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Is it acceptable to use British English in United States??

Is British English acceptable in United States?

  • Yes

    Votes: 100 59.9%

  • No

    Votes: 21 12.6%

  • Sometimes

    Votes: 20 12.0%

  • I do not know what British English is.

    Votes: 7 4.2%

  • Why?

    Votes: 19 11.4%
  • Total voters
    167
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K

kabunaru

Guest
Original poster
Is it acceptable or not acceptable to use British English in United States? Do other people think you spell "wrong" or something like that?
I am just wondering
Same thing for American English in Britain and Australia as well?

Let's have a nice discussion.
 
no offense but such an ignorant question

the US has so many demographics that no one language is the right one

tell me to what american english you comparing to? southern, western, bostonian? seriously

not to mention there is a huge spansih speaking population in the US that dont speak english

so yes, its perfectly fine
 
I think it's a perfectly valid question.

Based on my experience, the answer is usually yes (it's very well tolerated). For some words (e.g. gray vs. grey) I doubt most Americans know which spelling is which, but in other cases (e.g. rumour) it would definitely disclose your nationality.

In every day culture it's completely tolerated, however, in american school students are expected to spell words according to the american spelling (when spelling is of particular issue).
 
I usually spell British, but know very few actual phrases, etc, etc. I prefer it, to be honest. My dad's English so I picked up a bit from him.
 
kabunaru said:
And I have heard some people getting marked down wrong on essay papers in United States for using British English.
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That would depend largely on the grade level and teacher. In elementary (primary) school students would certainly be marked down for using the british english on a spelling test (for example), but a high school teacher may not care if a student uses the word "colour" in an essay.

I fail to see the justification, however. Why would an American use British spelling (or vice versa).
 
I think it's a sign of good manners to speak or write in the language of the country that you're in. I'm British, but if I'm talking about a friend in the US's mum, for instance, I would refer to them as their "mom", because to them, it's their mom.

Similarly, if I was from Paris, but was in Quebec, I'd understand that you speak French Canadian, or if I spoke Spanish, I'd understand that you speak American Spanish in South America.

I think it's just part of fitting in and being part of the country you live in. I don't think that people should be ostracised for speaking their own language in a different country, but for me, I would always try and respect the country I live in or visit by doing that.
 
Even though I have nothing against American English but I really prefer these spellings the most of all:
Theatre over Theater
Centre over Center
Oestrogen over Estrogen (this one does not even start with the same letter).

Humour: Even my spell checker on my computer says the 2nd word on each list is wrong. 😱
 

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I think Lau just dissed us ignorant Americans when we travel abroad. 😀

*Speaks American English to everybody ... louder since they don't seem to understand it 😛 *
 
One of my closest friends, whom I went to college with, used to use it all the time in class and would get mixed results. Either the professor wouldn't mind or would mark the paper, usually with no points taken off though. She was born and raised in Hong Kong but also lived in the U.K during her teenage years so I don't know what specific type of "British" English that would be called.

OT, I will say that being around her my drunken/foul language is light-years ahead of where it used to be. 😀
 
iShater said:
*Speaks American English to everybody ... louder since they don't seem to understand it 😛 *
Click to expand...
+1, but generally my reason for doing that is that it's a great way to get people to smile. Why people are so amused by my southern accent is beyond me. 🙂
 
iShater said:
I think Lau just dissed us ignorant Americans when we travel abroad. 😀

*Speaks American English to everybody ... louder since they don't seem to understand it 😛 *
Click to expand...

Heh! I would always make an attempt to speak the language of a country I visit.

A good friend of mine has moved to the US from the UK, and she spells "color" "colour" now, as part of that.

If I moved from the UK to the US, I would start spelling "colour" "color", even though I prefer "colour", because that's part of what you do when you move to another country.

If I moved to Spain, I'd learn and speak Spanish, you know?
 
EricNau said:
That would depend largely on the grade level and teacher. In elementary (primary) school students would certainly be marked down for using the british english on a spelling test (for example), but a high school teacher may not care if a student uses the word "colour" in an essay.

I fail to see the justification, however. Why would an American use British spelling (or vice versa).
Click to expand...

I think one of the people he's referring to is myself. I'm even in AP English, and my teacher won't take the time to listen and understand that I'm perfectly capable of using both, just that I prefer to use English English. I like the spelling more, and it feels more natural to me (especially having used it for so long). I'm not sure I really have much justification beyond that. I've been marked down in every English class I've taken in high school for spelling the way I do, and I still haven't changed. Eh.
 
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