british or american english?

anne   Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:30 pm GMT
as a filipino, i can say that british english is easier to understand than the americans.
anne   Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:33 pm GMT
iv noticed also that many people wants the british accent as well.

who spoke english originally? or who spoke it first.. am or brit?
pls have your answers whether its a fact or opinion.. thank u
Candy   Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:51 pm GMT
<<who spoke english originally? or who spoke it first.. am or brit?>>
Is that a serious question?? Do you honestly not know? The clue is in the name. English....from England???
Damian in Scotland   Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:37 pm GMT
That question "Who spoke English first?" seems bizarre on the face of it...truthfully it is, but more than just a few people out there in the big wide world really do think that English is an American "invention"!

For confirmation of this check out the British Expats website to find out how many British people either living in, or visiting, some parts of America who are asked the question, put to them in all seriousness: "Do they speak English in England?" or "What Language do they speak in England?"

For Anne: The ENGLISH Language was born in ENGLAND many, many, many, many, many years ago. It is still going strong there....and is now spoken widely in Scotland and Wales and Ireland and the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight and the Western Isles and the Orkneys and Shetlands as well....and even in parts of Glasgow occasionally.
Terry   Wed Dec 07, 2005 12:55 am GMT
<<That question "Who spoke English first?" seems bizarre on the face of it...truthfully it is, but more than just a few people out there in the big wide world really do think that English is an American "invention"! >>

Why would they think that? Is it because America has become so dominant in commerce and politics or is it all those American movies we export?

<<who spoke english originally? or who spoke it first.. am or brit?>>

Maybe, Anne, you can tell me why you weren't sure who spoke English first? I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.

Or anyone else's of course.
Guest   Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:49 am GMT
<<<who spoke english originally? or who spoke it first.. am or brit?>>
Is that a serious question?? Do you honestly not know? The clue is in the name. English....from England??? >

Oh she referring to Americanish not English.
Pete   Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:30 am GMT
>>as a filipino, i can say that british english is easier to understand than the americans.<<

That depends upon which varieties of English you're used to hear. I happen to be more used to English English.

>>iv noticed also that many people wants the british accent as well.<<

Who knows, that may well be true for Europe. You choose to speak the variety of English you feel most comfortable with. Personally, I like to have a mixture of English and Australian English, so I always get people confused with my accent. hehehe
Tetsuo   Wed Dec 07, 2005 3:56 am GMT
Isn't American English spoken more than British English throughout the world?

I'm asking if more people speak American English than British English.

If so, would you condsider American English as the standard English?

As far as I'm concerned, "Japanglish," American English spoken with a heavy Japanese accent, should be the standard English (JUST KIDDING).
Kirk   Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:28 am GMT
<<Isn't American English spoken more than British English throughout the world? >>

According to Wikipedia, as of 1997 about 67% of global native speakers of English were Americans, 6% were Canadians, 4.5% were Australians, 17% were British, and the rest are "other." To see the chart go here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language

However, that's not necessarily indicative of percentages of what forms of English nonnatives learn. One thing to remember about English is that it's a pluricentric language, meaning there's no one standard for everyone. Some nonnatives will choose to model their speech off of one variety and some choose another. It depends on many factors, not the least of which are who you'll primarily be interacting with as well as esthetic considerations. Everyone has their varying preferences, needs and background.
Tetsuo   Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:55 am GMT
Kirk, thanks for the good info.

The website says that English is not "an official language in the United States, but the official language of many member states."

It's really strange and hard to accept as a fact that some states in the U.S. have no official language.
mary anne   Wed Dec 07, 2005 4:59 am GMT
thanks to all of u..

thanks kirk for this info..
>>According to Wikipedia, as of 1997 about 67% of global native speakers of English were Americans, 6% were Canadians, 4.5% were Australians, 17% were British, and the rest are "other." <<

see!! 67% of native english speakers were americans! that answers why i was confused.
mary anne   Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:08 am GMT
strange that here in the philippines we have so many dialects. and in usa with so many states doesnt have their own language

though they dont have their own, its like english language originate from them... but not actually.
Kirk   Wed Dec 07, 2005 5:29 am GMT
<<strange that here in the philippines we have so many dialects. and in usa with so many states doesnt have their own language >>

The US as a whole has not been inhabited long enough by English speakers to have the kind of regional variation where large groups of people cannot understand other large groups of people. However, linguistic research has shown that regional patterns/accents have been emerging in places which had not been marked by a specific regional accent in the past (because they were too newly settled to have any consistent picture as to what a typical accent would be like in the given area). For instance, within the past 10-15 years linguists have started to pay attention to emerging dialects in places like California and the Pacific Northwest, and 30-40 years ago linguists first started noticing the emergence of regional patterns in the Northern Cities/Great Lakes areas. As time goes on, these patterns will continue to emerge and grow stronger.
Travis   Wed Dec 07, 2005 6:21 am GMT
>>though they dont have their own, its like english language originate from them... but not actually.<<

One note, though, is that the English dialects that do exist in the US are not an offshoot of the current English English, but rather both English English and North American English today have a common ancestor in the English of the 1600s, from which both differ relatively equally, albeit in different manners. Hence, one cannot speak of NAE as simply as a variation upon the English English of today, but rather a set of dialects which exists alongside it which is just as much representative of the historical forms in use as it.
Brennus   Wed Dec 07, 2005 7:20 am GMT
Anne,

Re: "as a filipino, i can say that british english is easier to understand than the americans."

Maybe so but I think that you're in the minority. American English is actually simpler than British English both grammatically and phonetically just as Mexican Spanish is from Castillian or even South American Spanish. Cuturally too, it's easier to be an American than and Englishman. There is a lot more tradition and education involved in becoming an Englishman.