Do Americans lose to Britons in English competency?

@Shuimo   Thu Aug 27, 2009 8:47 pm GMT
Bear in mind also that you may not be a competent judge of competence in English.

Ex. You say [it should be assumed that both Americans and Britons be equally competent in using English as a vehicle for communication].

If you took [are] after [Britons] as a mistake, you would be wrong.
A comment   Fri Aug 28, 2009 6:38 pm GMT
>>It's also possible that a much greater portion of the US population is illiterate, and doesn't participate on internet forums. We keep hearing how the typical US high school graduate can't read their diploma, and there are lots of people who never graduate high school at all.

Perhaps we're comparing the top 50% of the US population with the top 80% of the UK population when we look at internet postings. If only 50% of the UK population posted, perhaps you'd get a truer picture of relatiev language skills?<<

Since the US has a (slightly) higher Internet penetration rate than the UK, I don't think this hypothesis is tenable at all.
@@   Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:05 pm GMT
<<Since the US has a (slightly) higher Internet penetration rate than the UK, I don't think this hypothesis is tenable at all. >>

But what about the relative participation rate in forums like this one??
Another comment...   Fri Aug 28, 2009 7:29 pm GMT
<<But what about the relative participation rate in forums like this one??>>

Why would the participation rate be different? I'm not aware of any data concerning participation rate on Internet forums broken down by country. Unless you can provide that, we'll have to go by the more roundabout Internet penetration rate.
K. t.   Sat Aug 29, 2009 6:47 am GMT
What is standard English? I'm not British, but my American English was good enough for two British (English, actually) bosses.

Occasionally, I will get that very odd thought-the thought that I don't speak the mother tongue as the mother tongue is spoken in GB, but
there is nothing I can do about it.
The Observer   Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:31 am GMT
I learnt a long time ago that both our school systems are far worse off than we've been led to believe, as in witnessing it firsthand, mind you.

Whether English children command the English language better than American children (or any other child that are a native English speaker for that matter) is something I can't really tell, I don't know, I know that the linguistic skills amongst our children has plummeted.

We can all see it.

Lastly

It's understood that we as a human species have far more urgent matters at hand, of course, Genocide by Warlords, Climate Change, fire that can come from the sky, ashes that may follow...

Oh, and the fecking French!!


:)
blanc   Sat Aug 29, 2009 11:36 am GMT
<<It's understood that we as a human species have far more urgent matters at hand, of course, Genocide by Warlords, Climate Change, fire that can come from the sky, ashes that may follow...

Oh, and the fecking French!!
>>


When will people realise you can't solve problems without education. No matter what the idiotic education ministers say, by teaching kids school is all about FUN then you will solve even less problems. Kids will enter the real world and see that it actually isn't as fun as they were led to believe and won't know what to do, so they will go log onto Facebook and write about lolz instead. And yes, speaking and being literate in one's own language correctly is central to a proper education.

But I think that that is actually the aim. You mentioned climate change? Well, the propaganda is working a dream precisely because people are such naive unquestioning liberals these days.... (by the way, I'm not denying the science, I'm denouncing the hysteria and the media brainwashing)
The Observer   Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:26 pm GMT
<< by teaching kids school is all about FUN then you will solve even less problems.>>

The conclusion you've drawn is both rational and logical but unfortunately the understanding following it, a far from pleasant one.

hm,

I hope you caught the sarcasm in that last part of my previous post, I regret having omitted to include the Swine Flu (in urgent matters at hand) it would have been the icing on the cake, sort of.

Mind you,

I've been told we'll be facing a pandemic in the near future, a global killer and all that.

I know.

It is getting tiresome with the fear mongering, it’s wearing people down.


Take care.
Amabo   Mon Aug 31, 2009 3:19 pm GMT
What do you mean by either "competency" or "command" anyway?

Without defining these words in terms of language, how can you discuss them?
The Observer   Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:41 pm GMT
<<What do you mean by either "competency" or "command" anyway?>>

I suppose linguistic command requires linguistic competency and that linguistic competency results in linguistic command.

They are not mutually exclusive.
Hans   Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:47 am GMT
How could anyone ever entertain the thought of Americans being anywhere nearly as competent at utilizing English than the British? Even at their worst the British are by far more competent speakers of English than Americans could ever be when at their best.
Damian Fleet Hampshire   Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:32 am GMT
That's quite a sweeping statement to make, Hans. As a British lad myself I would have to dispute that last comment, and I think I've done so before in this Forum in a discussion on this very issue.

Just how would you define your interpretation of "competence", anyway? I hope it has nothing to do with "accent" as this would be irrelevant. It's possible to speak English in a very competent manner but in an accent that would be ear gratingly horrible to some people.
Uriel   Thu Sep 10, 2009 1:14 am GMT
<<How could anyone ever entertain the thought of Americans being anywhere nearly as competent at utilizing English than the British?>>

Well, because we're speaking the same language, maybe? And it's pretty much the same language wherever you go.

<<Even at their worst the British are by far more competent speakers of English than Americans could ever be when at their best. >>

And you base this on what, exactly?