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Hey, it's time to start the show, are you ready, good, plus here we go, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I want A+, English.

Hello everyone and welcome to A+, English, I'm Mike.

And I'm Laura.

And today we are beginning our article, American versus British English, what's the difference?

Yes, it's famously said, I forget who said it, but they said Britain and America are two countries divided by a common language.

Okay, that's true, they both speak English.

But different culture and even different spelling, different words, so it's good to kind of, yeah, it's good to be familiar with some of the differences between British English and American English.

Luckily, with television and movies, we can be exposed to both, but some of that might lead to a bit of confusion when you're watching a British TV show and they refer to things with words you've never heard before if you mainly grew up learning American English.

So let's look at our warm-up question here, it's what do you know about British English and when do you usually hear it?

Well, as you know, I grew up in Australia, so that's why I tend to follow British English in terms of usage and even spelling.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, so you know what, but there are times when I might incorporate Aussie slang and British English speakers might not commonly use.

That's true.

For example, phrases like get a mate or no worries.

That's right, or using terms like billabong.

Most people wouldn't know what a billabong is if they didn't live in Australia.

And of course, I'm from Canada, and Canada's kind of interesting because we often grew up learning more British English in school, especially many of the spellings of words.

But then, of course, we're also very exposed to American English.

We get American TV, American radio, living in Canada.

So we're kind of familiar with both, but often it's hard for us to decide which is the best because both are so common.

So there you go.

It can be something that causes confusion, but it can also just be an interesting feature of this common language that isn't exactly the same all around the world.

So let's get into our article and learn more.

American versus British English.

What's the difference?

Warm-up question.

What do you know about British English?

When do you usually hear it?

In Taiwan, most people learn American English instead of British English at school.

However, both of them are common abroad and quite different.

Let's check out three different things about them.

Word choices.

People use different words for the same things.

For example, in sports, Britons say football, but Americans say soccer.

Alright, so our article begins,

In Taiwan, most people learn American English instead of British English at school.

I guess it's safe to say that over the years, Taiwan has had more of an American influence.

If you went not too far away to Hong Kong or Singapore, you'd probably find students much more familiar with British English.

But I think here in Taiwan and probably in Japan and Korea as well, American English is the most common form of English taught in schools instead of British English.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, that's right.

So in Taiwan, when we say most people are taught American English instead of, that just means rather than.

就是而不是。

This is what instead of means.

Yeah, and I agree.

This actually reminds me of a moment when I spelled the word color, c-o-l-o-u-r.

That's right.

And one of my students corrected me, insisting it should be color, c-o-l-o-r instead.

I'm like, okay, that's just British English, the way we spell English.

That o-r at the end of the word, flavor, favor, color.

Favorite.

Favorite, that's another one.

That will often have an extra u in the middle for British and commonly Canadian, Australian, New Zealand English as well.

That's one of those common differences.

I often have to fight with my keyboard when I'm typing on my phone because it's kind of set to American English.

But if I send a message to my mom or a Canadian friend, I always have to say, no, no, no, I want that u there when I spell color.

It's not a mistake.

Back to the article.

However, it says both of them are common abroad and quite different.

Let's check out three different things about them.

So, yeah, they are quite common as we mentioned.

There's different parts of the world where they'll be more common.

One will be more common than the other.

But they are different, different enough to be a little bit confusing and certainly be something to be aware of.

So let's check out some differences between the two languages or the two forms of the language.

Yeah, I agree.

There's really no right or wrong.

They're just different, guys.

In fact, I enjoy learning various expressions from different English-speaking countries.

And I think even accents, 口音, can be fascinating.

And, yeah, remember that word we just saw earlier, abroad?

That just means overseas, 在海外, right? 國外.

So don't confuse this with aboard.

They're totally different.

They're totally different.

That is not a British or American English difference.

That is just a different word with a different spelling.

So let's look at one of the areas.

These words, these different forms of English will be noticeably different.

Word choices.

We're talking about word choices or the words you use to talk about certain things.

People use different words for the same things.

For example, in sports, Britons, that's people from Britain, they would say football.

But Americans would say soccer.

And, of course, here we're talking about the game that you play with kicking a round ball with your feet, the type of game that we see in the World Cup.

There's also American football.

So Americans would say soccer for the sport that they play in the World Cup, but they would say football for, like, the Super Bowl where they wear helmets and throw the ball and that.

Whereas Brits would say football for soccer and American football for what Americans call just football.

Confusing.

Confusing.

I was going to say that.

Okay.

And, of course, with word choices, there are also other common examples like lift.

Okay.

