American vs British

[Marcela]

Okay, I decied not to be lazy anymore and I logged in:)

I think I asked a question about the differences in American English and British English before... Maybe I didn't but I remember I wanted to!

I could never tell what the difference between those two languages was and when I studied English at school and at the University nobody tried to explain it to me. Now, when I've been living in England for 16 months I suddenly realise that there really is a difference! Not only do English people use different words but also have strong British accent. Right now, when I compare those two languages it is just so obvious!
However, my problem is that my whole life I've been studying mixed English and I use American words together with British... and that is what English people sometimes cannot forgive me! Well, to be honest people here are very proud of their language and they claim that American people speak similar language just because they stole it from Great Britain and distorted it... And I haven't heard a good word about America and people living there from a single person in UK. Why is it like that? And does it work both ways? Do Americans despise Britons?

[Andrzej]

Hi Marcela, how do I even address this question? Books have been written about the differences between AmE and BrE. The obvious ones are the accent, the stress and the intonation. Another obvious difference is of course the choice of words and idioms. Sometimes there are words or expressions in BrE that Americans never use (i.e. nosy parker, nappy), other times the words they use have different meaning in AmE (the word fancy, for example, in England is used mostly as a verb: "Would you fancy some ice cream?", while in US it's almost always an adjective: "What a fancy dress you're wearing"). The attitude of most Britts is like you've described. In general they're not very crazy about Americans, but there are of course exceptions. I think the younger generation is more accepting of US slang and culture. Americans often make fun of the way British people speak. But on the other hand, a lot of American women just love the British accent or a foreign accent in general (how do you think I got married, huh? It wasn't my looks Some Americans are convinced that there is no world outside of their borders, hence they call their baseball series World Series, or sometimes you will hear on TV: "The whole world was watching this", even though the show is only broadcast in America. My personal contact with some of the Britts left me with an impression that they often think that everything British is the best. My personal contact with some of the Americans left me with the same impression. However, in both countries there are wonderful, witty, friendly people from whom we, Poles, can learn a lot and who can learn something from us. I have been fortunate to know a lot of people like that. With time, your British vocabulary and accent will improve. For the time being, you should ask a lot of questions, find friends who will not mind your mixed English and keep visiting Clickandbite. You never know where you're going to live next.
P.S. I love the British accent and their language. I also like the Irish and the Scottish. Also, remember that both in UK and in the US there are so many regional dialects that sometimes even people from the same country have difficulty undestanding each other. Greetings!