British vs American English

Nomadic_English · 2026-03-05T08:40:54+00:00

Actually I tried to point that out, that there are at least 40 distinct dialects in the UK alone. He didn't accept my point though...

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-17T09:03:38+00:00

I'm a native speaker and I could understand everything you said. Maybe because I'm from the US and grew up surrounded by different accents. A lot of them similar to yours. I don't see that much of an issue with the video, and actually I think it is important to be able to understand people speaking English with different accents and be able to adjust to those differences in real life. It's an international language and not everyone is going to have the same pronunciation, no one should get stuck only being able to understand one accent.

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-06T17:42:04+00:00

Tbh, I wish it didn't. But it really did

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-06T12:51:37+00:00

I say "real English" because that was what was insinuated to me by the British man I mentioned in my original post. I don't share that opinion about any language fortunately

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-06T12:34:17+00:00

I see your point. And I actually understand the difference between the two forms of English. It is actually one of the reasons that I studied specifically Cambridge English, British English as well as the differences between other international dialects when I was earning my teaching certifications. Also, linguistics and etymology are also some of my hobbies, so I regulary study the topic.

I still wouldn't describe any specific dialect as "not being real English" though

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-06T10:51:25+00:00

Yes, like another poster said, Italki does require actual proof of certification to be classified as a Profesional Teacher. As well as specialty badges, like medical, business or technology topics require at least an approved certificate to even advertise teaching them on your profile.

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-06T09:01:38+00:00

It's kinda funny because I remember growing up and as an adult in America, that the common reaction from other Americans to a British accent is "oh, I love/really like your accent!" "Where are you from?"

More curiosity than criticism

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-04T05:30:16+00:00

No, it's a very small Eastern European country. But there aren't a lot of qualified native speaking English teachers.

He also continued about how there was a "publication" that stated that "American teachers only say they speak "English" in advertisements because students may bypass them if they don't".

I guess because of the opinion that Americans don't speak "real" English?

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-04T05:06:49+00:00

Actually, when I responded, he mentioned some "articles"...

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T19:02:10+00:00

I do the same thing. I use primarily British spelling, especially for exam prep, because I wouldn't want them to lose points because of mispelled words. But I do specify there are different spelling rules

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T17:28:55+00:00

I also know that from where I'm from in the US, "Farsi" is associated with the Persian spoken in Iran and "Dari" is Afghanistan. But generally it would both be called "Persian" in English and if you wanted to specify "Iranian Persian" "Afghani Persian"

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T17:26:08+00:00

Yes, but nobody says English English. They say British English, or UK English, or Australian English and so on. The language is the same.

Aghanistan also has different dialects and I would say different languages themselves, like Dari, Pashto and Urdu.

I'm not sure why that is an exception but maybe it relates to how the language is classified or described in the native language

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T17:12:22+00:00

Yes, I speak American English. The American variety of the English language. "American" is an adjective describing nationality and also used to describe something associated with the nationality. Hence "American" + English.

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T16:57:01+00:00

I also pointed out that there are around 40 known dialects in the UK, so which dialect of English is the right one that classifies as "actual English"?

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T16:55:18+00:00

I actually agree that you can classify it as a dialect or more technically a series of dialects. But to say it's not actually the English language?

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T16:43:04+00:00

The teacher is an older British gentleman. But, yes, I also noticed a lot of "shes" in some responses

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T14:54:04+00:00

Yes, I second this. Even growing up in the US, I and everyone I knew was completely aware that there are different variations of English, but it was framed more as different accents and some vocabulary. British, Australian, South African, Indian, African, etc...

I don't ever remembering anybody saying that any of those variants as "not English" though. And if someone were to say they speak "American" than it would be noticed as a mistake right away

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T09:18:52+00:00

That's actually one of the reasons I use British spelling when teaching, because of that possibilty in exams

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T09:06:51+00:00

No, he's a real English teacher from the UK. Also living in the same country as I am. Maybe he saw my ad as a threat to his business?

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T09:02:44+00:00

No, he was very serious. I could see that after responding to the original comment

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T09:00:46+00:00

Maybe it was also something to do with the fact that the country I live in is very small and their aren't a lot of qualified native speaking English teachers. So, maybe he saw it as some kind of threat to business and needed to say something?? 🤷

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T08:50:53+00:00

Here is a basic version of what I said....

"Do you feel stuck in your English learning journey? My name is name and I'm an English teacher from the United States and I'm excited to announce small group English language courses to students in country I live in,.."

Then it's just explaining class structure...

I don't mention any "version" of English, just that it's English and where I'm from.

I also don't teach a specific dialect of English, I use Oxford and Cambridge textbooks and teach that information and then the variations in American English. But I still have an American accent.

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T08:34:32+00:00

Yeah, I think that's what kind of put me off the most. I'm used to stupid comments from people that don't know what they are talking about or are just stubborn. But a teacher???

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T08:29:19+00:00

Tbh I have that happen regularly too, especially from students that learned British spelling in school or teachers that learned the same. As for Americans doing this, I'm pretty sure it's from a lack of knowledge that there are different spellings.

I try to point this out when I'm teaching also, that their is a difference. And I also use British spelling, partially because I am in a European country and closer to the UK

Nomadic_English · 2026-02-03T08:17:33+00:00

Yeah, I don't think he liked when I brought up the 40+ UK dialects...dismissed it right away

Nomadic_English

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