I’m trying to get a feel as to how many of you would prefer to teach your child using British English instead of US English.
As most of you probably know, the voice pronunciations we use on Little Reader and Little Math have a US accent, and the word usage and spelling are also US.
We are thinking of doing a set in UK English, so the pronunciations will be by native British speakers, spellings will be like “colour” instead of “color”, and you’ll see words like “jumper” instead of “sweater”.
How many of you would prefer that? If you do, please also let us know your background (like where you’re from, or where you’re located).
Ha ha! My sister and I were just talking about this, but not in a serious manner. We thought that it would be funny to teach my son to speak in British accent and such instead of American English (we live in Michigan). We are just nerds, though, talking.
I prefer American English because British English makes me cringe, but this is just me because I’m funny about how things are spelled.
I am from South Africa and we use British spelling but I couldn’t care less about the accent. To be honest though I think my daughter will have to learn to spell both the British and American way as they both come up regularly on imported products. I think it would be nice to have both sets so that people can choose or even show both.
This is also a question we discussed in our family. Finally, we reached an idea that we probably will teach American English first, since we can get resources easier than teaching British English.
I think kids who are taught with American English should easily understand British English too, and vice versa. American English and British English are like different dialects of a language. When we learn one, we can understand the other without effort. maybe just a little bit. should be very easy.
I’m quite acclimatized to the American accent, but there’s just nothing to beat the Queens’ English. Mind you, being in Australia, no amount of hearing any other accent will make one iota of difference, an Australian accent WILL happen, it’s unavoidable. It would be of most use to non-English speaking countries to try to develop an accent of a particular English-speaking region, but personally I dont know why anyone would want to get a certain accent. I think a variety of spellings and pronunciations is best, as it’s all English in the end. Personally, if I was from India, I’d be happy to speak English with an Indian accent. Why would I want any other accent? If I learn another language now, it’ll have an Aussie accent. And what’s bad about that…I’m an Aussie…I should have an Aussie accent!!. People will sound like the people they live around. I grew up In Vanuatu speaking the Queen’s English with a plum in my mouth, but at 10 I moved to Australia, and speak like an Aussie, though I still pronounce some words a bit posh. (Like France is Frahnce, ample is ahmple). There are some languages that tend to have particular accents, and you want to sound authentic, but English is so widely spoken with so many accents, even within England, that WHAT constitutes an authentic English accent? A singaporean English accent or a South African English accent are vastly different, but they’re still truly English. A person no matter what English they’re exposed to will have their countries accent. And the other English speaking people in their country that they meet will have the same accent. So I say expose them to a variety of English accents, including Scottish, Irish, New Zealand and Australian aboriginal. So they recognise English by whomever it is spoken, no matter how clipped or broad. And people should know that there is more out there than just British and American English!!! (And for the record I was raised to believe that the Americans had ruined the English language and corrupted its spelling. But I now see that as progress. That’s what happens when a country splits and some members go to distant lands. It doesnt mean the mother tongue is superior).
I would definetly prefer to see both types of english used. In Australia we are taught British English but more and more words are beginning to be spelt in American english. I think it is important to teach both, and hearing a nice english accent would be good for a change. (No offence to US accent)
It would also be great because we do spell words differently, and it would be nice to teach my daughter the british english spelling as that is what is used in Australia.
I guess what I am trying to say is, why is the competition between American and British English?? British English is the true English. So why does American English get a look in, as if it is the Be all and end all Of Englishes, even above the True original English? And why dont all the other Enlishes get considered?? It’s discrimination!! (Aussie Aussie Aussie. Oi! Oi! Oi!) :huh:
My kids laugh at different accent of English they hear in presentations and try to guess what country the person is from. I don’t mind as long as you can understand the word I don’t put my Russian accent into mine, though
British is fine, jumper, sweater, sweat shirt, or pullover esp. if they are followed up by some phrases or a story…
I only want my son seeing presentations and flash cards in American English. We are in America, and that is what we use here. You just don’t see or hear anything in British English, unless you watch BBC. I feel that it would be counterproductive to teach him both at this point. I want him to learn how to read what he needs to read, and when he gets older, and he has already learned how to read, he can learn some British English.
