British English v. American English

My supervisor at San Fernando, and the director of our English teacher training program, enjoys joking with me that I’m learning a great deal of British English while, ironically, living in Argentina. It’s quite funny how true this actually is. I giggle a little bit to myself every time I hear, “Can I go to the toilet please?” from the junior high students I with whom volunteer. This British influence/tradition comes from the fact that the first English presence, regarding both language variety and personnel, in Argentina was of British origin. Even today, there are many professors who have been trained strictly from a British English perspective and who adhere to this culture in their teaching. In our world that is rapidly changing/evolving, however, the influence of North American English is especially notable. American English is increasingly present not only in Argentine classrooms but also amidst (and maybe too, as a result of) media consumption including music and movies from the U.S. After several months of exposure to English classroom materials, I can look at a textbook and say with relative certainty whether it had British or North American writers and editors based on grammar, vocabulary, etc. Both language varieties exist in students’ English studies here. However, I would beg to claim that American English has had a much wider impact (than British English) on the population at large due to this aforementioned presence in music, movies, and other mass media.

This semester I am assisting in two sections of a course that focuses on the rudimentary aspects of culture from English-speaking countries around the world (England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, the United States, etc.). My supervisor (who I assist in one section of this course) and I have already had great discussions about what we should consider an “official language” of a country, because, if you look closely at U.S. law you will see that there is no legal official language declared by the national government. On the other hand, if we take a more socio-linguistic perspective in defining “official language,” we might classify English as something more official, mainly because of its use: in everyday interactions for a majority of individuals in the country, in courts of law, in other legal agreements and documents, etc. To be expected from the language assistant, I look forward to the opportunities that I will have in these classes to share further about U.S. culture. At the same time, I am excited to be a “student” occasionally and learn more about the other English-speaking cultures explored throughout the semester.

In the last few months I have learned that: when the British say “jumper” they mean an American sweatshirt, when they say “pants” they mean American underwear, “toilet” is a totally common and appropriate synonym for bathroom or restroom, to be “redundant” in Britain means to be laid off in the U.S., that “public schools” are actually private in England, and that fish & chips, beer, and, above all, tea in the U.S. probably do not measure up to British standards. I have had to be careful with the advice that I give students about vocabulary and pronunciation because I know that some of their professors teach from a full-fledged British English perspective. Accordingly, I find myself more often than not ending corrections that I give to students with “…but it could be British so you should probably look it up.” Of course, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; if the students take time to double check my advice and suggestions, I imagine they will more likely to internalize the concept or grammatical structure in question.

To bring this post to a conclusion, I’m going to touch on a similar language clash that I’ve faced while living here in Argentina. Spanish, too, has a great number of varieties meaning that while grammar and vocabulary are basically the same, there are markers of distinction between the Spanish spoken in Peru, Mexico, Argentina, other parts of Central and South America, and Spain (where the Spanish variety mandated by the Real Academica has a greater precedence). Much like what I believe about the diversity of English, this obviously doesn’t mean that one language variety is better than another; it simply shows that language is a living thing, constantly adapting to be comprehensive for the needs of the culture in which it is utilized. O bugger! How’s all that for thought over some tea and biscuits in your flat on a rainy afternoon? ;)