American And British English - Differences In Vocabulary

Taken from an article about American and British English by Manjusha Nambiar

American and British English are very similar. There are, however, a few differences of grammar, vocabulary and usage.

Any more

In British English, any more is usually written as two separate words. In American English, it is often written as one word anymore when it refers to time (= any longer). It usually comes in end position.

She doesn't work in New York anymore.

Around and about

In British English, around and about are both used to refer to movements or positions that are not very clear or definite: 'here and there', 'in lots of places', 'in different parts of', 'somewhere in' and similar ideas.

The children were running around/about everywhere. (GB)

'Where is John?' 'He must be somewhere around/about.' (GB)

In American English, about is not used with this meaning. Americans normally use around.

The children were running around everywhere. (US)

'Where is John?' 'He must be somewhere around.' (US)

Note that in American English, about is mostly used to mean 'approximately'.

There were about fifty people there.

Illnesses

The names of illnesses are usually uncountable in standard British English. The can be used informally before the names of some common illnesses such as the measles, the flu; others have no article.

The words for some minor ailments are countable: e.g. a cold, a sore throat, a headache. However, toothache, earache, stomach-ache and backache are more often uncountable in British English. In American English, these words are generally countable.

Love isn't as bad as toothache. (GB)

Love isn't as bad as a toothache. (US)

I have got backache. (GB)

I have got a backache. (US)

Place names

In British English, the is unusual in the titles of the principal public buildings and organisations of a town.

Oxford University (NOT the Oxford University)

Hull Station (NOT the Hull Station)

Salisbury Cathedral

Birmingham Airport

Bristol Zoo

Manchester City Council

In American English, the is more often used in such cases.

The San Diego Zoo

The Detroit City Council

Holiday and holidays

In British English, the plural holidays is often used for the 'big holiday' of the year. In other cases, British people normally use the singular holiday.

Where are you going for your summer holidays?

Next Monday is a public holiday.

Americans normally use the word vacation. In British English, vacation is mainly used for the periods when universities are not teaching. Holiday is used in American English for a day of publicly observed celebration whether or not people work on it.

Ill and sick

Ill is often used to mean 'unwell' in British English. In American English, ill is unusual except in a formal style. Ill is most common in predicative position.

Peter didn't come because he was ill.

In attributive position many British people prefer to use sick. Sick is also the normal informal American word for 'unwell'.

He spent years looking after his sick father.

He is sick.

Drown

In British English, both active and passive forms of drown can be used to talk about accidental drowning.

He (was) drowned while trying to swim across a river.

In American English, only active forms are used to talk about accidental drowning.

He drowned while trying to swim across a river.

Awake and awaken
The verbs awake and awaken are irregular in British English, but can be regular in American English.

Awake - awoke - awoken (GB/US)

Awake - awaked - awaked (US)

Awaken is regular in both British and American English.

Awaken - awakened - awakened (GB/US)

Bath and bathe

In British English, the verb bath is used to mean 'wash oneself in a bath tub'.

Children have to be made to bath regularly.

The verb bath is not normally used in American English. In an informal style, we usually say have a bath (GB) or take a bath (British and American).

I am feeling hot; I think I should take a bath. (US/GB)

I think I should have a bath. (GB)

Bathe

In British English, bathe can mean 'swim for pleasure'. In American English, bathe is commonly used to mean 'take a bath'.

It is your turn to bath the baby. (GB)

It is your turn to bathe the baby. (US)

I always bathe before I go to bed. (US)

Real

In informal American English, real is often used instead of really before adjectives and adverbs.

That was real nice.

She sings real well.

Sure

Sure is often used to mean certainly in an informal style. This is common in American English.

'Can I borrow your bicycle?' 'Sure.'

Slow

Slow is used as an adverb in road signs, and informally after go and some other verbs especially in American English.

Examples are: go slow, drive slow.

Teaching English to Young Children - Tips for Success

Executive summary about teaching English to children by Deborah Delin

 

If you would like your child to master English as a second language (ESL), don't wait until he starts learning English at school. From birth, play songs in English to your ESL baby. Just hearing the English words is great "ear massage" and the English pronunciation and intonation will become embedded in your child's cognitive awareness. Purchase musical DVD's in English. Children as young as 18 months will enjoy watching the colourful scenes while they effortlessly pick up English vocabulary.

Search for educational television programmes and DVD's in English. Choose those which particularly appeal to your child's taste. Balance your child's viewing between English and native language programmes.

Arrange for this person to speak only English with your child. Arm your "language helper" with a supply of English picture books for reading to your child. There are many free ESL and EFL activities (English as a foreign language) for teaching English to children, especially beginners. 

Choose resources that offer interactive English exercises with voiceovers by native speakers. Start teaching your child to read English as early as possible, especially if your native language is not based on the Latin alphabet. There are many websites which offer free English reading programmes. Research confirms overwhelmingly that the phonics method is the most effective for learning to read English. Your early efforts to introduce him to English as a second language child will benefit your child for the rest of his life!

Other tips: Mastering the Art of Teaching English to Children

English lessons for children can be found online, with readily available lesson plans for teachers to follow. You can find English songs for children to sing and chant in class which make classes lively and exciting for students. There are even many types of English dictionaries online which range from American to British English.

The simple ways of mastering the art of teaching English to children is listed below:

Speak more in English and only English. Pronounce each word clearly. 

Identify the way each child learns, be sensitive to their style. There are different types of learners, if a particular kid learns fast through 'audio'. You can even get interesting English songs for kids from CDs, from the music or book stores. For instance, if your kids like Barney, then get your kids to participate in a Barney sing along.