Well , personally I would not mind any, considering my accent . But honestly we were used to British English Spellings (not accent) and when I started working in US , I had difficulty in communicating with my patients, ,my colleagues , over the terms used not so much about my accent. I still write “colour” instead of “Color” when I am not really thinking about spellings . But as they say, "when in Rome…So I am trying to adjust to American English. e.g. I preferred saying "pacifier " instead of “dummy”. But for sure I am not saying “y’all”
Nikki is right you know … we are all here to learn how to teach baby to read … he will have his own accent … we are not here to teach baby to speak english with what accent … lol (sorry can’t help it)
Commonwealth countries, those formally so called “discovered”, conquered and ruled by HRM uses HRM English which spans quite far, and those on the american continents would be using Yankee English, pardon my punt … (sorry don’t mean to be rude, if it is rude, since we not native i really have no idea why they say that in movies) Hey got a chino speaking broken english?? Just kidding …
Anyway, if i say this i think most would agree with me … we all love hollywood movies don’t we?? We have seen Shrek, Wild animal animated movies, etc etc …, i think it matter not the accent as long as its international english without any particular strong accent (eg irish or walch speakers or texan english its abit too strong) But hollywood accent would be nice something easily understood by everybody … afterall i brushed up my english watching lots of movies … yeah i’m a movie fanatic … maybe we can get a movie star to voice over the presentations … :yes: …(whooo LR is going to be famous, you think donkey of shrek would like to do it?? Ok i’m really pulling legs here … don’t take eddie but cameron would be nice) children loves such cartoons right?
As for the spelling … i guess it depends on needs … those living in comonwealth countries would love to learn HRM english afterall its about schools, fail the spelling fail the exams … (GDI save the cheer leader) … but i ain’t gonna learn brit english with a brit accent … i am no pretentious gentleman … In any case there isn’t many such words with spelling difference … except those Zs with Ss…
Maybe just maybe we could do it this way … get all the words in HRM english using a nice hollywood speaker with an international accent … and then we have a special file/folder with american spelling englizh … but same hollywood speaker with an international accent … this way its just another file … and we can add it in on top of the brit english … so they are …hmm bi-polar?? or if parents like they can remove the original words from the main list and add or replace with americano english …
yup sounds good jolly oh chap, bottoms up, cheerio and pardon my slang … 8)
I personally would prefer American English, only because that is my mother tongue, but I think both should be taught.
I am in India and we follow British English here, but in reality it is Indian English. I will say both accents and phonics both have differences. I can listen to someone from the UK and have no problem understanding, but at times I still struggle deciphering what is actually being said when I speak with some Indians (and I have been here for more than 10 years).
So we might even include a spot for Indian English, because, as our society becomes more global, we will see a greater need to know the variations in English.
Growing up in Vanuatu I was exposed to many varieties of accents and also spellings, as some books and readers are made in America…and we used them at the British school I went to as well as readers from Australia, NZ and other places. We had a lot of expatriates there, from many different countries. I NEVER realised that the Chinese people spoke English with a different accent, and I could understand them clearly. I could understand any accent of English from any country, and never ever noticed that we all sounded different.
The first time I realised about such a thing as accents, was when I came to Australia, aged 10.5. I didnt notice the Australian accent, but they sure noticed mine was different!! And boy did they laugh at me. I couldnt understand why, because I thought I sounded just like everyone else, and had never ever noticed that people sounded different.
I’m sure my older kids can tell there are different accents, but I doubt bub notices that most educational dvds are with an American accent. Or notices that we Aussies sound different to them.
I can tell you one of the most insulting things I have observed over the years is on TV when a usually white English speaker is interviewing a usually Black English speaker, who is usually from Africa or the Pacific but speaking their native tongue (English), and the translation is given across the bottom of the screeen. They do the same for people with an acquired brain injury, who are very difficult to understand, who would know they’d be translated. But I doubt the black people would know they’d be “translated” (like they’re speaking a foreign language). I’ve seen this done with Vanuatu people. It is SO rude. Please dont bring up your kids to be one of those people that cant understand different accents. Expose them to all accents so they get a better trained ear.
I don’t think that it is out of rudeness, I think that it is for clarification. People who have such strong/thick accents are hard to understand when you’re not used to hearing people speak that way. I wish that I had subtitles for the doctors that I listen to over the phone, and I’ve been listening to them since I was 18. Furthermore, it is a two-way street because they don’t understand everything that we say either. It is easy to mix up “cerebyx” with celebrex" epinephrine" and “ephedrine” and other similar-sounding names when you’re not used to different sounds.
It is hard to understand every single accent and variation because every single foreign language/region will produce its own accent when a person learns English or any other language later in life. When I moved to Michigan after living in Minnesota (the accent kind of sounds Irish/Canadian in a way) people couldn’t understand me at all. That was only a 700 mile move away.
They do the same thing for Spanish-speakers because there are so many regional accents. I have a hard time understanding some Spanish-speakers who come from Mexico, but I don’t have a hard time with those who come from Spain.
I would prefer American English since I live in the US but when I was growing up and was reading a lot of books, I was exposed to British English and the spelling was very confusing for me (specially when teachers deduct points for wrong spelling). Maybe we can have sort of a list of American & British words that have different spelling?
esp. if they are followed up by some phrases or a story…