That's like British, right?

Versus elevator.

That's right.

Dainty.

And also, oh, I love this, biscuit.

Ooh.

Biscuit.

But in the U.S., we say cookie.

That's right.

In America, a biscuit is a very different type of food.

Oh, yeah, that's another thing, too.

And also there's that word flat.

Oh, okay.

In British English and in the States, we would say apartment.

I live in an apartment or I live in a flat.

That's right.

In the dark at night, you might reach for your?

Torch.

In Britain.

Yeah, a flashlight in the States.

That's right.

A torch for an American would be like a burning piece of wood.

Oh, okay.

Or something like that.

And then if you're waiting for something, you might stand in a?

Well, I say in a line.

In a line, okay.

Yeah, right.

For the British, they would say queue.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, you queue up or you line up for things.

Yeah, yeah.

And when you want to get your car to go somewhere, you have to fill it with?

Petrol.

Petrol.

Or gas.

Or gas.

In American.

That's confusing, too, because gas in America can also be that stuff in a tank.

Yeah, right.

Like we use it to, you know, make barbecues, get barbecue power.

Exactly.

So there's a little bit of a difference there.

Another one I always remember is truck for Americans and lorry for British.

Lorry.

Yeah, that's another one.

All right, let's get back to our article.

Spelling.

Words with er at the end in American English become re in British English.

Two examples are theater and center.

Pronunciation.

In American English, people pronounce the r sound clearly at the end of words.

However, in British English, people don't emphasize it.

You can hear these pronunciations in words like water and teacher.

The next thing we're looking at is differences in spelling.

We've kind of mentioned this a little bit with those o-r, words like color or color, with a u, flavor or flavor, with a u.

These are differences.

The o-r would be American.

The o-u-r would be British.

That's not the only types of words, though.

So let's look.

Because words with e-r at the end in American English become r-e in British English.

This is mainly because a lot of those words in British English came from French.

And in French, they would spell it with an r-e at the end.

Americans thought, well, that's a little strange.

Let's put it e-r.

So two examples, very common, are theater and center.

You'll notice there with the r-e spelling, that is the British version.

American, we'll see next, would be e-r at the end.

Oh, that is right.

所以字尾有時候我們在美式是看到是 e-r, 英式則是 r-e.

可是唸起來比較聽起來像 e-r, like meter.

This is another example with the e-r and the r-e.

Yeah.

Or there are also other spelling differences, like we mentioned favorite with the o-u.

What about this one?

Realize.

Oh, yeah.

The American would be r-e-a-l-i-z-e or z-e.

That's exactly right.

The British people would say it with that kind of zz.

They would say realize.

They wouldn't say realize, but they wouldn't spell it with a z.

Recognize.

That's another one that you might see.

I spell it with an s as well instead of the z.

Okay.

So you're sticking with the British Australian, that version.

Okay.

And on the wheels of your car, you want to make sure you have some very filled up tires.

Okay.

So t-i-r-e, it's the American.

Well, the British, they would spell it t-y-r-e.

I've noticed people getting confused about this when they watch F1 car races, right?

Because it's mainly coming from Britain, and a lot of Americans, why are they spelling tire with a y?

Not realizing that that's the British spelling.

And this is one that always confuses me, and actually I often rely on the auto spell function, traveler.

Is it one l or two ls?

Yeah, same pronunciation, but if you're in the UK, it would have two ls, or Australia or Canada.

I use two ls.

That's the British version.

So there you go.

Let's look at some other areas.

This is probably a little bit more known to you, pronunciation, how people say the words.

Some of it will have to do with the accent, the different accents between how Americans speak and British people speak.

But there are also certain common sounds that you will find.

It says in American English, people pronounce the r sound clearly at the end of words.

Mother.

Like mother, yeah, exactly, or center or theater, as we saw earlier.

However, in British English, people don't emphasize it.

They don't have that r kind of sound.

You can hear these pronunciations in words like water and teacher.

I'm saying those like an American.

If I was British, I would say water and teacher.

Yes, and I know a lot of British people get confused when they go to America.

Would you like something to drink, sir?

A glass of water.

Water?

Water?

Oh, water.

You want water.

Water.

Yeah, no, water.

Yeah, that's how a British person would say it.

I really enjoy learning these pronunciation differences.

It's funny, isn't it?

I love it.

我很喜歡發音不同, 像大家有沒有覺得英式跟美式有點不同, 有點差異?

For example, dance or dance.

Oh, yeah, that's another good one.

Or you say potato.

And tomato and tomato.

Do we really say potato?

I don't know.

I don't really hear that.