English and American EnglishRead the following information.

Answer the questions according to the textHow was English language introduced to Americans?

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History of British vs American English

The English language was introduced to the Americans through British colonization in the early 17th century and it spread to many parts of the world because of the strength of the British empire. Over the years, English spoken in the United States and in Britain started diverging from each other in various aspects. This led to two dialects in the form of the American English and the British English.American vs British accentPrior to the Revolutionary War and American independence from the British in 1776, American and British accents were similar. Both were rhotic i.e. speakers pronounced the letter R in hard. Since 1776, the accents diverged but English accent in America has changed less drastically than accents in Britain.Towards the end of the 18th century, non-rhotic speech took off in southern England, especially among the upper class; this "prestige" non-rhotic speech was standardized, and has been spreading in Britain ever since.

Most American accents, however, remained rhotic.

There are a few fascinating exceptions: New York and New England accents became non-rhotic, perhaps because of the region's British connections. Irish and Scottish accents, however, remained rhotic.

To be fair, both American and British English have several types of accents and there is no one true American or British accent.Differences in Vocabulary

While some words may mean something in British English, the same word might be something else in American english and vice versa. For example, Athlete in British English is one who participates in track and field events whereas Athlete in American English is one who participates in sports in general. Rubber in British English: tool to erase pencil markings. Rubber in American English: condom. There are also some words like AC, Airplane, bro, catsup, cell phone etc. which are common in American English and not used very often in British English. Some words widely used in British English and seldom in American English are advert, anti-clockwise, barrister, cat's eye.

Differences in SpellingThere are many words that are spelt differently in both forms of English. Some examples are:

American English spelling British English spelling color colour fulfill fulfil center centre analyze analyse aging ageing dialog dialogue anesthesia, anaesthesia

Differences in Pronunciation

Some words that are pronounced differently in American vs British English are controversy, leisure, schedule etc. There are also some words like Ax (Axe in British) and Defense (Defence in British) which have the same pronunciation but different spellings in both languages.

http://www.diffen.com/difference/American_English_vs_British_English

When was the independence of United States?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What is “rhotic”?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Give another examples of rhotic words:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both words of British and American have the same meaning? Give your own examples.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All the words in British and American English have the same spelling? Give examples______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Put the words in the correct right side of the table

Underline the stress in the following words

Listen the conversation and answer the questions.

A. The topic of the conversation remains somebody to the men. Who was that person?

B. In British English what does flag mean?

Chips cinema Football soccer footway sidewalk Wardrobe water ice clapboard

Closet coffee with cream Drugstore

Italian ice Weatherboard Movie Theater French fries White coffee Chemist

mailto:http://www.espressoenglish.net/british-

english-vs-american-english-pronunciation/

conversations-cultural-differences-

part-3-of-3?subject=Listening

British American

Chemist Drugstore

British American

Adult Adult

Ballet Ballet

Brochure Brochure

Garage Garage

Vaccine Vaccine

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Hospitable Hospitable

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

C. What does flag in American English mean?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

D. What had to have the men to express what hi meant?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

E. Does the men consider himself as a British?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

F. What would happen if you called an Iris, Wales or Scotland person British. They will be proud or offended?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

KEYAnswer the questions according to the text

How was English language introduced to Americans?Through British colonization

When was the independence of United States?1977

What is “rhotic”?Speakers pronounced the letter R in hard

Give another examples of rhotic words:Far/car/ hear

Both words of British and American have the same meaning? Give your own examples.No for example pants AE jeans or trousers and BE underwearVest AE waistcoat and BE undershirt

All the words in British and American English have the same spelling? Give examplesNo for example BE centre AE center BE colour AE color

Flavour flavor Litre liter

Put the words in the correct right side of the table

Underline the stress in the following words

Listen the conversation and answer the questions.

G. The topic of the conversation remains somebody to the men. Who was that person?His friend that traveled to United States

H. In British English what does flag mean?Cigarrete I. What does flag in American English mean?Homosexual____________________________________________________

J. What had to have the men to express what he meant?He had to apologize and explain what he was trying to say__________________________________

K. Does the men consider himself as a British?Yes______________________________________________________________________________

Chips cinema Football soccer footway sidewalk Wardrobe water ice clapboard

Closet coffee with cream Drugstore

Italian ice Weatherboard Movie Theater French fries White coffee Chemist

mailto:http://www.espressoenglish.net/british-

english-vs-american-english-pronunciation/

conversations-cultural-differences-

part-3-of-3?subject=Listening

British American

Chemist Drugstore

Chips French fries

Wardrobe Closet

Water ice Italian ice

Weatherboard clapboard

White coffee Coffee with cream

football soccer

footway sidewalk

British American

Adult Adult

Ballet Ballet

Brochure Brochure

Garage Garage

Vaccine Vaccine

Advertisement Advertisement

Hospitable Hospitable

L. What would happen if you called an Iris, Wales or Scotland person British. They will be proud or offended?Yes because they want and independence _____________________________________________________