Whats best to pronounce the words in American or more British english?
Whats best?
Depends where you are;
If you're in the USA, it's best to use American English and when in England use British English.
If you're in the USA, it's best to use American English and when in England use British English.
But do you think its best to learn good American english because its easier to be understood by the British too?
Sander, you first comment must be a proof of that you have, at least have had, a very high IQ. :)
=>Sander, you first comment must be a proof of that you have, at least have had, a very high IQ. :) <=
That's because my brain doesn't freeze up every winter :)
That's because my brain doesn't freeze up every winter :)
I think its best to just keep consistency: one or the other, no mixing. Anyway, I'm sure English RP could be understood by all.
JOHN: As has been said.....it depends where you are in the English speaking world. Anyway, why not just use the accent/style you feel the most comfortable with? Be yourself. If you want to be really, really palled* and taigled* just go to Glasgow! :-) LOL Don't fret tae much...it's nae sae bad....if you ask Glaswegians nicely (and slowly!) they will make you understand them, I guarantee that....and vice versa whatever accent you use. They're a reet freenlie* lot :-)
*Palled and taigled = baffled, confused
Reet freenlie lot = a right friendly lot
*Palled and taigled = baffled, confused
Reet freenlie lot = a right friendly lot
>>"Depends where you are;
If you're in the USA, it's best to use American English and when in England use British English. "
Sender,
I like how you answered the stupid question ;)
If you're in the USA, it's best to use American English and when in England use British English. "
Sender,
I like how you answered the stupid question ;)
Although you should learn whichever dialect you are more likely to encounter...however, if it makes no difference, why not learn whichever sounds best to you, as either can be understood by the other?
I used to like american dialect and have done a good job on it so far, but now I tend to like british dialect better
One note though is that while one may choose to primarily speak a given dialect or given range of different register forms which may be across dialects (for example, Received Pronunciation for formal speech and Estuary English for informal and semiformal speech), it would be a *very* good idea to actually understand forms found within a wider set of dialects than just those that one has chosen to actually speak. For example, even if one primarily speaks Received Pronunciation or Estuary English, it might be a good idea to still understand North American English "new" modal forms, or various "nonstandard" cliticized forms commonly found in NAE dialects such as cliticized "of", even if one oneself may not end up using such much. I myself have to say, once again, that I'm tired of running into non-native English speakers (primarily foreign students) who are quite fluent in formal English, yet whose understanding drops rapidly once spoken to using the everyday English spoken here; I myself wish that people learning English would actually learn to understand a wider range of forms than those that they themselves may actually end up using, because others talking to them very well may use such forms.
The Americans and British understand each other's pronunciation without any trouble, so you can speak either way without a problem. Usually it's best to choose the pronunciation that matches the groups of people with whom you plan to communicate most (Americans or British). American English has far more native speakers; British English is extremely variable from one region to another and the "standard" version taught in ESL courses (Received Pronunciation or a close variant thereof) is only spoken by a minority—but everyone understands everyone else, generally.
If you are dealing with non-native speakers, you can choose either pronunciation indifferently.
Whatever you choose, remember that you should be _exposed_ to both pronunciations when learning, so that you can understand them when you hear them. They really aren't that different, but if you're learning English as a foreign language, the small differences between them can be enough to cause confusion until you're practiced with both.
If you are dealing with non-native speakers, you can choose either pronunciation indifferently.
Whatever you choose, remember that you should be _exposed_ to both pronunciations when learning, so that you can understand them when you hear them. They really aren't that different, but if you're learning English as a foreign language, the small differences between them can be enough to cause confusion until you're practiced with both.
It really doesn't matter what you learn as long as you speak clearly. A clear American Accent is no harder or easier to understand than a clear British one. Just speak clearly and try not to pick up the 'bad habits' of either accent.
There are merged pronunciations in both accents, but this is generally a very minimal problem.
There are merged pronunciations in both accents, but this is generally a very minimal problem.
Paul, what exactly do you mean by "bad habits"? For example, in the case of North American English dialects, what sorts of things are you referring to overall (just wondering)?