British children 'turn to American English'

[Bella-Angelique]

I am sure once people did not want this language to change and wanted to keep everything as it was.

http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-language.htm

Edited May 29, 2012 by Bella-Angelique

[FLOMBIE]

I'm sorry, but you don't seem to know German very well.

[+OverSword]

BTW, I was kidding of course.

[FLOMBIE]

I know, mate.

[Bella-Angelique]

I'm sorry, but you don't seem to know German very well.

I think universities professors who teach German know it very well. It is their opinions you disagree with, not mine.

I really have no opinions on it, just randomly repeated what I had heard, which on second thought I decided maybe I

should not have.

[J. K.]

As a public school teacher, I am appalled at the language usage I see by our teenagers. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors abound. Additionally, they use text-speak more and more in their writing. It truly makes me wonder what our language will be like in another two generations.

[FLOMBIE]

That professor did not know much, then. German can be hard, soft, commanding or submissive, just like any other language. But its grammar makes it very poetic.

Maybe he learned German from British WWII films. I don't blame people on thinking German would be super harsh if they only know that.

I wish I could whisper you some nice words. You'd see the difference.

Edited May 29, 2012 by FLOMBIE

[Bella-Angelique]

It truly makes me wonder what our language will be like in another two generations.

I see signs of an international form of English emerging that contains favorite words from languages around the planet.

[Mantis914]

Edit: I would also miss all those girls with cute foreign accents!

[Michelle]

Edit: I would also miss all those girls with cute foreign accents!

You haven't traveled around the US have you? Regions have different accents,...so much so that some of them are difficult to understand and it's hard to believe they were born speaking English.

[Oppono Astos]

It's not 'pavement'?

Cyclepath...

[stevewinn]

as long as a language can be understood who cares how it evolves? its only there to provide a function of communication. its estimated 70% of adults in the UK have poor spelling. if a simpler method of spelling /language is evolved and that 70% figure falls to 10% of adults have poor spelling, punctuation ect doesn't that mean the language is evolving in the right direction. language is there to serve us not us to serve language.

doesnt the ability to read jumbled up words prove this? Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

Languages evolve, pronunciations change, spellinf changes.

I still refuse, as a personal point of pride, to write "gaol" as "jail" though unless I have o despite it being phonetically correct the American way, and I will refuse until my dying day to call the last letter of the alphabet"zee". I can see how we've all moved onto saying "loo-ten-ant" rather then "leff-ten-ent", that's how the word is written after all, but converselt "aluminum" is mising a letter sound if said American style "aluminium", there's and "i" here that in ever other iteration of "ium" words is vocalised.

[Andami]

Aluminium is not American. We all say aluminum as well.

I really don't see the big deal with Britons using "American words." Like it matters. If American English becomes the dominant form over there, should any of you care? Language is only there to convey ideas. It should not be constrictive.

[Star of the Sea]

As a public school teacher, I am appalled at the language usage I see by our teenagers. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors abound. Additionally, they use text-speak more and more in their writing. It truly makes me wonder what our language will be like in another two generations.

Totally agree with you J.K. the kids here in the UK (including my own) use texting/Facebook abbreviations in their school work. Parents need to know how badly it affects their writing comprehension. If they go through school with these bad habits in grammar, it then impacts on College and then University. Teachers are fighting a losing battle.

[Arbenol]

"aluminum" is mising a letter sound if said American style "aluminium", there's and "i" here that in ever other iteration of "ium" words is vocalised.

This isn't a mispronunciation, it really is ALUMINUM. And it isn't an Americanism either. It has more to do with Humphrey Davy not being able to make up his mind properly.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/aluminium.htm

Edited May 30, 2012 by Arbenol68

[lightly]

Sure, i guess mass communications of our time are contributing to word swapping . Internet is a big factor?

I don't know much about Olde English .. but modern English English, what with such a long list of invader/occupiers, is already full of words from many many languages. Then it came to the Americas and a melting pot full of more words from native and immigrant languages were absorbed into "English". .. and it's all come down to. . hey .... .. sup?

[little_dreamer]

Languages evolve, pronunciations change, spellinf changes.

.. and I will refuse until my dying day to call the last letter of the alphabet"zee"....

OK, so what is the last letter?

So if you had won the wars in 1776 and 1812, maybe we would be doing things your way, ha ha.

[questionmark]

Sure, i guess mass communications of our time are contributing to word swapping . Internet is a big factor?

I don't know much about Olde English .. but modern English English, what with such a long list of invader/occupiers, is already full of words from many many languages. Then it came to the Americas and a melting pot full of more words from native and immigrant languages were absorbed into "English". .. and it's all come down to. . hey .... .. sup?

It is more a question of fashion. But I don't mind that people use different or new words, that is OK with me. I just mind that the use of language, or better said the writing of it, starts loosing discipline. That just leads to ineffective communications.

[FLOMBIE]

You haven't traveled around the US have you? Regions have different accents,...so much so that some of them are difficult to understand and it's hard to believe they were born speaking English.

Sure, I have! Dialects are natural in any language, in German as well. You should compare a guy from Hamburg, Switzerland and Austria, or simply a guy from the east and the west of Germany. It's as diverse as people speak who are from Houston, Boston or Chicago.But that is not what I meant. I meant accents from Spain, Russia, Korea. Foreign Accents. The way I speak English.

[Farmerboy]

You haven't traveled around the US have you? Regions have different accents,...so much so that some of them are difficult to understand and it's hard to believe they were born speaking English.

You should try travelling around Northern Ireland, the accent changes every few feet down the road

[J. K.]

I find it humorous that, on television shows like "Swamp People" or "American Pickers", they use closed-captioning for some of the Southern speakers, as I have no difficulty understanding them. Conversely, I've never seen closed-captioning used for some New York speakers that I find difficult to understand.

Regarding written language, it is true that a person can become unnecessarily obsessive-compulsive about correct English. However, I do think it could be warranted at times. I want my doctor and my pharmacist to be able to use language properly.

[Old Man Waffles]

i can say cupcake it i want D:

[+and-then]

Languages evolve, pronunciations change, spellinf changes.

I still refuse, as a personal point of pride, to write "gaol" as "jail" though unless I have o despite it being phonetically correct the American way, and I will refuse until my dying day to call the last letter of the alphabet"zee". I can see how we've all moved onto saying "loo-ten-ant" rather then "leff-ten-ent", that's how the word is written after all, but converselt "aluminum" is mising a letter sound if said American style "aluminium", there's and "i" here that in ever other iteration of "ium" words is vocalised.

WoH where exactly does the "eff" sound come from in the British version of "lieutenant"? I've often wondered. I've considered the British version of English to be the more exhaustively correct but some of the pronunciations I just don't understand.

[Mantis914]

I find it humorous that, on television shows like "Swamp People" or "American Pickers", they use closed-captioning for some of the Southern speakers, as I have no difficulty understanding them. Conversely, I've never seen closed-captioning used for some New York speakers that I find difficult to understand.

Regarding written language, it is true that a person can become unnecessarily obsessive-compulsive about correct English. However, I do think it could be warranted at times. I want my doctor and my pharmacist to be able to use language properly.

You're not kidding at that! I find it amusing when TV shows do that and caption when a person with a heavy accent (particularly Southern) is talking like they are speaking another language. I'm right there with you as you may well know living in DFW, there's a lot of NY'ers and Californians that are there and they sometimes sound like they are running a race with their mouth.