Which English variety to settle on? British or American?

Unlike beginners, I'm here to ask a more "advanced" question about how I should go on with my adventure of English.

So... I'm Chinese and have been taught to follow British spelling and speak in a somewhat British way. Since leaving high school, I've simply forgotten all the meaningless stuff of English education (which is a long story), and have been exploring English all on myself. As I learnt more, I found that, as I see it, I'd be facing the dilemma of having to deal with both British and American English through life (not just daily, since English is so important and influential) exposure, in terms of both pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc.

I've been still sticking more to the British spelling and trying to be closer to RP, but I find it difficult to ignore the American, because it just appears all the time on TV, on the Internet, etc. Now, the question is: do I have to learn both accents, be able to change between them, and maybe stick on just one accent for daily interactions unless I change country (i.e. move to UK/US)? Most likely, I'd only be settling on either or both, and I'd stick on one particular variety only if I have to stay in an Anglophone country for a long time - but, atm, I don't have travel opportunities, so I'd have more passive exposure instead. If so, I'd have to learn vocabulary in both varieties too!

Currently, I'm learning on and off using "British" sources, but many learning materials I can use (before getting onto more advanced levels, such that immersion through watching TV) now focus on the American. So, it seems to me that American has become more popular in every aspect, so... how is it?

Just stick to one that comes naturally to you. I don't think you can speak the two varieties of English equally well.

The total number of people who speak the American version of English worldwide, apart from the population of the United States itself, far exceeds that for speakers of the British version (whatever form that takes). If you wish to go with the mainstream flow so to speak, and you wish to be fully understood by the popular majority, so to speak, then learn to use Americaspeak. I would if I had your "problem". Fortunately for me I don't. :-) If you did do as I suggest and you happened to come to the UK we could all wait for you to ask a stupid question! Only joking....honest.

It doesn't matter which "form" you take. The majority of non-native speaker can't really tell the difference anyway. For the most part you can just set your spellcheck for either US or UK to switch from one to the other. It's usually very hard to tell which English "variant" most Chinese are speaking anyway. It usually a challenge to understand what most of them are trying to say anyway, so if you can make yourself understood, then you are well ahead of the game.

The main problem I see in switching between English English and North American English is that most NAE-speakers are rhotic while most EE-speakers are non-rhotic, so that if one is coming from EE then one will have to both memorize where coda /r/ appears in rhotic NAE and suppress the EE intrusive [r\]. However, as you are not a native EE-speaker, the issue with the intrusive [r\] is not as significant, even though for native EE-speakers it is something that very readily gives them away when they try to speak NAE.

On the other hand, it is rather easy to derive the vowel system of most NAE dialects from that of southern EE dialects, as the vowel systems of NAE dialects are effectively derived from that of southern EE dialects, with a sequence of mostly predictable vowel mergers and vowel shifts having occurred over the years. In this regard you are better off that in if you were going from NAE to EE, as one would then have to memorize the vowel system in EE from scratch as the vowel systems of EE dialects really cannot be derived from that in NAE dialects due to the loss of distinctions that has occurred in most NAE dialects.

>>If you wish to go with the mainstream flow so to speak, and you wish to be fully understood by the popular majority, so to speak, then learn to use Americaspeak.

What's that?

>>It doesn't matter which "form" you take. The majority of non-native speaker can't really tell the difference anyway. For the most part you can just set your spellcheck for either US or UK to switch from one to the other.

I don't know if it hurts to mix up both variants. Many new vocabulary items I pick up are actually American or derived from American things, while I'm more used to the British versions of a lot of common expressions... atm, they are all the same language, but I've got to have my own idiolect, after all.

>>The main problem I see in switching between English English and North American English is that most NAE-speakers are rhotic while most EE-speakers are non-rhotic [...]

But what's more, it seems that the number of phonemes of both variants are different, too! And with the well-known unpredictable spelling, .... well...

speaking chinese you don't have to learn English

Dude, Most Chinese have much bigger problems with the English language than which "variant" of it to speak. Most blokes from China are lucky if they can even order a pizza over the phone. Don't worry about your vocabulary, instead worry about the percentage of native speakers who underand your Chinglish.

Dude, I wish I could underand YOU!

For the most part if someone presented me with two reports (on politics / economics, for example) it would not always - possibly even often - be possible to tell where the author was from. The only real difference is in the occasional spelling.

Why not learn Australian English? Or Irish English instead? Some varieties of Hiberno-English sound somewhere between RP and General American. And you have the added bonus of having a really cool accent.

I don't think actual English-speakers would be terribly concerned about which standard you chose, so if you are worried about how you will be perceived by us, don't be. As Rick points out, most of the differences are more in sound than in word choice, and your own accent will be coloring your pronunciation anyway. Certainly there was nothing in your written post that screamed "British!" -- it could have been written by anyone. Americans and Brits understand each other pretty clearly both in writing and out loud, so picking one style over the other doesn't mean that you would be cutting yourself off from wider communication opportunities with the rest of the speakers out there. It's sort of a non-issue.

I agree with the people saying that Chinese people speak English with such a bad accent you can't understand what they're to say half the time, let alone what variety of English they're trying to imitate, so this really is a non-issue.

Not what I meant, meanie.

OK... yes, I also don't see much difference between forum posts in "UK English" and "US English", except spelling (but not pronunciation). One very minor issue is just that certain expressions, as listed in an e-dictionary, might have two respective variants.

And hey, what's the point of frowning on "the Chinese accent"? "I" speak badly, fine, and some Chinese students I meet do murmur English all the time (and they do not much better when learning other languages, I don't know why), fine.

While I would admit to be, well, bad or so-so or not good enough in this language, I don't think it's useful to criticize one's own accents in English (which is actually a surprisingly common habit of many Chinese around me), when "I" (or "we") have met no more than a dozen of Anglophones in my life so far, and in particular non-native speakers (or incompetent, you may say) outnumber native ones so much.