Before I came to United States I was taught at school British English. Our teacher used to tell us that the only proper English is the British English. She totally refused American English as possible language to learn. She said there is too many slang employed.
When I came to United States with my poor British English speaking knowledge I was lost in a maze of totally different words, different pronunciation as well as different spelling. English placement test at SLCC put me into English 990. When my teacher gave me back my paper back, it looked like a red sea of my teacher’s pen trying to correct all of my misspelled word and also words that she marked with a note “Check the dictionary!” I felt horrible. I thought my English spelling was not that bad, however, she absolutely proved the point that I have to start all over again. My two years here, in the U.S. have taught me a totally different language and the British language I had known before is gone. I have noticed that sometimes when I watch a movie that is produced by the British I cannot understand what they are saying.
I found really interesting article or table that shows some of the differences. How would you feel if you have to le-learn “the same” language?
When I came to United States with my poor British English speaking knowledge I was lost in a maze of totally different words, different pronunciation as well as different spelling. English placement test at SLCC put me into English 990. When my teacher gave me back my paper back, it looked like a red sea of my teacher’s pen trying to correct all of my misspelled word and also words that she marked with a note “Check the dictionary!” I felt horrible. I thought my English spelling was not that bad, however, she absolutely proved the point that I have to start all over again. My two years here, in the U.S. have taught me a totally different language and the British language I had known before is gone. I have noticed that sometimes when I watch a movie that is produced by the British I cannot understand what they are saying.
I found really interesting article or table that shows some of the differences. How would you feel if you have to le-learn “the same” language?
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