American English vs English Britain

I lived in England as an American for a year and often ran into moments that were confusing at work. People asking for a 'rubber' or getting 'knocked up' and times when the (Midland) accent was too thick. The differences can sometimes be significant.

why would you ever think this will be a problem

British English is usually closer related to dialects outside the US (Canadian and Caribbean dialects are a mixed bag). British English is more widely taught, with American English mainly being taught in Latin America, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. I don't think it'd be a problem knowing another dialect, if you're not moving to the US it should be less of an issue. Written and formal English being more standardised will smooth over a lot of the differences in dialect (if it didn't most people on here couldn't understand me...).

Very rare and specific moments it will matter I technically learned a more British style, but I doubt anyone is noticing apart from spelling

The kinda of people that only understand American English are not the kinda people you want to talk to

english iS english but sounds and pronunciation will be noticably different. eg. "spot on" is widely used in aUs, uk, buT only sometimes or rarely in us. "convenient" is thE prefered word, but in india "productivE" is used instead. i Think this is probably what op is Talking about. but any users should Understand no matter whaT you say. no one says it. young people: I literally died from boredom watchinG titanic

Its only a problem for people from the US. In the rest of the world you'll be fine.

Why do you want it?

Just don't talk about having given anyone's fanny a slap. Stick with "bum".

What? I moved to the UK six years ago from the US and have never had any issues. Nor does my British fiancé have issues when we're in the US. Any words that have different meanings like pants can, in general, easily be figured out based on context.

Missing key information of *where* you'd like to use this.

If you want a rôle model, you could do worse than aiming for clear International English as described by George Orwell in "Politics and the English Language". You'll find it free to read on the internet.

I’ve heard UK students and professors talk couple times in live streamed international educational conferences during college. Different accent tone and spoken faster, was troubling to hear at first, still understood 90% or more of what they were saying. I was struggling to keep up because they were talking too fast, not due to them using some different preferred words.

Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter. While there are some interesting differences in vocabulary and spelling between British and American English, they rarely cause any real problems—maybe just a brief moment of confusion or a chuckle. People are usually better at understanding meaning from context than they’re given credit for. That being said, at my school, we use both British and American curricula, so I always have fun pointing out the linguistic differences between the two. (Even if my students might find it boring—haha.) I love languages and enjoy these distinctions, but judging from the comments, there are definitely some people with… let’s just say, less-than-pleasant mindsets.

It will not cause any problems at all. It’s literally only a few words that are different and a slight spelling variation. I’m British and have lived in the US, I also communicate with Americans daily

If that's the case, then wouldn't it also be a problem if you used American English? Either way, you will encounter words which are not used in one or the other. It's inevitable, but also not a big deal.

As long as you don't talk about a cigarette in America you'll be fine. 99.9% of the time context will make it clear what you mean.

It’s very unlikely to cause any problems.

Just call it English as Scottish and Welsh English are different dialects, more differences than between English and the American dialect.

the only real differences between the two dialects are incredibly nuanced and most speakers of one dialect or the other will have very VERY few problems understanding the other. The only thing that might happen (in my experience as well) is people will point out little tidbits of your English like “Aluminium” or “Rubbish” so generally it won’t be a major issue

There are surface differences, but the fundamentals are the same. If you study the fundamentals, you'll get more comfortable hearing multiple dialects of English. Then, if you relocate to the UK, there will be a handful of location-specific things that will catch you off guard at first. This is normal. After a month or two of life in the UK, you'll adjust to the local dialect.

No, we largely understand each other. But, you should consider who you will be interacting with more.

English is one language. The vast majority of what people in America and Britain say is identical. It is not as if they can't understand each other or have never heard of the words the others use. Even you are aware that there are a few differences and you are not a native speaker. You make it sound like the differences would be as big as between French and Japanese. Whether people are from America or Britain or any of the other countries that speak English, they can speak to each other and understand each other. They are all speaking English. So never think of yourself as speaking British English or American English. Think of yourself as speaking English.

Use the dialect of the people you're most likely to be speaking with. If you don't have a specific group of speakers you're looking to interact with (meaning you're not moving to an English speaking country or interacting with a specific group of English speakers) then American English has more overall utility in online spaces as the US dwarfs any other single English speaking country in terms of population. But if you're determined to learn British English then just do that. Americans and Brits converse all the time with little to no miscommunication. The few words that are different, even if we're unfamiliar with the difference, can almost always be easily figured out from context. So it doesn't *really* matter. It's best just to pick one dialect and focus on that.

welcome to the eternal internet struggle. Sincerely, a Brit who has been scolded more than once on the internet for using British grammar and spelling

It's not a huge deal. I am currently taking a Zoom class as an American, and all of my fellow students are in the UK. We understand each other just fine, although we have had occasional moments of amusement from slightly different meanings of words. ProTip: The story about your neighbor who doesn't like to wear pants, even when it's freezing outside, has a noticeably different connotation in the UK than in the US. Ask me how I know.

Most educated individuals use a mix of British, American, and other variations of English. Once you reach a high level, it won’t matter—an effective communicator adapts to their audience. I’m American, but I’ve found that British English sometimes offers better ways to describe things or highlight different aspects of the language, which can enhance your communication skills. At the end of the day, it’s the same language.

They’re mutually intelligible, the phonological differences are often steamrolled over by L2 learners because of difficulties properly emulating vowels and the letter r, and the vocabulary differences aren’t huge and most speakers are going to understand regional words and variant definitions for words like “fag”, “shrapnel”, and “y’all”, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s not a terrible idea to try to learn based on what kinds of English speakers you’re going to run into, though, and if you have a thick foreign accent nobody’s going to know what kind of native accent you’re trying to emulate.

yes, but it will only matter if you visit America, and you can review the common words that are different before that trip. There are not that many differences like that.

Not really

English Vs American English 🙄

>I want to use British English instead of American English. Won’t this be a problem? Since there are words that are the same but have different meanings? All languages have dialectal variation. Your native language does too. No it's not a problem; especially for a language as widespread as English. If you can find learning resources for the variety, odds are you'll be fine. Plenty of people learn British English.

Why choose one or the other? A mix is totally fine too. There are so many countries where people use a mix between the two.

All the parts of the world that uses British English manage fine. Judging from reddit it might be a problem in the US, but I suspect that people you meet visiting America cope fine with British English.

Everyone who isn't British or American is using some type of hybrid of the two. It's fine. It's not as though a speaker of one dialect can't understand the other. We'll generally get it. Best practice is to use mainly the words and phrases that are common to both, but if you happen to fancy certain words and phrases that only work on one side of the pond, go ahead and use them and hope the listener understands what you mean.

Literally neither is more correct than the other. If you find a difference, it’s that just a difference.

British English is gonna be vanished in a few decades, UK is too weak to support this language