You can also let your kid mix with kids whom are their age whom are native speakers of the English language. Please keep on checking that your kid is comfortable being around those kids.

HOW TO ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO SPEAK UP?

How Teachers Are Making English Lessons More Exciting

Executive summary about How to Encourage Students to Speak up by Mike Selvon

One of the biggest challenges that educators face is keeping students interested in the work. Adequate preparation time is essential for instructors. For example, when teaching adults, the material should reflect usage in real life situations. Instructors set the tone for the room, so exercises that are light and funny will help the students to feel less self conscious.

Seeing as well as hearing words will help your student to learn English. Teachers should incorporate flash cards and picture dictionaries into their English lessons because it allows the student to associate a visual image with a word. Reading out loud to students is critical in order for them to gain language proficiency. English language teaching facilitators should read out loud in a clear voice and speak slowly.

For particularly difficult words, over enunciate until it becomes clear to the students. Have the students listen closely to how the words are said. The biggest hurdle for teachers is getting students to be excited about the material. In time, you will see that enjoying the learning process does indeed help students to learn faster.

Is Grammar Important?

Are grammar classes important or not?

Students learning English in their home countries usually study grammar (and so do foreign language students in the U.S.) For the same reason, some people - including many American English teachers - do not like grammar classes. Grammar is a set of rules that help you to communicate. Adult students need to study the rules because adults learn languages differently from small children, whose developing brains can absorb the rules of language indirectly. It is important to connect the grammar concepts you learn to your use of English.

IS BUSINESS ENGLISH IMPORTANT?

Why Business English is Important

Executive summary about Business English by Natali Leeds

 It is important to learn Business English if you are going to be successful in another country where English is the primary language, such as Australia, United Kingdom and the United States fro starters. It would also be a great idea to practice writing in business English as well. If your local University offers a course in Business English, it would be a good idea to invest in the class. Reading, writing and speaking English is a great way to start a career.

Here are some key language skills that you must learn to master Business English. Once you have an understanding of English, you have to apply it to Business English.

Business English is very different than speaking regular English, the structure is the same but you have to learn things like properly expressing yourself in a professional manner or maybe making a presentation in your office.

If you are working in the customer service sector, you really have to bone up on the Business English. Most businesses offer training sessions and companies that employ foreigners they offer classes on how to perform the job with the proper business English.

A Brief History of Business English Teaching

What methodologists and teachers consider differentiates Business English from General English has obvious implications on how Business English is taught, along with the dominant approaches in English language teaching at any given time. We can see this by taking a brief look at developments in Business English teaching.

Business skills and application to real-life situations were not generally focused on.

This trend continued during the mid-1970s and 1980s, when Business English teaching followed the move in General English teaching towards a more functional syllabus. From the late 1980s the focus shifted to working on business communication skills. This has profoundly influenced Business English teaching up to the present day in that the focus on Business communication skills forms a major component of most current Business English courses and coursebooks.

Language accuracy is judged in context.

TOEFL Tips for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking Sections

TOEFL Tips for Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking Sections

Executive summary about TOEFL Test by  Aaron K James

The test is referred to as TOEFL. Each university has got its own TOEFL cut-off. Many find it difficult to score high in To elf as their mother tongue is not English and due to regional influence. 

TOEFL READING TIPS

- Most importantly, improve your vocabulary. If you know the meaning of the word, scoring high in this section is a piece of cake
- Get a glimpse of the whole paragraph instead of reading through each sentence thoroughly
- Practice reading topics covering various niches like education, geography, history etc in newspapers and magazines.

TOEFL WRITING TIPS

Also while practicing, see that it is a familiar topic. This technique is referred to as pre writing
- Learn all the punctuation conventions properly before attempting
- Ask your lecturers to evaluate your paragraphs and articles

TOEFL LISTENING TIPS

- Keep watching more English movies. If you are a bit poor at listening, make use of subtitles during the initial stages. You will gradually understand the language flow
- Focus on the basic idea while listening to an article. The main idea is focused at the beginning.
- Make notes of the basic idea and important topics related to the paragraph. You are allowed to take notes during the test
- Frame a summary of the paragraph and note it down
- If nothing works out, make guesses since there are no negative marks!

TOEFL SPEAKING TIPS

- Read one paragraph from newspaper everyday and try to summarize it on your own and speak about it in your style
- Take some random topics and speak about them. Speak about positive as well as negative aspects
- You should be able to frame conclusions for any topic chosen.

TOEFL Preparation - Use Free TOEFL Practice Tests to Increase Your Score

The TOEFL exam measures your college level English abilities. More than 6,000 colleges, government organizations, and businesses accept TOEFL examination scores worldwide. The TOEFL test is delivered in two formats: the TOEFL Internet-based Test (iBT) and the TOEFL Paper-based Test (PBT). The TOEFL test that you're taking will depend on which tests your testing center offers. There are currently greater than 4,300 TOEFL test facilities worldwide.

The TOEFL iBT tests your English aptitude in four areas: reading, listening, speaking and writing. The TOEFL iBT test scores range from 0 to 120. The TOEFL test scores on the Paper-based (PBT) test range from 310 to 677. The range of test scores is between 31 and 68 for the structure/written expression and listening comprehension sections. The raw test scores for each portion are then transformed to the TOEFL test scale range of 310 to 677.

To do well on the TOEFL Test, it's important that you study smart - not hard! Among the best ways to study smart for the TOEFL Exam is to make use of TOEFL Practice Tests. Self-belief is acquired by continually practicing for the TOEFL exam.