagine that it can be a bit confusing for them. Drew: Well, yeah, but I try to make it as simple as possible. Kate: And how do you that? Drew: Well, I don't really agree with the idea that America and Britain are "two nations divided by a common language." I don't think there are really that many significant differences between American and British English. At the end of the day, if you learn with a British English speaker, you won't have any difficulty understanding an American and vice versa. Kate: So what do you teach in your class? Drew: Well, I point out the differences in the spelling of certain words so that they don't mix them up. The golden rule is to be consistent. You really must either use one or the other. Kate: So, you mean spelling words like colour or flavour with "our" in British English and "or" in American English. Drew: Exactly. Kate: Or centre, which is written with "re" in British English and "er" in American English. Drew: Right. Then you have words like analyse or organise which end in "se" in British English and "ze" in American English. Kate: Or even zed e, as I would say. Drew: Hah! Hah! Yeah, that's right. Kate: So, tell me Drew, why do these differences in spelling exist? Drew: Well, we can thank a guy called Noah Webster for that. In 1783 he published The American Spelling Book, otherwise known as the Blue Black Speller, which was to become a bible for English teachers in American schools for the following century. Webster thought words should be written as they were pronounced, and as he was also an active supporter of American nationalism, it was a way of differentiating American English from the English used by the British colonialists. Kate: So it wasn't just a tool for language teaching, but was also a way of making a political statement. Drew: That's right. Kate: What else do you teach your students? Drew: Well, an important difference between British and American English is the use of the present perfect and the past simple tenses. As you know, the present perfect is used for actions that start in the past and continue into the present or have an effect on the present. Well, in American English the present perfect isn't used as much as it is in British English. So you, as a British English speaker, would say: I can't find my keys. Have you seen them anywhere? but I would say: I can't find my keys. Did you see them anywhere? In British English you use the present perfect where we tend to us the past simple. Kate: I see. Drew: And this affects the way we use words like already, just or yet. In British English you say: I'm not hungry because I've just had lunch, but in American English we say: I'm not hungry because I just had lunch. Kate: Right. Drew: I also point out that American speakers usually change shall for should, when we ask somebody for advice. So we say: Which bus should we take? not Which bus shall we take? And we don't use needn't for don't need to. Kate: So when we say, for example: You needn't hurry, you say You don't need to hurry. Drew: Correct! And another important difference is that British English speakers always use can't to say that they believe something is improbable: for example, you would say: He hasn't sent the report. He can't have finished it, whereas we sometimes use must not in this case. So we may say: He hasn't sent the report. He must not have finished it. Kate: So there are quite a few differences, really. Drew: Well, as regards verb tenses there are more, such as a few differences in the past simple and past participle of certain verbs like burned and burnt, spelled and spelt or dreamed and dreamt, where American English speakers tend to use the regular verb ending. And, of course, we use gotten instead of got. So we say, for example: Your Spanish has gotten much better. Kate: And we say Your Spanish has got much better. And how do you teach all the differences in vocabulary between American and British English? Drew: Well, I usually point them out as we go along. You know, if we are talking about food, for instance, I'll tell them that in British English a cookie is a biscuit, an eggplant is an aubergine or that French fries are chips but potato chips are crisps. Kate: Yes, that one's a bit confusing. Drew: In any case, students are often familiar with the most common differences. You know, elevator and lift, apartment and flat, vacation and holiday etc. I also point out how we use some prepositions differently like on the weekend instead of at the weekend, or how British English speakers use different from and different to whereas we say different from or different than. Kate: So if I say: The writer's second book was very different from or different to his first novel... Drew: I would say: The writer's second book was different from or different than his first novel. And I also point out how we say take a shower or take a vacation or take a break... Kate: Where we say have a shower, have a holiday or have a break, which is what I think we should have now!! Drew: I totally agree. Great minds think alike! Let's go for a coffee! Drew: We hope you have found this podcast interesting and helpful. At the end of the transcript you will find a glossary of words and terms that are different in British and American English. Glossary: British English American English aeroplane airplane aubergine eggplant biscuit cookie bonnet (of a car) hood boot (of a car) trunk car park parking lot chemist drugstore chips French fries cinema the movies cot crib cotton wool absorbent cotton courgette zucchini crisps potato chips crotchet quarter note current account checking account double cream heavy cream draughts checkers dressing gown bathrobe dual carriageway divided highway dummy (for a baby) pacifier dustbin garbage can earth (electrical) ground estate car station wagon first floor second floor flat apartment flyover overpass football soccer garden yard ground floor first floor holiday vacation ice lolly Popsicle jumper sweater junior school elementary school lift elevator lorry truck maize corn minim half note mobile phone cell phone motorway expressway / highway nappy (for a baby) diaper number plate license plate off-licence liquor store paracetamol acetaminophen pavement sidewalk pedestrian crossing crosswalk petrol gas / gasoline plain chocolate dark chocolate postbox mailbox postcode zip code power point electrical outlet pram stroller public school private school quaver eighth note queue line railway railroad recorded delivery certified mail reverse the charges call collect ring road beltway roundabout traffic circle, rotary rubber eraser semibreve whole note starter appetizer state school public school sweet candy takeaway takeout terrace house row house trading estate industrial park trainers sneakers trousers pants underground subway vest undershirt veterinary surgeon veterinarian waistcoat vest wardrobe closet white coffee coffee with cream wholemeal bread wholewheat bread windscreen windshield zip zipper We hope you have enjoyed this podcast, brought to you by That's English! 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