language services
28.12.2021
Alingua
Learning languages can be challenging – especially when we’re ambitious about it and acquiring just the basic skills is not enough. Discovering dialects can be surprising; Norwegian is particularly sneaky with this, as it can sound entirely different depending on the region you are visiting. Hence, being familiar with one dialect does not guarantee effortless communication anywhere else in the country. And how are things with English? Fortunately it’s not so complicated! In the case of English, we can distinguish two main, basic varieties: British and American. And even though the accents can be quite messy and the attempts to comprehend and communicate with a native Scottish person can be discouraging for beginners learning English, the basic rules of the language remain the same and the differences will not be noticeable until much later during our language learning journey. There are, however, instances when this difference is crucial, e.g., when rendering localisation or proofreading services. British English: what are its distinctive features? So what is the easiest way to recognise we’re handling a text written using British English? A quick glance at words such as colour, aesthetics, demeanour or paediatric will tell us all. Color, esthetics, demeanor and pediatric are their American equivalents, so it’s easy to notice that British English stays closer to tradition and the original spelling of words borrowed from other languages, such as French, German, or Latin. The use of “s” instead of a voiced “z” in verbs such as specialise, utilise or apologise is another characteristic of British English. They might be pronounced the same way, but the spelling is rather sneaky. A similar pattern can be observed with more complex words, such as British draught – in the American variety they are significantly simplified, as on the other side of the pond we will see it spelled as draft. For many the British pronunciation is synonymous with that of the Royal Family; it’s worth knowing that you are unlikely to hear…