Here, we’ll talk about how English evolved in the USA, and what some of the obvious differences are between UK and US English.
Sometime attributed to Winston Churchill, the words in the caption refer to Britain and the USA. In the 250 years since the US became an independent nation, the way they use English has
changed and developed. And so has the usage in the UK.
Some things are obvious. Spelling for instance. The USA went through a partial spelling reform in the 19th century. Now colour is spelled with a “u” in Britain, Australia, New Zealand and India: but not in the USA, where they spell it “color”. And a British “surprise” is an American “surprize”. If you are writing a document on a PC, always choose the variant of English that will best suit your readers, and remember to set the spell-checker on the right one.
Differences in the way some words are used may be less obvious to the nonnative English reader. For example, in the UK the word “pavement” is the place at the side of a road where people walk. In the US “pavement” is the road surface, and “sidewalk” is where people move on foot. There are hundreds such differences. You just have to learn to avoid misunderstandings as you gain experience in using English.
Now, on to Australia
In writing there’s really nothing to distinguish the UK and Australia. Grammar, spellings and style are the same. But the spoken language- now that’s another story!
Australians use lots more shortened forms of nouns, and unique slang words than you would hear in the UK. A British “afternoon” would be an Aussie “arvo”. A can of beer in the UK would be a “tinny” in Australia. And when UK students go off to University, an Aussie goes off to “Uni”. This last example has now migrated to the UK, probably through the medium of some popular TV series made in Australia, and sold to the UK. But there are hundreds more. Here’s a link to an Aussie website with a comprehensive list of real Australian slang. http://www.koalanet.com.au/australian-slang.html
To UK ears there’s something rather exciting about the Australian accent; it’s immediately recognisable, and much more interesting than the UK’s various regional accents. And Australians have a more direct style than you’ll hear in the UK.
If you are off to Australia, don’t worry about accents or the words they use- you’ll soon understand what’s going on, and you’ll most likely have a wonderful experience in a great country.
So we’ve looked at English in the US and Australia. Now for a rapidly emerging economic superpower, where English is one of the mother tongues of hundreds of millions of people. Let’s go to India. (Or let’s talk to one of the thousands of Indian expats working in Indonesia!)
Britain originally introduced the language to India, but Indian English has evolved and developed as one of the most vibrant varieties in use today.
In print, for example in one of India’s English-language newspapers, the language looks slightly old-fashioned to British eyes, but when spoken it’s a rich new blend of English and wholly Indian words and expressions. You’ll certainly encounter “Yaar” for example, as in “Hi Yaar, how are you?” It’s an informal word for “friend”, or “mate”.
Finally, a mention of numbers. India uses an ancient system where 100,000 is called a “lakh”, and 10,000,000 is a “crore”. If you saw the movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, you’ll have heard these terms used towards the end of the quiz.
If you are going to live and work in India you’ll need good English. But gradually you’ll come to believe that Indian English is one of the wonders of its culture!